%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1463468901082788000
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
%%
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/max_von_sydow.jpeg]]

->''"[A] legendary actor who needs no introduction. He may be the only guy in the world who could pull off appearing in both'' Film/TheSeventhSeal ''and'' Film/RushHour3.''"''
-->--'''Website/TheAgonyBooth''' on ''Film/NeverSayNeverAgain''

Carl Adolf "Max" von Sydow (10 April 1929 – 9 March 2020) was a UsefulNotes/{{Swed|en}}ish veteran character actor with a career spanning more than six decades.

After getting his break in Swedish movies, notably in Creator/IngmarBergman's works such as ''Film/TheSeventhSeal'', ''Film/WildStrawberries'' and ''Film/ThroughAGlassDarkly'', he began working internationally in the mid-'60s. Through the decades, he played (among many others) [[Film/TheGreatestStoryEverTold Jesus]], [[Film/TheExorcist a fairly badass servant of Jesus]], [[Film/NeedfulThings Satan]], [[Film/NeverSayNeverAgain Blofeld]], [[Film/FlashGordon1980 Ming the Merciless]], [[Film/Dune1984 Liet-Kynes]], and [[Film/RobinHood2010 Robin Hood's dad]], and all in half a dozen different languages. While he never won an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward, he was nominated twice, for ''Film/PelleTheConqueror'' in 1987 and for ''Literature/ExtremelyLoudAndIncrediblyClose'' in 2012. He also received two UsefulNotes/GoldenGlobeAward nominations and two Primetime UsefulNotes/EmmyAward nominations during his career.

Von Sydow spent his final years in France and held dual Swedish and French citizenship. Despite appearances he was, by his own admission, [[ChessWithDeath an awful chess player]].

----
!!Partial filmography:

* ''Theatre/MissJulie'' (1951)
* ''Film/TheSeventhSeal'' (1957)
* ''Film/WildStrawberries'' (1957)
* ''Film/BrinkOfLife'' (1958)
* ''Film/TheVirginSpring'' (1960)
* ''Film/ThroughAGlassDarkly'' (1961)
* ''Film/WinterLight'' (1963)
* ''Film/TheGreatestStoryEverTold'' (1965)
* ''Film/HourOfTheWolf'' (1968)
* ''Film/{{Skammen}}'' (1968)
* ''Film/EnPassion'' (1969)
* ''Literature/TheEmigrants'' (1971)
* ''Film/{{The Touch|1971}}'' (1971)
* ''Film/TheNewLand'' (1972)
* ''Film/TheExorcist'' (1973)
* ''Film/ThreeDaysOfTheCondor'' (1975)
* ''Film/IllustriousCorpses'' (1976)
* ''Film/ExorcistIITheHeretic'' (1977)
* ''Film/BrassTarget'' (1978)
* ''Film/{{Flash Gordon|1980}}'' (1980)
* ''[[Film/Deathwatch1980 Death Watch]]'' (1980)
* ''Film/{{Conan the Barbarian|1982}}'' (1982)
* ''Film/FlightOfTheEagle'' (1982)
* ''Film/StrangeBrew'' (1983)
* ''Film/NeverSayNeverAgain'' (1983)
* ''Film/{{Dune|1984}}'' (1984)
* ''Series/TheLastPlaceOnEarth'' (1985)
* ''Film/HannahAndHerSisters'' (1986)
* ''Film/PelleTheConqueror'' (1987)
* ''Film/GhostbustersII'' (1989)
* ''Film/TheOx'' (1991)
* ''Film/TheBestIntentions'' (1992)
* ''Series/TheYoungIndianaJonesChronicles'' (1993)
* ''Film/NeedfulThings'' (1993)
* ''Film/CitizenX'' (1995)
* ''Film/JudgeDredd'' (1995)
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'' (1997) (the Swedish voice of Zeus)
* ''Film/WhatDreamsMayCome'' (1998)
* ''Film/MinorityReport'' (2002)
* ''Film/TheDivingBellAndTheButterfly'' (2007)
* ''Film/RushHour3'' (2007)
* ''Film/{{Robin Hood|2010}}'' (2010)
* ''Film/ShutterIsland'' (2010)
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' (2011)
* ''Literature/ExtremelyLoudAndIncrediblyClose'' (2011)
* ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' (2015)
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' (Season 6, 2016)
----
!!Associated Tropes

* TheBigGuy: He stood at 6'4 and usually towered over many of his co-stars.
* CoolOldGuy: Many of his later roles had him play parts like this.
* IcyBlueEyes: His striking blue eyes were a major part of his appeal.
* IronyAsSheIsCast: He is one of a select few actors ever to play both {{God}} and {{Satan}}. In RealLife, he was an agnostic.
* LargeAndInCharge: His naturally commanding presence was aided by his imposing stature.
----