RIP Max von Sydow: His remarkable career will never get old

I was just recently joking around with a friend about actors who seems like they have been 'old forever' -- Donald Sutherland came to mind. So did Robert Duvall. The dean of that type though just might have been acclaimed Swedish actor Max von Sydow, who passed away at age 90 today.

Max von Sydow has looked like a wise old man for decades -- and it doesn't help that one of his more iconic roles came when he was a younger man in old age make-up.

He had an astoundingly durable career -- starring in Ingmar Bergman dramas in the 50s and appearing in The Force Awakens just five years ago.

I will always remember his booming, emotional voice -- one that always made him a credible and charismatic heavy -- even well into old age.

The Seventh Seal

Probably like most Americans, I first became aware of von Sydow because of his titular role in the 1973 classic The Exorcist. He actually doesn't have all that much screen time, but when he arrives on the scene it's the one and only time you think the demon villain of the movie can be defeated.

Director William Friedkin passed on the chance to cast a bigger name in that role, and there plenty of great age appropriate options at the time, but his good instinct was tap von Sydow, who was largely known only to hip filmgoers familiar with Bergman's filmography.

Had von Sydow only had his work with Bergman to show for himself he still would have had an iconic career.

His chess match with death in the spiritual and stunning The Seventh Seal, is not just one of the best known Bergman moments, but its a piece of cinematic history.

And despite his reputation as an incredibly serious actor -- von Sydow wasn't above slumming it in silly movies like Strange Brew and Flash Gordon. He also frequently popped up  as the villain in thrillers like Three Days of the Condor and Minority Report.

And he was always there, unlike some great actors who prematurely retired (I'm looking at you Gene Hackman) he kept at it and continued to say relevant with the projects he chose like Game of Thrones, giving his career a distinguished longevity.

Hopefully, fans of all the big budget spectacles he appeared in later in life will be keen to re-examine his work with Bergman, his early Hollywood roles in the 1970s and curios like the small put pivotal role he plays in Hannah and Her Sisters, one of the best movies directed by he who shall not be named.