Max von Sydow / Biography

He was born in a middle-class family in Lund, where his father was an ethnologist. When he was in high school, he and a few fellow students, including Yvonne Lombard, started a theatre club which encouraged his interest in acting. After conscription he began to study at the Royal Dramatic Theatre's acting school (1948-1951), together with Lars Ekborg, Margaretha Krook and Ingrid Thulin. His first role was as Nils the crofter in Alf Sjöberg's Bara en mor (1949). After graduation he worked at the city theatres in Norrkoeping and Malmö. His work in the movies by Ingmar Bergman made him well-known internationally, and he started to get offers from abroad. His career abroad began with The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) and Hawaii (1966). Since then, his career includes very different kind of characters, like Emperor Ming in Flash Gordon (1980) or the artist Frederick in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986). In 1987 he made his directing debut with Ved vejen (1988). He has become one of Sweden's most admired and professional actors.