Sydney Pollack

Sydney Irwin Pollack (July 1, 1934 – May 26, 2008) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known for directing commercially and critically acclaimed studio films, he received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards, in addition to nominations for three Golden Globe Awards and six BAFTA Awards in a career spanning more than 40 years.

Pollack won the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for Out of Africa (1985). He was also nominated for Academy Awards for Best Director for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) and Tootsie (1982). Pollack's other notable films include This Property Is Condemned (1966), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Way We Were (1973), The Yakuza (1974), Three Days of the Condor (1975), Absence of Malice (1981), The Firm (1993), and Sabrina (1995).

Pollack produced and acted in Michael Clayton (2007). Other films he produced include The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), Sense and Sensibility (1995), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Iris (2001), Cold Mountain (2003) and The Reader (2008). Pollack also acted in Tootsie (1982), Robert Altman's The Player (1992), Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives (1993), and Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut (1999).

Early life Pollack was born in Lafayette, Indiana, to a family of Jewish immigrants, the son of Rebecca (née Miller) and David Pollack, a semi-professional boxer and pharmacist. The family relocated to South Bend, and his parents divorced when he was young. His mother, who suffered from alcoholism and emotional problems, died at age 37, when Pollack was 16.

Despite earlier plans to attend college and then medical school, Pollack left Indiana for New York City soon after finishing high school at 17. From 1952 to 1954 he studied acting with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, working on a lumber truck between terms. ending in 1958. He returned to the Playhouse at Meisner's invitation to become his assistant.

Career Pollack played a director in the 1960 The Twilight Zone episode "The Trouble with Templeton". He made his feature film debut as an actor in Denis Sanders's War Hunt (1962), where he met Robert Redford, the male lead in seven films Pollack directed.

Pollack first found success in television in the 1960s by directing episodes of series, such as The Fugitive and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. After that he directed a string of movies that drew public attention. His directorial debut was The Slender Thread (1965).

One of a select group of non- and/or former actors awarded membership in the Actors Studio, Pollack resumed acting in the 1990s with appearances in Robert Altman's The Player (1992) and Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut (1999), often playing corrupt or morally conflicted power figures. As a character actor, he appeared in films such as A Civil Action (1998), and Changing Lanes (2002), as well as his own, including Three Days of the Condor (1975), The Electric Horseman (1979), Random Hearts (1999), and The Interpreter (2005, his final non-documentary film as a director). He also appeared in Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives (1992) as a New York lawyer undergoing a midlife crisis, and in Robert Zemeckis's Death Becomes Her (1992) as an emergency room doctor. His last role was as Patrick Dempsey's father in the 2008 romantic comedy Made of Honor, which was in theaters at the time of his death. He was a recurring guest star on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace, playing Will Truman's (Eric McCormack) unfaithful but loving father, George. He also appeared on NBC's Just Shoot Me and Mad About You and in 2007 made guest appearances on HBO's The Sopranos and Entourage.

Pollack received the first annual Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking award from the Austin Film Festival on October 21, 2006. As a producer, he helped guide many films that were successful with both critics and audiences, such as The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), Sense and Sensibility (1995), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Iris (2001), Cold Mountain (2003), and Michael Clayton (2007), a film in which he also starred and for which he received his sixth Academy Award nomination, in the Best Picture category. Pollack and the English director Anthony Minghella formed the production company Mirage Enterprises. The last film they produced together, The Reader (2008), earned them both posthumous Oscar nominations for Best Picture. Pollack was also nominated for five Primetime Emmys, earning two: one for directing in 1966 and another for producing, which was given four months after his death in 2008.

The moving image collection of Sydney Pollack is housed at the Academy Film Archive.

Influences In the 2002 Sight & Sound Directors' Poll, Pollack listed his top ten films in alphabetical order:

Casablanca (1943) Citizen Kane (1941) The Conformist (1970) The Godfather Part II (1974) Grand Illusion (1937) The Leopard (1963) Once Upon a Time in America (1984) Raging Bull (1980) The Seventh Seal (1957) Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Personal life Pollack was married to Claire Bradley Griswold, a former student of his, from 1958 until his death in 2008. They had three children.

Death Concerns about Pollack's health surfaced in 2007, when he withdrew from directing HBO's television film Recount, which aired on May 25, 2008. He died from cancer the next day at his home in Los Angeles's Pacific Palisades neighborhood, aged 73. stomach, or of unknown primary origin.

Filmography Film Directing and producing YearTitleDirectorProducerNotes 1965 The Slender Thread Paramount Pictures 1966 This Property Is Condemned 1968 The Scalphunters United Artists 1969 Castle Keep Columbia Pictures They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Cinerama Releasing Corporation 1972 Jeremiah Johnson Warner Bros. 1973 The Way We Were Columbia Pictures 1974 The Yakuza Warner Bros. 1975 Three Days of the Condor Paramount Pictures 1977 Bobby Deerfield Warner Bros./Columbia Pictures 1979 The Electric Horseman Columbia Pictures/Universal Pictures 1981 Absence of Malice Columbia Pictures 1982 Tootsie 1985 Out of Africa Universal Pictures 1990 Havana 1993 The Firm Paramount Pictures 1995 Sabrina 1999 Random Hearts Columbia Pictures 2005 The Interpreter Universal Pictures 2006 Sketches of Frank Gehry Sony Pictures Classics 2018 Amazing Grace Neon

As executive producer Sanford Meisner: The American Theatre's Best Kept Secret (1985) The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) King Ralph (1991) Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993) Sense and Sensibility (1995) The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) Blow Dry (2001) Iris (2001) Birthday Girl (2001) The Quiet American (2002) Catch a Fire (2006) Leatherheads (2008) Recount (2008)

As producer only Songwriter (1984) Bright Lights, Big City (1988) Presumed Innocent (1990) Sliding Doors (1998) Cold Mountain (2003) Breaking and Entering (2006) Michael Clayton (2007) The Reader (2008) Margaret (2011)

Acting roles Year Title Role Notes 1962 War Hunt Sergeant Owen Van Horn 1975 Three Days of the Condor Taxi Driver 1979 The Electric Horseman Man Who Makes Pass At Alice Uncredited 1982 Tootsie George Fields 1992 The Player Dick Mellon Death Becomes Her Emergency Room Doctor Uncredited Husbands and Wives Jack 1998 A Civil Action Al Eustis 1999 Eyes Wide Shut Victor Ziegler Random Hearts Carl Broman 2001 The Majestic Studio Executive Voice 2002 Changing Lanes Stephen Delano 2005 The Interpreter Secret Service Director Jay Pettigrew Uncredited 2006 Fauteuils d'orchestre Brian Sobinski 2007 Michael Clayton Marty Bach 2008 Made of Honor Thomas Bailey Sr. Final film role

Television Acting roles Year Title Role Notes 1956 The Kaiser Aluminum Hour Shuber Episode: "The Army Game" 1959 Playhouse 90 Andres Episodes: "For Whom the Bell Tolls: Parts 1 & 2" The United States Steel Hour Benson Episode: "The Case of Julia Walton" Armstrong Circle Theatre Albert Rousseau Episode: "35 Rue Du Marche" Startime Harry Episode: "Something Special" 1959–1964 Brenner Detective Al Dunn 3 episodes 1960 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Bernie Samuelson Season 6 Episode 4: "The Contest for Aaron Gold" The Twilight Zone Arthur Willis Episode: "The Trouble with Templeton" Tales of Wells Fargo Stan Ryker Episode: "Angry Town" 1961 The Untouchables Charlie Episode: "The Big Train Part One" Have Gun – Will Travel Joe Culp Episodes: "Quiet Night in Town: Part 1 & 2" The Deputy Chuck Johnson Episode: "Spoken in Silence" The Asphalt Jungle Louie Episode: "The Professor" 1961–1962 The New Breed Austin RogersBert Masters 2 episodes 1962 Ben Casey Unknown Episode: "Monument to an Aged Hunter" 1994 Frasier Holden Thorpe (voice) Episode: "The Candidate" 1998 Mad About You Dr. Sydney Warren Episode: "Cheating on Sheila" 2000 Just Shoot Me! Himself Episode: "A&E Biography: Nina Van Horn" King of the Hill Grant Trimble Voice; Season 4: "Episode 23" 2000–2006 Will & Grace George Truman 4 episodes 2003 Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin Narrator Voice; Documentary 2005 One Six Right: The Romance of Flying Himself Documentary 2006 American Masters Narrator Episode: "John Ford/John Wayne" 2007 The Sopranos Warren Feldman Episode: "Stage 5" Entourage Himself

Accolades Year Award Category Project Result1970 Academy Awards Best Director They Shoot Horses, Don't They? 1983 Best Picture Tootsie Best Director 1986 Best Picture Out of Africa Best Director 2008 Best Picture Michael Clayton 2009 The Reader 1963 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Directing – Drama Series Ben Casey 1964 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre 1966 2008 Outstanding Television Movie Recount Outstanding Variety Special James Taylor: One Man Band 1969 Golden Globe Awards Best Director They Shoot Horses Don't They? 1982 Tootsie 1985 Out of Africa 1983 British Academy Film Awards Best Film Tootsie Best Director 1998 Outstanding British Film Sliding Doors 2003 Best Film Cold Mountain Outstanding British Film 2008 Best Film The Reader

Directed Academy Award performances Under Pollack's direction, these actors have received Academy Award wins and nominations for their performances in their respective roles.