Sydney Pollack - Director, Actor, Producer: 1934 - 2008
Where do you begin to talk about the long and varied career of Sydney Pollack?
Sure, he was an actor and an Oscar winning producer/director in a career that spanned nearly 50 years, but that only seems to scratch the surface.
Though I had been aware of his work since the 1970s - Jeremiah Johnson was a big hit around our house - I wasn’t conscious of him as a man until he played Dustin Hoffman’s agent in 1982’s Tootsie, which he also directed and for which he was nominated for his second Oscar. He’d finally win three years later for Out of Africa, taking statues as both a director and a producer.
Though his directing record was spotty after that career high-water mark, he continued as a producer and occasional actor, turning in memorable parts in Woody Allen’s Husbands and Wives and Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut.
Though his name isn’t always the first mentioned along with the other big directors of the 1970s Golden Age of American cinema, it’s hard to argue with his stretch run of They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (earning him his first Oscar nomination), Jeremiah Johnson, The Way We Were, The Yakuza and Three Days of the Condor. Working with A list casts and big budgets, Pollack was behind a string of films that were not only critical and commercial successes, many were touchstones of their time.
Besides Tootsie and Out of Africa, his ’80s output included the Paul Newman courtroom drama Absence of Malice.
Tabloids reported last September that the Hollywood legend had cancer. His condition worsened and he was hospitalized in early February, just as Michael Clayton, a film which he produced and played a part in, was making its Oscar stretch run.
In his acceptance speech for the Best Picture Oscar for No Country for Old Men, Scott Rudin dedicated the award to Pollack: “I want to thank my friend, Sydney Pollack, who taught me that with the opportunity to make movies comes the responsibility of making them good. This is for him.”
Sydney Pollack is survived by his wife and two daughters. He was 73 years old.
Sydney Pollack holds his own with Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie.
Filed under: News, Obituaries
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RIP, Mr. Pollack. :-(
He was huge in our house even before I knew who he was. Didn’t hurt that my mom was a huge Redford fan.
His moments as Dustin Hoffman’s character’s agents in Tootsie were priceless. Although a lot of the credit he got (and of course the Oscar) was for his directing, he was a terrific actor, too.
I added a youtube clip of his part in Tootsie.
Marvelous clip, Craig.
RIP, Sydney Pollack.
R.I.P. Sydney Pollack.
Not all of his later films were masterpieces, but I thought he redeemed himself with The Interpreter. A little glossy and light-weight, but a perfectly crafted slow-burn political thriller. Ditto to Alison about his acting. I thought he was great in Changing Lanes and Husbands and Wives, as well as the aforementioned Tootsie. The scenes where he confronts Hoffman about being unemployable and later where he meets Hoffman in costume at the Tea Room were fantastic.
I will always remember Sydney Pollack first as a supporting actor and second as a director, even if his real legacy will ultimately lie in his directorial efforts. He was a great actor in his own right, perfect at offering the lead actor that “I love you but what the F*%& are you doing?” moment to bounce off. Plus he was funny and incisive too.
I really do miss him already. Heck, I even loved that silly ad he did recently to remind people not to talk on their phones during the movies.
He was marvelous in Tootsie, Eyes Wide Shut, Husbands and Wives, and Michael Clayton, but to name a few of his achievements as an actor. His direction for Tootise, Three Days of the Condor, Absence of Malice, and Out of Africa were also great.
RIP Sydney.
Agreed with Joel. I loved him as an actor, he always brought such an intelligence to the table. Rest in peace…
I don’t want to say too much about this here. If you want to see a tribute where I pull out all the stops check CINEMATIC PASSIONS within the next couple of hours.
In some ways this hits me even harder than ANTHONY MINGHELLA’S passing. I imagine it’s because I was all ready a teenager on the precipice of young adulthood when THE ENGLISH PATIENT came out. That was the gateway film for me in that instance.
But I grew up adoring SYDNEY POLLACK’S movies and I’m going to be completely unaccustomed to a world without his class and style. Knowing that this was inevitable doesn’t make it any easier. But being an adult woman with strength and tenacity means facing harsh realities that you would just as soon dispense with.
This life is not always about what you want. It’s very often about accepting the things that you can not change and moving on.
It is interesting how someone can have such a great impact on your life simply by making the artistic choices that were important to them. You don’t necessarily have to meet them to grieve deeply.
He gave us some great films. By all accounts he was a lovely guy.
I own a lot of things that he either acted in, produced or directed. So I can’t ever forget.
RIP, Sydney. I’m glad you were here. Just wish you could’ve stayed a little longer…
Great tribute. I actually didn’t even know he was ill, so this came as a bit of a surprise.
I have the same memories as Joel - more the acting than anything else. There was something so unique, maybe magnetic, about his presence on screen. As much as I didn’t like MC last year, he made some of the best scenes. Very sad passing of a great figure in Hollywood.