Sydney Pollack

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Sydney Pollack

Sydney Pollack, 2006
Born July 1, 1934
Lafayette, Indiana, United States
Died May 26, 2008 (aged 73)
Pacific Palisades, California
Spouse(s) Claire Griswold (married in 1958; 3 children)

Sydney Pollack (July 1, 1934[1] – May 26, 2008[2]) was an Academy Award-winning American film director, producer and actor. He directed more than 21 films and 10 television shows, acted in over 30 films or shows, and produced over 44 films. Pollack is best known for directing films Out of Africa (1985), Tootsie (1982), Three Days of the Condor (1975), The Yakuza (1975), The Way We Were and Jeremiah Johnson (1972), along with newer films The Interpreter (2005), Sabrina (1995), The Firm (1993) and Havana (1990). He appeared in over 15 films, including The Interpreter (2005), Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Husbands and Wives (1992), The Player (1992), and The Electric Horseman (1979). In 2007, he appeared opposite George Clooney in Michael Clayton, a film which he also co-produced.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Personal life

Sydney Irwin Pollack was born in Lafayette, Indiana, to a family of Jewish immigrants from Russia,[3] the son of Rebecca (née Miller) and David Pollack, a professional boxer and pharmacist.[1] His parents divorced when he was young and his mother, an alcoholic, died at the age of 37 while Pollack was a student at the Neighborhood Playhouse.[4] His brother was the costume designer, producer and actor Bernie Pollack.

Pollack was married to Claire Griswold, a former student of his, from 1958 until his death. They had three children named Rachel, Rebecca, and Steven Pollack, the latter died in a plane crash in 1993.[2][5]

[edit] Career

Pollack studied with Sanford Meisner at The Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City from 1952 to 1954. He later taught acting there from 1954 to 1959 before embarking on his acting career. He then moved behind the camera to direct and produce. His directing career began in the 1960s with episodes of TV series such as The Fugitive and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. He won the Academy Award for Directing for Out of Africa (1985). Pollack had previously been nominated for Best Director Oscars for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and Tootsie.

While directing Tootsie, his rows with Dustin Hoffman became well known. Eventually Hoffman began pushing the idea that Pollack play the role of his agent and Pollack reluctantly agreed. Their off-screen relationship added authenticity to their scenes in the movie, most of which feature them arguing. Pollack subsequently took on more acting roles in addition to producing and directing. He appeared as himself in the Documentary One Six Right, describing his joy of owning and piloting his Citation X jet aircraft.

As a character actor, Pollack subsequently appeared in films such as A Civil Action, Changing Lanes, and Eyes Wide Shut, as well as his own, including Random Hearts and The Interpreter. He also appeared in Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives as a New York lawyer undergoing a midlife crisis. He had a recurring guest star role on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace, playing Will Truman's (Eric McCormack) unfaithful but loving father, George Truman. In 2007, Pollack made guest appearances on the HBO TV series The Sopranos and Entourage as well as an appearance on NBC's Just Shoot Me.

Pollack received the first annual Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking award from the Austin Film Festival October 21, 2006. As a producer he helped to guide many films that were successful with both the critic and movie audiences, such as The Fabulous Baker Boys, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Michael Clayton. He formed a production company called Mirage Enterprises with the English director Anthony Minghella.

[edit] Influences

In the 2002 Sight and Sound Directors' Poll, Pollack revealed his top-ten films: Casablanca, Citizen Kane, The Conformist, The Godfather Part II, Grand Illusion, The Leopard, Once Upon a Time in America, Raging Bull, The Seventh Seal, and Sunset Boulevard.[6]

[edit] Death

Pollack died of cancer on May 26, 2008 at the age of 73 at his home in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California surrounded by family.[7] He had been diagnosed with cancer about nine months before his death, said his publicist, Leslee Dart.[8][2]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Director

[edit] Producer

[edit] Appearances in film and television

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b FilmReference.com: Sydney Pollack Biography (1934-)
  2. ^ a b c Cieply, Michael. "Sydney Pollack, Film Director, Is Dead at 73", New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-05-26. "Sydney Pollack, a Hollywood mainstay as director, producer and sometime actor whose star-laden movies like “The Way We Were,” “Tootsie” and “Out of Africa” were among the most successful of the 1970s and ’80s, died Monday at home here. He was 73." 
  3. ^ The secret of my success? | Interviews | Guardian Unlimited Film
  4. ^ Sydney Pollack Biography. Yahoo! Movies.
  5. ^ "Film Maker's Son and Pilot Die in Crash of Small Plane", New York Times, November 28, 1993. Retrieved on 2008-05-26. "The son of the film maker Sydney Pollack was one of two student pilots who was killed on Friday when a single-engine plane crashed into a two-story apartment building and burst into flames." 
  6. ^ "BFI: How the directors and critics voted"
  7. ^ Hollywood legend Sydney Pollack dies. NEWS.com.au. Retrieved on May 27, 2008.
  8. ^ "Actor and director Sydney Pollack dies at 73", Associated Press, 2008-05-26. Retrieved on 2008-05-26. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series

Jack Smight (1959) · Robert Mulligan (1960) · George Schaefer (1961) · Franklin Schaffner (1962) · Stuart Rosenberg (1963) · Tom Gries (1964) · Paul Bogart (1965) · Sydney Pollack (1966) · Alex Segal (1967) · Lee H. Katzin (1968) · David Greene (1969) · Paul Bogart (1970) · Daryl Duke / Fielder Cook (1971) · Alexander Singer / Tom Gries (1972) · Jerry Thorpe / Joseph Sargent (1973) · John Korty / Robert Butler (1974) · Bill Bain (1975)
Complete list: (1959–1975) · (1976–2000) · (2001–present)
v • d • e
Academy Award for Best Director

Warren Beatty (1981) · Richard Attenborough (1982) · James L. Brooks (1983) · Miloš Forman (1984) · Sydney Pollack (1985) · Oliver Stone (1986) · Bernardo Bertolucci (1987) · Barry Levinson (1988) · Oliver Stone (1989) Kevin Costner (1990) · Jonathan Demme (1991) · Clint Eastwood (1992) · Steven Spielberg (1993) · Robert Zemeckis (1994) · Mel Gibson (1995) · Anthony Minghella (1996) · James Cameron (1997) · Steven Spielberg (1998) · Sam Mendes (1999) · Steven Soderbergh (2000)

Complete List · (1927–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001-present)
v • d • e
Films directed by Sydney Pollack

The Slender Thread (1965) • This Property Is Condemned (1966) • The Scalphunters (1968) • Castle Keep (1969) • They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) • Jeremiah Johnson (1972) • The Way We Were (1973) • The Yakuza (1975) • Three Days of the Condor (1975) • Bobby Deerfield (1977) • The Electric Horseman (1979) • Absence of Malice (1981) • Tootsie (1982) • Out of Africa (1985) • Havana (1990) • The Firm (1993) • Sabrina (1995) • Random Hearts (1999) • The Interpreter (2005) • Sketches of Frank Gehry (2005)
Persondata
NAME Pollack, Sydney
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actor
DATE OF BIRTH July 1, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Lafayette, Indiana, United States
DATE OF DEATH May 26, 2008
PLACE OF DEATH Los Angeles, California, United States
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Pollack"
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