Sydow attendedLund Cathedral School, where he learned English at an early age.[6] Originally expected to pursue a career in law, he became interested in acting after seeing a production ofA Midsummer Night's Dream during a class trip toMalmö,[14][15] which prompted him to establish an amateur theatrical group along with his friends back at school.[6][10]
Sydow served for two years in theSwedish Army with theArmy Quartermaster Corps, where he adopted the name "Max" from the star performer of aflea circus he saw.[6][16] After completing his service, Sydow studied at theRoyal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm where he trained between 1948 and 1951.[6] During his time at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, he helped start a theatre group, of which actressIngrid Thulin was a member.[16] He made his stage debut in a small part in theGoethe playEgmont, which he considered "almost a disaster," but received good reviews for his performance.[10]
While at theRoyal Dramatic Theatre, Sydow made his screen debuts inAlf Sjöberg's filmsOnly a Mother (Bara en mor, 1949) andMiss Julie (Fröken Julie, 1951).[16] In 1951, Sydow joined theNorrköping-Linköping Municipal Theatre, appearing in nine plays includingPeer Gynt. In 1953, he moved on to theCity Theatre inHälsingborg (Helsingborg), playing eleven parts in a two-year stint, includingProspero inThe Tempest and the title role of thePirandello playHenry IV.[17] Sydow's theatrical work won him critical recognition, and in 1954 he received the Royal Foundation of Sweden's Cultural Award, a grant to young, promising actors.[16]
In 1955, Sydow moved to Malmö and joined theMalmö City Theatre, whose chief director at the time wasIngmar Bergman.[17] Sydow had previously sought to play a small part in Bergman'sPrison (Fängelse, 1949), but the director rejected the proposition.[18] Bergman and Sydow's first film wasThe Seventh Seal (Det sjunde inseglet, 1957), in which Sydow portrayed Antonius Block, a disillusioned 14th-century knight returning from theCrusades to a plague-stricken Sweden.[19] The scene of his character playing a game of chess withDeath has come to be regarded as an iconic moment in cinema.[18] Sydow went on to appear in a total of 11 Bergman films.[20] InThe Magician (Ansiktet, 1958), Sydow starred as Vogler, a 19th-century traveling illusionist who remains silent for most of the film.[19][14] InThe Virgin Spring (Jungfrukällan, 1960), he played a medieval landowner who takes vengeance on the men who raped and murdered his daughter.[2] InThrough a Glass Darkly (Såsom i en spegel, 1961), he portrayed the husband of aschizophrenic woman, played byHarriet Andersson.[19] During this period, he also had roles in films includingWild Strawberries (Smultronstället, 1957),Brink of Life (Nära livet, 1958) andWinter Light (Nattvardsgästerna, 1963).[6][20] Films starring Sydow were submitted by Sweden for theAcademy Award for Best Foreign Language Film infive out of six years between 1957 and 1962.[citation needed] Under Bergman, Sydow also continued his stage career, playing Brick inCat on a Hot Tin Roof, Peer inPeer Gynt, Alceste inThe Misanthrope and Faust inUrfaust. In his company wereGunnar Björnstrand, Ingrid Thulin,Bibi Andersson andGunnel Lindblom, all frequent collaborators of Bergman on screen.[19]
Despite his rising profile, Sydow limited his work exclusively to Sweden early in his career, constantly refusing offers to work outside the country.[19] He was first approached at the1959 Cannes Film Festival to act in U.S. films, but refused the proposition, saying that he was "content in Sweden" and "had no intention of starting an international career".[21] He also refused the opportunity to play thetitle role forDr. No (1962) andCaptain von Trapp inThe Sound of Music (1965).[22] In 1965, Sydow finally acceptedGeorge Stevens's offer and made his international debut, playing Christ in the epicThe Greatest Story Ever Told.[19] He accepted the part against the advice of Bergman, spent six months at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles, preparing for the role, and adopted aMid-Atlantic accent.[22] The film introduced Sydow to a wider audience, but ultimately performed below expectations at the box office.[6] He went on to play a crop-dusting pilot inThe Reward (1965) and a fanatic missionary inHawaii (1966).[19] For his performance inHawaii, Sydow received his firstGolden Globe nomination.[10] To his own frustration, however, Sydow would become frequently cast in villainous roles, such as a neo-Nazi aristocrat inThe Quiller Memorandum (1966), a Russian colonel inThe Kremlin Letter (1970), a meticulous and elegant international assassin inThree Days of the Condor (1975), EmperorMing the Merciless inFlash Gordon (1980) and James Bond's nemesisErnst Stavro Blofeld inNever Say Never Again (1983).[6][19]
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Sydow was often paired withLiv Ullmann in Bergman films. In 1968'sHour of the Wolf (Vargtimmen), Sydow played an artist living on an isolated island with his pregnant wife, played by Ullmann.[23] In the same year, the two appeared in the dramaShame (Skammen), about a couple (both former musicians) living on a farm on an island during a war.[2] Sydow and Ullmann returned for the 1969 Bergman filmThe Passion of Anna (En passion).[23] In 1971 and 1972, Sydow again starred alongside Ullmann in theJan Troell epic duology,The Emigrants (Utvandrarna)The New Land (Nybyggarna), the story of a Swedish peasant family that emigrates to America in the mid-19th century.[2]
In 1971, Sydow starred inThe Touch, Bergman's first English-language film, playing a doctor whose wife is having an affair.[19] In 1973, Sydow appeared in one of his most commercially successful films,William Friedkin'sThe Exorcist (1973).[6] He played FatherLankester Merrin, the film's titular Jesuit priest, which earned him his second Golden Globe nomination.[10] He reprised the role in the film's sequel,Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977).[17] In 1977, Sydow made his Broadway debut alongsideEileen Atkins and Bibi Andersson inPer Olov Enquist'sThe Night of the Tribades, a play about the writerAugust Strindberg. In 1981, he starred withAnne Bancroft in theTom Kempinski playDuet for One about the cellistJacqueline du Pré.[6] Sydow made his British stage debut atThe Old Vic in 1988 as Prospero inThe Tempest, a role he had first played in Sweden three decades before.[15][24]
In April 2013, Sydow was honored at the Turner Classic Movie (TCM) Festival in Hollywood, with screenings of two of his classic films,Three Days of the Condor andThe Seventh Seal.[29]
Max von Sydow married actress Christina Inga Britta Olin in 1951. They had two sons. The couple divorced in 1979.[10] Von Sydow married French documentarian Catherine Brelet in 1997 and adopted Brelet's two adult sons from her previous marriage.[10][19]
Sydow moved to Paris following his marriage to Brelet. In 2002, he became a citizen of France, at which time he had to relinquish his Swedish citizenship.[10][35] Sydow was reported to be either an agnostic or anatheist.[13][36] In 2012, he toldCharlie Rose in an interview thatIngmar Bergman had told him he would contact him after death to show him that there was a life after death. When Rose asked Sydow if he had heard from Bergman, he replied that he had but chose not to elaborate further on the meaning of this statement. In the same interview, he described himself as a doubter in his youth but stated this doubt was gone and indicated he came to agree with Bergman's belief in the afterlife.[37]
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