at the 60th Academy Awards among others. His next films, the youth drama Christian (1989), the historical drama Prince of Jutland (1994), after the legend of Prince Amleth, and starring Helen Mirren, Gabriel Byrne, and Christian Bale, and Leïla (2001), a love story set in Morocco, failed to achieve the same international resonance. Alongside his directing career, Axel acted in a dozen Danish films, mostly in colourful supporting roles in popular comedies in the 1950s and 60s. He played the lead as the elegant charlatan Marcel de Sade in The Reluctant Sadist (1967). Axel in 1995, was made a Knight of the French National Order of Merit, in 2000 Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 2003 was made Officer of the Legion of Honour. In 2003, Axel received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Copenhagen International Film Festival. In 2012 he received the Rungstedlund Award. Axel died in his sleep on 9 February 2014 at the age of 95. Selected filmography References External links 1918 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Danish male actors Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Danish film directors Danish male screenwriters Directors of Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners Filmmakers who won the Best Foreign Language Film BAFTA Award People from Aarhus Recipients of the Legion of Honour