Died at 97
male
Max von Sydow (born Carl Adolf von Sydow; April 10, 1929 – March 8, 2020) was a Swedish actor. He also held French citizenship since 2002. He starred in many films and had supporting roles in dozens more. He performed in films filmed in many languages, including Swedish, Norwegian, English, Italian, German, Danish, French and Spanish. Some of his most memorable film roles include knight Antonius Block in Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal (the first of his eleven films with Bergman and the film that includes the iconic shot of his career in the scene where he plays chess with Death), Jesus in George Stevens's The Greatest Story Ever Told, Father Merrin in Friedkin's The Exorcist, Joubert the assassin in Three Days of the Condor, and Ming the Merciless in the 1980 version of Flash Gordon. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award - Best Leading Actor for Pelle the Conqueror (1988) and Best Supporting Actor for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011).
The series takes place in a fictional world that is reminiscent of medieval Europe called the Circle of the World. The action, for the most part, takes place in or regards people from the central realm the Union. The Union is beset upon on all sides by savages from the North, the mighty Gurkish Empire to the south, mercenary bands from the continent of Styria to the east, and the machinations of the crumbling Old Empire in the west. The Union appears to be maneuvered into a state of near-perpetual war by an uncompromisingly proud foreign policy, while the dysfunctional government, nobles and merchants fight amongst themselves. This is a world filled with bad people who do the right thing, good people who do the wrong thing, stupid people who do the stupid thing and, well, pretty much any combination of those. Survival is no mean feat, and at the end of the day, dumb luck might be more of an asset than any amount of planning, skill, or noble intention. The original trilogy comprises the novels The Blade Itself (2006), Before They Are Hanged (2007) and Last Argument of Kings (2008). It follows the interweaving viewpoints of Logen Ninefingers, Jezal dan Luthar, Sand dan Glokta, Ferro Maljinn, the Dogman, and Collem West. Each is drawn in the plan of Bayaz, a wizard from an older time, to save the world -http://firstlaw.wikia.com
