Max Von Sydow (1929-2020)

by Nathaniel R

It is with great sadness we must announce the passing of Max von Sydow. The international acting legend had worked steadily since his big screen debut in Sweden in 1949. Multiple Swedish classics followed including Miss Julie, Wild Strawberries, and The Virgin Spring. International fame happened quickly through his mutli-film collaboration with Sweden's most celebrated auteur Ingmar Bergman. By the mid 60s he began headlining international productions, first as Jesus in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) and by the 1970s he was a mandatory for prestige all star productions (Voyage of the Damned, The Exorcist). He's been a mainstay of cinema for 70 years, that exceedingly memorable long face flipping from sweet to sinister to authoritative to wise (and everything inbetween) on command for the demands of any role.

Before his death he completed a lead role in an as yet unreleased WW II drama Echoes of the Past which is currently in post-production. Let's pray it's a fitting swansong for one of the inarguable greats.

We had the privilege of interviewing him over coffee when he was making the awards rounds for The Diving Bell and Butterfly and he was sweet, humble, and talkative about his career and the cinema. We've begged the Academy to give him an Honorary Oscar quite frequently but, tragically, they didn't listen and they've missed their long long window to do so.

After the jump the first 10 Max von Sydow roles that jumped to mind in no particular order when we heard the news...

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Kirk Douglas (1916-2020)

by Nathaniel R

By now you've heard that one of the last* true superstars of Classic Hollywood has left the Earth. Three-time Oscar nominee Kirk Douglas, best known to modern audiences as "Spartacus" and the father of Oscar winner Michael Douglas has passed away at the age of...103 (!). We've written about his films before for his centennial (you know how we like centennials here at TFE) so if you're interested we have pieces on Spartacus, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Lust for Life, and multiple pieces on The Bad and the Beautiful.

*This leaves only Sidney Poitier and several female stars -- De Havilland, Novak, Johns, Saint, Lansbury, Moreno --  standing from Hollywood's Golden Age which is roughly considered to be the very late 1920s through the early 1960s stretching from the chaotic advent of sound through the tumultous time frame when "New Hollywood" took over. "Oldest living screen actors" post here.

Gone but Not Forgotten

We've been remiss of lately marking the passing of showbiz greats and with Oscar night fast approaching and with it another "in memoriam" people we've lost are suddenly in mind. (This time of year is always a major challenge to keep up with given the mania of awards season.) Here are five stars, four of whom became famous right around the same time as each other, that passed away in December.

Let this small remembrance make amends for our lateness in paying tribute...

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Robert Forster (1941-2019)

Photographed by © Hama Sanders

As you have undoubtedly heard by now the Oscar-nominated Robert Forster (of Jackie Brown fame) passed away last Friday of brain cancer at 78 years of age. This news came as quite a shock to us here at TFE, which is part of why we haven't mentioned it...

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Diahann Carroll (1935 -2019)

Another legend has left us. Diahann Carroll has passed away at 84 years of age. She was a major pioneer for black actresses in Hollywood, emerging just as things were beginning to happen (a little bit) for actors of color in Hollywood. She made her debut in the historic Carmen Jones (1954) starring Dorothy Dandridge, who then became the first black woman nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress. Then in 1962 Diahann Carroll achieved a "first" herself, becoming the first black woman to win a Tony for Best Actress in a Musical with No Strings. By 1968 she was also a TV star headlining a sitcom for three seasons when black stars didn't do that (1968's Julia) and winning a Golden Globe in the role.

More after the jump including lots of gorgeous photos...

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