Max Von Sydow Biography

Max Von Sydow

Versatile character actor equally at home in Hollywood films, like Conan the Barbarian (1981), on TV as in Kojak: The Belarus File (1985), or in the filmmaking world of his native Sweden. He is perhaps best known in the United States for his role as Father Merrin in The Exorcist (1973), which earned him a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe nomination, and its sequel The Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977). Von Sydow's most critically acclaimed role is probably in the Swedish film, Pelle erobreren or Pelle the Conqueror (1987), in which he plays a father struggling to survive with his son, circa 1900. The role earned him a Best Actor Oscar nomination. His prolific film career includes Hawaii (1966), Flash Gordon (1980), Dune (1984), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Judge Dredd (1995), and Snow Falling on Cedars (1999).