Telly Savalas shaved his head bald for his role as Pontius Pilate; he kept it shaved for the rest of his life.
The American movie debut of Max von Sydow. Prior to this movie, von Sydow was highly popular Swedish actor who appeared in Ingmar Bergman films such as The Seventh Seal (1957), Wild Strawberries (1957), The Virgin Spring (1960), and Through a Glass Darkly (1961). Producer and director George Stevens wanted an unknown actor free of secular and unseemly associations in the mind of the public.
George Stevens was under pressure to hurry the John the Baptist sequence, which was shot at the Glen Canyon area. It was scheduled to become Lake Powell with the completion of the Glen Canyon Dam, and the production held up the project.
Max von Sydow said that the hardest part about playing Christ was the expectations people had of him to remain in character at all times. He could not smoke between takes, have a drink after work, or be affectionate with his wife on the set.
MGM spent upwards of $500,000 restoring the movie for its 2001 DVD release.
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What is the streaming release date of The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) in Australia?
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