Sydney Pollack (Deceased)

Academy award-winning director, Sydney Pollack was born on July 1, 1934, in Lafayette, Indiana. After graduating from his Indiana high school, Pollack set off to New York City, where he studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse in Greenwich Village school. Pollack left the school for two years to serve in the army, eventually returning as a teacher. Pollack got his start in the entertainment industry as an actor in television dramas, eventually moving on to direct shows such as The Fugitive, and in 1965 he made his feature film directorial debut with The Slender Thread.

In 1969, Pollack achieved his directorial breakthrough with dramatic period piece They Shoot Horses, Don't They? starring Jane Fonda and Gig Young. Young took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor; and Pollack and Fonda both received Oscar nominations. Four years later, Pollack directed another drama, The Way We Were, starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. The film became one of the most popular of the decade, and featured the iconic theme song of the same name sung by Streisand.

Pollack continued to attract acclaimed actors for his films, including the 1975 movie Three Days of the Condor, starring Robert Redford, Cliff Robertson, and Faye Dunaway; as well as Absence of Malice in 1981, starring Paul Newman and Sally Field. In 1982, Pollack directed the comedy Tootsie, starring Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Bill Murray, and Geena Davis, for which he received a Best Director Oscar nomination.

Pollack’s success continued in the 90s with an adaptation of John Grisham’s The Firm, starring Tom Cruise. In addition to directing, Pollack has also served as a producer on a number of films such as Sense and Sensibility in 1994, starring Hugh Grant. Pollack has also acted in films directed by Woody Allen, including Husbands and Wives in 1992, alongside Mia Farrow, Liam Neeson, and Juliette Lewis; as well as Stanley Kubrick's last film, Eyes Wide Shut in 1999, alongside then-married couple, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Pollack also had a recurring small-screen role playing Will Truman’s dad, George Truman on the hit NBC sitcom Will & Grace, starring Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes, and Megan Mullally.

The new millennium saw Pollack producing an increasing number of films, such as the big-screen adaptation of Cold Mountain in 2003, starring Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. In 2005, Pollack returned to directing for the film The Interpreter, starring Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman.

In October of 2006, Pollack was the recipient of the first annual Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking award, from the Austin Film Festival.

On May 26th 2008 Sydney Pollack Sydney Pollack died of cancer at his home in Pacific Palisades. Sydney's last two movies, Michael Clayton and Maid Of Honour saw him acting alongside George Clooney and Patrick Dempsey.

YUDDY