Oscar-nominated actor Max von Sydow has died at the age of 90.
Born Carl Adolf von Sydow in Sweden, he had a stage and screen career spanning seven decades and starred in many high-profile American and European films.
His credits include The Seventh Seal (1957), The Exorcist (1973) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015).
He also appeared in HBO series Game of Thrones as the mystical Three-Eyed Raven.
The news was announced by film producer Catherine von Sydow, who has been married to the actor since 1997.
“It is with a broken heart and with infinite sadness that we have the extreme pain of announcing the departure of Max von Sydow on 8 March 2020,” she told Paris Match.
Von Sydow worked with Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman 11 times in films such as Wild Strawberries (1957) and The Virgin Spring (1960).
It’s The Seventh Seal that remains the most memorable, though, for the scene in which his character – a knight – plays chess with Death.
Von Sydow, who was the first choice to play the title role in first ever Bond film Dr No, moved to Hollywood in 1965 after signing on to play Jesus in George Stevens’ epic The Greatest Story Ever Told.
Over the next few decades, Von Sydow had supporting roles in 1970s spy thriller Three Days of the Condor (1975) and big-budget 1980s films Flash Gordon, Conan the Barbarian and David Lynch’s Dune.
His later credits include Minority Report (2002) and Shutter Island (2010).
Von Sydow married twice and, in 2002, relinquished his Swedish citizenship to become a citizen of France.
He was nominated for two Oscars, once for Best Actor in 1989 – for Pelle the Conqueror – and again in 2012 for his supporting role in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.
Von Sydow will posthumously appear in war drama Echoes of the Past.
