Sydney Pollack

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).

• Birth Name — Sydney Irwin Pollack • Born — 1 July 1934 • Birthplace — Lafayette, Indiana, U.S. • Died — 26 May 2008 • Place of death — Los Angeles, California, U.S. • Years Active — 1955–2008 • Occupation — * Film director • producer • actor • Children — 3

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. Pollack was drafted for two years' army service as a truck driver at Fort Carson, Colorado, ending in 1958. He returned to the Playhouse at Meisner's invitation to become his assistant. In 1960, John Frankenheimer, a friend of Pollack's, asked him to work in Los Angeles as a dialogue coach for the child actors in Frankenheimer's first big movie, The Young Savages. During this time Pollack met Burt Lancaster, who encouraged him to try directing.

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). Pollack's films received 48 Academy Award nominations and won 11 Oscars. His first Oscar nomination was for his 1969 film They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, and his second in 1982 for Tootsie. For his 1985 film Out of Africa, starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, Pollack won Academy Awards for directing and producing. His other notable films include Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Way We Were (1973), The Yakuza (1974), Absence of Malice (1981), The Firm (1993), and Sabrina (1995). Pollack directed 12 actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Jane Fonda, Gig Young, Susannah York, Barbra Streisand, Paul Newman, Melinda Dillon, Jessica Lange, Dustin Hoffman, Teri Garr, Meryl Streep, Klaus Maria Brandauer, and Holly Hunter. Young and Lange won Oscars for their performances in Pollack's films. In 1984, Pollack helped found the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles, becoming co-chairman. 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.

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

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. He had been diagnosed about ten months before his death; the type of cancer has been variously cited as pancreatic, stomach, or of unknown primary origin.

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 Rogers Bert 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

• Year — Award — Category — Project — Result • 1970 — 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 Awards and nominations received by Pollack's films • Year — Title — Academy Awards — BAFTA Awards — Golden Globe Awards • Nominations — Wins — Nominations — Wins — Nominations — Wins • 1965 — The Slender Thread — 2 — 1 • 1966 — This Property Is Condemned — 1 • 1968 — The Scalphunters — 1 • 1969 — They Shoot Horses, Don't They? — 9 — 1 — 6 — 1 — 6 — 1 • 1973 — The Way We Were — 6 — 2 — 1 — 2 — 1 • 1975 — Three Days of the Condor — 1 — 1 • 1977 — Bobby Deerfield — 1 • 1979 — The Electric Horseman — 1 • 1981 — Absence of Malice — 3 — 2 • 1982 — Tootsie — 10 — 1 — 9 — 2 — 5 — 3 • 1985 — Out of Africa — 11 — 7 — 7 — 3 — 6 — 3 • 1990 — Havana — 1 — 1 • 1993 — The Firm — 2 — 1 • 1995 — Sabrina — 2 — 3 • Total — 48 — 11 — 24 — 6 — 30 — 8 Directed Academy Award performances Under Pollack's direction, these actors have received Academy Award wins and nominations for their performances in their respective roles. • Year — Performer — Film — Result • Academy Award for Best Actor • 1981 — Paul Newman — Absence of Malice • 1982 — Dustin Hoffman — Tootsie • Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor • 1969 — Gig Young — They Shoot Horses, Don't They? • 1985 — Klaus Maria Brandauer — Out of Africa • Academy Award for Best Actress • 1969 — Jane Fonda — They Shoot Horses, Don't They? • 1973 — Barbra Streisand — The Way We Were • 1985 — Meryl Streep — Out of Africa • Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress • 1969 — Susannah York — They Shoot Horses, Don't They? • 1981 — Melinda Dillon — Absence of Malice • 1982 — Jessica Lange — Tootsie • Teri Garr • 1993 — Holly Hunter — The Firm