Sydney_Pollack

May 29, 2008
Author: Sachin sahrawat (Wikipedia)

Sydney Irwin 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 his films of the 1970s and early 1980s.

Pollack's best known works include: Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Way We Were (1973), Three Days of the Condor (1975), Absence of Malice (1981), Tootsie (1982) and Out of Africa (1985), winning Academy Awards for directing and producing the last; his later films included Havana (1990), The Firm (1993), Sabrina (1995) and The Interpreter (2005).

*

[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] The family relocated to South Bend; his parents divorced when he was young, and his mother, an alcoholic, died at the age of 37 while Pollack was a student at New York City's 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: Rachel, Rebecca, and Steven Pollack. Steven Pollack 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. Of particular note were his seven films starring Robert Redford, made over a 25-year period. His films received a total of 48 Academy Award nominations, winning 11 Oscars. He won Academy Awards for directing and producing Out of Africa (1985). Pollack also received nominations for Best Director Oscars for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and Tootsie.

In addition to several roles in his own films (notably in Tootsie). While directing Tootsie, his rows with star Dustin Hoffman became well known. Eventually Hoffman began pushing the idea that Pollack play the role of his agent, and Pollack reluctantly agreed despite not having had any film roles in 20 years. 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.

He resumed his acting career with appearances in such films as Husbands and Wives (1992), The Player (1992) and Eyes Wide Shut (1999), often playing corrupt or morally conflicted power figures. As a character actor, Pollack appeared in films such as A Civil Action, and Changing Lanes, 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, and in Robert Zemeckis' Death Becomes Her as an emergency room doctor. His last role was as Patrick Dempsey's father in Made of Honor, which was playing in theaters at the time of his death. 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 on October 21, 2006. As a producer he helped to guide many films that were successful with both critics and movie audiences, such as The Fabulous Baker Boys, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Michael Clayton. In 2007, he appeared opposite George Clooney in 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
Wikinews has related news:
Film director Sydney Pollack dies at age 73

Concerns about Pollack's health had surfaced in 2007 when suddenly he stepped out of directing HBO's television film Recount.[7] The film aired on May 25, 2008. Pollack died the next day of cancer at the age of 73 at his home in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California, surrounded by family.[8] He had been diagnosed with cancer about nine months before his death.[9][2]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Director
Year Film Oscar nominations Oscar wins
1965 The Slender Thread 2
1966 This Property Is Condemned
1968 The Scalphunters
The Swimmer
1969 Castle Keep
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? 9 1
1972 Jeremiah Johnson
1973 The Way We Were 6 2
1975 Three Days of the Condor 1
The Yakuza
1977 Bobby Deerfield
1979 The Electric Horseman 1
1981 Absence of Malice 3
1982 Tootsie 10 1
1985 Out of Africa 11 7
1990 Havana 1
1993 The Firm 2
1995 Sabrina 2
1999 Random Hearts
2005 Sketches of Frank Gehry
The Interpreter

[edit] Producer

* The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) executive producer
* Presumed Innocent (1990) producer
* Sense and Sensibility (1995) executive producer
* Sliding Doors (1998) producer
* The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) executive producer
* Iris (2001) executive producer
* The Quiet American (2002) executive producer
* Cold Mountain (2003) producer
* Breaking and Entering (2006) producer
* Michael Clayton (2007) producer
* Recount (2008) executive producer

Upcoming

* Margaret (2008) producer
* The Reader (2008) producer

[edit] Appearances in film and television

* War Hunt (1962) actor
* Tootsie (1982) actor
* Husbands and Wives (1992) actor
* The Player (1992) actor
* Death Becomes Her (1992) actor (unbilled)
* A Civil Action (1998) actor
* Eyes Wide Shut (1999) actor
* Random Hearts (1999) actor
* Will & Grace (2000) actor
* King of the Hill (2000) as Grant Trimble
* Changing Lanes (2002) actor
* One Six Right (2005) as himself
* The Interpreter (2005) actor
* Avenue Montaigne (2006)
* The Sopranos (2007) actor
* Michael Clayton (2007) actor
* Entourage (2007) as himself
* Made of Honor (2008) actor