Sydney Pollack(1934-2008)
- Director
- Producer
- Actor
Sydney Pollack was an Academy Award-winning director, producer, actor,
writer and public figure, who directed and produced over 40 films.
Sydney Irwin Pollack was born July 1, 1934 in Lafayette, Indiana, USA, to Rebecca (Miller), a homemaker, and David Pollack, a professional boxer turned pharmacist. All of his grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants. His parents divorced when he was young. His mother, an alcoholic, died
at age 37, when Sydney was 16. He spent his formative years in
Indiana, graduating from his HS in 1952, then moved to New York
City.
From 1952-1954 young Pollack studied acting with
Sanford Meisner at The Neighborhood
Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York. He served two years in the
army, and then returned to the Neighborhood Playhouse and taught
acting. In 1958, Pollack married his former student Claire Griswold.
They had three children. Their son, Steven Pollack, died in a plane
crash on November 26, 1993, in Santa Monica, California. Their
daughter, Rebecca Pollack, served as vice president of film production
at United Artists during the 1990s. Their youngest daughter, Rachel
Pollack, was born in 1969.
Pollack began his acting career on stage, then made his name as
television director in the early 1960s. He made his big screen acting
debut in War Hunt (1962), where he met
fellow actor Robert Redford, and
the two co-stars established a life-long friendship. Pollack called on
his good friend Redford to play opposite
Natalie Wood in
This Property Is Condemned (1966).
Pollack and Redford worked together on six more films over the years.
His biggest success came with
Out of Africa (1985), starring
Robert Redford and
Meryl Streep. The movie earned eleven
Academy Award nominations in all and seven wins, including Pollack's
two Oscars: one for Best Direction and one for Best Picture.
Pollack showed his best as a comedy director and actor in
Tootsie (1982), where he brought feminist
issues to public awareness using his remarkable wit and wisdom, and
created a highly entertaining film, which was nominated for ten Academy
Awards. Pollack's directing revealed
Dustin Hoffman's range and nuanced acting
in gender switching from a dominant boyfriend to a nurse in drag, a
brilliant collaboration of director and actor that broadened public
perception about sex roles. Pollack also made success in producing such
films as
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999),
The Quiet American (2002) and
Cold Mountain (2003). Pollack
returned to the director's chair in 2004, when he directed
The Interpreter (2005), the first
film ever shot on location at the United Nations Headquarters and
within the General Assembly in New York City.
In 2000, Sydney Pollack was honored with the John Huston Award from the
Directors Guild of America as a "defender of artists' rights." He died
from cancer on May 26, 2008, at his home in the Los Angeles suburb of
Pacific Palisades, California.
writer and public figure, who directed and produced over 40 films.
Sydney Irwin Pollack was born July 1, 1934 in Lafayette, Indiana, USA, to Rebecca (Miller), a homemaker, and David Pollack, a professional boxer turned pharmacist. All of his grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants. His parents divorced when he was young. His mother, an alcoholic, died
at age 37, when Sydney was 16. He spent his formative years in
Indiana, graduating from his HS in 1952, then moved to New York
City.
From 1952-1954 young Pollack studied acting with
Sanford Meisner at The Neighborhood
Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York. He served two years in the
army, and then returned to the Neighborhood Playhouse and taught
acting. In 1958, Pollack married his former student Claire Griswold.
They had three children. Their son, Steven Pollack, died in a plane
crash on November 26, 1993, in Santa Monica, California. Their
daughter, Rebecca Pollack, served as vice president of film production
at United Artists during the 1990s. Their youngest daughter, Rachel
Pollack, was born in 1969.
Pollack began his acting career on stage, then made his name as
television director in the early 1960s. He made his big screen acting
debut in War Hunt (1962), where he met
fellow actor Robert Redford, and
the two co-stars established a life-long friendship. Pollack called on
his good friend Redford to play opposite
Natalie Wood in
This Property Is Condemned (1966).
Pollack and Redford worked together on six more films over the years.
His biggest success came with
Out of Africa (1985), starring
Robert Redford and
Meryl Streep. The movie earned eleven
Academy Award nominations in all and seven wins, including Pollack's
two Oscars: one for Best Direction and one for Best Picture.
Pollack showed his best as a comedy director and actor in
Tootsie (1982), where he brought feminist
issues to public awareness using his remarkable wit and wisdom, and
created a highly entertaining film, which was nominated for ten Academy
Awards. Pollack's directing revealed
Dustin Hoffman's range and nuanced acting
in gender switching from a dominant boyfriend to a nurse in drag, a
brilliant collaboration of director and actor that broadened public
perception about sex roles. Pollack also made success in producing such
films as
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999),
The Quiet American (2002) and
Cold Mountain (2003). Pollack
returned to the director's chair in 2004, when he directed
The Interpreter (2005), the first
film ever shot on location at the United Nations Headquarters and
within the General Assembly in New York City.
In 2000, Sydney Pollack was honored with the John Huston Award from the
Directors Guild of America as a "defender of artists' rights." He died
from cancer on May 26, 2008, at his home in the Los Angeles suburb of
Pacific Palisades, California.