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. 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 and Hawaii. Since then, his career includes very different kind of characters, like Emperor Ming in Flash Gordon or the artist Frederick in Hannah and Her Sisters. In 1987 he made his directing debut with Ved vejen. He has become one of Sweden's most admired and professional actors.
Two sons, Claes and Henrik. Was offered the title role in Dr. No. One of his favourite movies is Runaway Train. Has lived in Los Angeles, California, USA; Rome, Italy and Paris, Seine, France. Father of Henrik von Sydow and Clas S. von Sydow. One of the few actors to have played both God (in _Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)_ ) and the Devil (in Needful Things). Distant relative of Swedish speaker of parliament and ex-minister of defence, 'Björn von Sydow' . Has appeared in two films as a leading villain, in which plots include the use of eye replacement surgery as a means of fooling security eye scanners; as Blofeld in Never Say Never Again and Lamar Burgess in Minority Report. He and Ingmar Bergman made 13 movies together: The Magician, The Touch, Mr. Sleeman Is Coming (not released), Jungfrukällan, _Nattvardsgästerna (1963)_ , Brink of Life, The Passion of Anna, Rabies, The Seventh Seal, Shame, Wild Strawberries, Through a Glass Darkly and Hour of the Wolf. Co-Head of jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1985. After not appearing in a Ingmar Bergman film since "The Touch" (The Touch), Von Sydow was reunited with the master, playing his grandfather in Goda viljan, Den. While the film was directed by Bille August, the screenplay was written by Ingmar Bergman. Ironically, despite all the classic work Von Sydow dd with Ingmar Bergman such as the Knight in "The Seventh Seal" (The Seventh Seal), the eponymous "Magician" (The Magician), and the father in "The Virgin Spring" (Jungfrukällan) (portrayals that will live for as long as there is cinema), his sole Oscar nomination came under the hand of Bille August, for "Pelle the Conqueror" (Pelle the Conqueror. One of the very few actors to be nominated for an Oscar for a role in a foreign language film for "Pelle the Conqueror" (Pelle the Conqueror). His performance as Lasse Karlsson in "Pelle the Conqueror" (1987) is ranked #57 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).