Max von Sydow dead - Game of Thrones and Exorcist actor dies at his home in France aged 90

HOLLYWOOD legend Max von Sydow - who starred in Game of Thrones and the Exorcist died - has died aged 90.
The Swedish-born actor had an illustrious career that spanned more than six decades and appeared in nearly 200 films and TV programmes.
His wife Catherine Brelet said her husband passed away at their home in France on Sunday.
"It is with a broken heart and with infinite sadness that we have the extreme pain to announce the departure of Max Von Sydow on March 8, 2020," she said.
Von Sydow is known for roles in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, as the Three Eyed Raven in Game of Thrones, for which he got a Primetime Emmy, and as Father Lankester Merrin, the priest in the Exorcist.
Tall and lanky, with sullen blue eyes, a narrow face, pale complexion and a deep and accented speaking voice, von Sydow was often typecast in Hollywood as the sophisticated villain.
He played iconic baddies such as Blofeld in the 1983 James Bond film Never Say Never Again, and as Emperor Ming in 80's cult classic Flash Gordon.
Von Sydow also starred in films including Flash Gordon, Conan The Barbarian, The Greatest Story Ever Told, Shutter Island and Minority Report.
He worked with a number of iconic directors, such as Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, David Lynch and Woody Allen.
Tributes to the late star have come flooding in with British director Edgar Wright calling him a "god".
Von Sydow was born April 10, 1929, into a family of academics in the southern Swedish city of Lund. He was baptized Carl Adolf von Sydow, but later changed his first name to Max, saying his given name was not a good name after World War II.
Although his family was not interested in theatre, he said his father was a master of telling adventure stories that fuelled his imagination as a child.
He decided he wanted to be an actor and formed a theatre society with his friends after seeing his first play, William Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream, at age 14.
He studied at the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm and acted in small municipality theatres in Sweden for eight years an experience he later described as crucial for his career.
He made his screen debut in the 1949 Swedish film "Only a Mother", then built his film career on European masterpieces such as "The Seventh Seal", "The Wild Strawberries", "The Source" and "The Communicators".
Von Sydow starred ten films made by Sweish art house director Ingmar Bergman.
They included "The Magician," "The Virgin Spring" and "Wild Strawberries," and he developed a close relationship with Sweden's most famous moviemaker.
He made his Hollywood debut as Jesus in the 1965 film "The Greatest Story Ever Told".
But he gained widespread international fame as the devil-evicting priest in William Friedkin's controversial 1973 film "The Exorcist."
In 1980, von Sydow starred as the evil emperor Ming the Merciless in "Flash Gordon."
He turned down the role as the sinister Dr. No in the first James Bond film with the same name, but later appeared as the cat-stroking villain Ernst Blofeld in the 1983 "Never Say Never Again," starring Sean Connery as Bond.
Von Sydow also played a tormented painter in Woody Allen's "Hannah and Her Sisters" and portrayed the devil in "Needful Things," a 1991 horror film based on a novel by Stephen King.
In 2015, he appeared briefly in the blockbuster Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
As one of Sweden's most admired and professional actors he is the only male Swedish actor to receive an Oscar nomination, nominated for Pelle the Conqueror in 1988 and again for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close in 2012.
He received the Guldbagge Award for Best Director in his directing debut, the drama film Katinka (1988).
He took French nationality in 2002 and was made a Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honour in 2011.
Von Sydow was married twice, to the actor Christina Inga Britta Olin from 1951-1979.
In 1997 he married Catherine Brelet and in 2002 became a citizen of her native France.
Source: www.thesun.co.uk/news/1113048...

[@cg-ny9078]

So many great roles played by a great actor and kind man. Rest in Eternal Peace Mr. Max Von Sydow. 📿🙏

[@elisabeth2149]

Farewell Max von Sydow. I have many good memories from your movies.
Thank you for that. I will keep watching them. R.I.P.

[@graves2927]

so many great roles from such a great talent. RIP mein herr.

[@ClericsofOhm]

So many great roles. We had scheduled our Conan The Barbarian tribute song for today before we heard the news. RIP