Max von Sydow, the self-described shy boy-turned-actor known to art house audiences through his work with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman and later to moviegoers everywhere when he played the priest in the horror classic The Exorcist has passed away at the age of 90. He received two Academy Award nominations for best actor in 1988 for his gripping portrayal of an impoverished farmer in Pelle the Conqueror, and best supporting actor in 2012 for his role as a mute in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. More recently, he received an Emmy nomination for his work as the Three-Eyed Raven in HBO’s Game of Thrones. He was a mainstay in classic, angst-ridden films, including Wild Strawberries, Shame and The Seventh Seal. Although his family was not interested in theatre, he said his father was a master of telling adventure stories that fuelled his imagination as a child. He decided he wanted to be an actor and formed a theatre society with his friends after seeing his first play, William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the age of 14.