Sydney Pollack

2.1. Childhood and Family Background

Sydney Irwin Pollack was born on July 1, 1934, in Lafayette, Indiana. He came from a family of Jewish immigrants, with his family originating from Ukraine. His father, David Pollack, was a semi-professional boxer and pharmacist, and his mother was Rebecca (née Miller). The family later relocated to South Bend, Indiana. His parents divorced when he was young, and his mother, who struggled with alcoholism and emotional problems, tragically died at the age of 37 when Pollack was 16 years old.

2.2. Education and Early Acting Training

Despite initial plans to attend college and then medical school, Pollack chose a different path after completing high school. At the age of 17, he left Indiana and moved to New York City. There, from 1952 to 1954, he pursued his passion for acting, studying under the renowned acting coach Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. During this period, he supported himself by working on a lumber truck between academic terms. In February 1955, Pollack made his Broadway debut in Christopher Fry's play The Dark Is Light Enough. Following this, he transitioned to television, appearing in various episodic series.

2.3. Military Service and Transition to Directing

Pollack's early career was interrupted by two years of military service, during which he served as a truck driver at Fort Carson, Colorado. His service concluded in 1958. Upon his return, he was invited by Sanford Meisner to become his assistant at the Neighborhood Playhouse. In 1960, Pollack's friend, director John Frankenheimer, asked him to come to Los Angeles to work as a dialogue coach for the child actors in Frankenheimer's film The Young Savages. It was during this time that Pollack met actor Burt Lancaster, who recognized Pollack's potential and encouraged the young actor to try directing. By 1961, Pollack began directing episodes for television series, marking his entry into the directorial field.

3.1. Directing Career

Pollack began his directing career in television in the 1960s, helming episodes for popular series such as The Fugitive and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. His feature film directorial debut came in 1965 with The Slender Thread. Over his career, Pollack directed 21 feature films, many of which achieved both commercial and critical success. He frequently collaborated with actor Robert Redford, who starred as the male lead in seven of Pollack's films.

Pollack's films collectively received a remarkable 48 Academy Award nominations, securing 11 wins. His first Academy Award nomination for Best Director was for the 1969 film They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, a poignant drama about a dance marathon during the Great Depression. He received a second Best Director nomination in 1982 for the acclaimed comedy Tootsie, which also earned him a Best Picture nomination. His most significant triumph came with the 1985 epic romantic drama Out of Africa, starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, for which Pollack won both the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Picture.

Pollack was known for his ability to elicit strong performances from his actors. He directed 12 actors in Oscar-nominated performances, with Gig Young winning for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and Jessica Lange winning for Tootsie. Other actors who received nominations under his direction include Jane Fonda, Susannah York, Barbra Streisand, Paul Newman, Melinda Dillon, Dustin Hoffman, Teri Garr, Meryl Streep, Klaus Maria Brandauer, and Holly Hunter. His directorial style often explored complex characters and human relationships within diverse genres, from westerns and thrillers to romantic dramas and comedies.

3.2. Producing Career

Beyond his directorial achievements, Sydney Pollack made significant contributions as a film producer. In 1984, he co-founded the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles, becoming its co-chairman, demonstrating his commitment to film preservation and education. He also established his own production company, Mirage Enterprises, with English director Anthony Minghella.

Through Mirage Enterprises and other ventures, Pollack produced numerous successful and critically acclaimed films. These include Songwriter (1984), Bright Lights, Big City (1988), The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), Presumed Innocent (1990), Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Sliding Doors (1998), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Iris (2001), Birthday Girl (2001), The Quiet American (2002), Cold Mountain (2003), Breaking and Entering (2006), and Michael Clayton (2007). Michael Clayton earned him his sixth Academy Award nomination, in the Best Picture category. The last film he produced with Anthony Minghella, The Reader (2008), earned them both posthumous Oscar nominations for Best Picture.

3.3. Acting Career

Pollack began his career as an actor, appearing in the 1960 The Twilight Zone episode "The Trouble with Templeton" as a director. His feature film acting debut was in Denis Sanders' War Hunt (1962), where he first met Robert Redford.

He resumed acting more frequently in the 1990s, often portraying corrupt or morally conflicted figures in positions of power. His notable acting roles include Dick Mellon in Robert Altman's The Player (1992), Jack in Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives (1992), an uncredited emergency room doctor in Robert Zemeckis's Death Becomes Her (1992), Al Eustis in A Civil Action (1998), and Victor Ziegler in Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut (1999). He also appeared in his own directed films, such as George Fields in Tootsie (1982), Carl Broman in Random Hearts (1999), and an uncredited role as Secret Service Director Jay Pettigrew in The Interpreter (2005), which was his final non-documentary film as a director.

On television, Pollack was a recurring guest star on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace, playing Will Truman's unfaithful but loving father, George Truman, for four episodes (2000-2006). He also made guest appearances on Just Shoot Me! (2000), Mad About You (1998), The Sopranos (2007), and Entourage (2007). His final film role was Thomas Bailey Sr., Patrick Dempsey's father, in the 2008 romantic comedy Made of Honor, which was released shortly before his death.

4.1. Filmography as Director and Producer

Pollack directed 21 films and produced or executive produced 44 films during his career.

4.2. Acting Filmography

Pollack appeared in over 30 films and numerous television series throughout his career.

Television Acting Roles

5.1. Personal Awards and Nominations

Pollack's personal accolades highlight his significant impact on filmmaking.

5.2. Film Awards and Nominations

Films directed or produced by Sydney Pollack received numerous awards and nominations from major bodies.

5.3. Directed Oscar-Winning Performances

Pollack's skill in directing actors is evident in the numerous Academy Award-nominated and winning performances he elicited.

6.1. Marriage and Family

Sydney Pollack was married to Claire Bradley Griswold, a former student of his, from 1958 until his death in 2008. They had three children: Steven (born 1959), Rebecca (born 1963), and Rachel (born 1969). In November 1993, a tragic event occurred when their son, Steven, died at the age of 34. He was involved in a small, single-engine plane crash in Santa Monica, California, which clipped a power line and burst into flames, killing him and another person. Claire Griswold passed away on March 28, 2011, at the age of 74, due to Parkinson's disease.

6.2. Health and Death

Concerns about Pollack's health began to surface in 2007 when he withdrew from directing the HBO television film Recount, which aired on May 25, 2008. He had been diagnosed with cancer approximately ten months prior to his death. The specific type of cancer has been variously reported as pancreatic, stomach, or of unknown primary origin. Sydney Pollack died peacefully at his home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on May 26, 2008, at the age of 73.