Max von Sydow was born (Carl Adolf von Sydow) to a middle-class family on April 10, 1929 in Lund, southern Sweden . Both of his parents were from the world of academics; his father was a professor of Scandinavian folklore at the University of Lund, and his mother, before marriage, a school teacher. As a child, von Sydow was very shy, and like many performers, this trait is mostly what influenced his decision to become an actor. He felt that acting would give him a way to communicate with other people. Acting served as an outlet, a way to express himself, perhaps demonstratively...something that wasn't heartily accepted at home. At age fifteen, he and his fellow high school students saw a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Encouraged by this performance, von Sydow and his ..[Full version]