Sydney Pollack

Sydney Irwin Pollack was an eminent American film director, producer, and actor who was renowned for directing commercially and critically acclaimed studio films. He was active in his career for over four decades, during which he received countless accolades including two Academy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards and six BAFTA Awards. Pollack's glorious directorial spectrum includes some of the greatest films like Out of Africa, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, Tootsie, Jeremiah Johnson, The Way We Were, Three Days of the Condor, Absence of Malice, The Firm, and Sabrina. He garnered his first Oscar nomination for the film 'They Shoot Horses, Don't They?' and his second for 'Tootsie'. For his masterpiece film 'Out of Africa' starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, Pollack was rewarded with Academy Awards for directing and producing.

Outside directing, he produced and acted in films such as Michael Clayton, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Sense and Sensibility, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Iris, Cold Mountain, and The Reader. As an actor, he made appearances in films like The Player, Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives, and Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. Though Pollack commenced his acting career in the late '90s, he made a significant impact and often portrayed characters that were corrupt or morally conflicted power figures. His final non-documentary directorial film was The Interpreter. Pollack's last role was in the romantic comedy 'Made of Honor', in which he played Patrick Dempsey's father. The movie was playing in theaters when he passed away. As a producer, Pollack launched many films that were successful both critically and commercially, such as The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Michael Clayton.