SYDNEY POLLACK

'Sydney Pollack' (born July 1, 1934)
^[1]
is an Academy Award-winning American film director, producer and actor. He has directed over 21 films and 10 television shows, acted in over 30 films or shows, and produced over 44 films.
Sydney Pollack is best known for directing films ''Out of Africa'' (Academy Awards, 1985), ''Tootsie'' (1982), ''Three Days of the Condor'' (1975), ''The Way We Were'' and ''Jeremiah Johnson'' (1972), along with newer films ''The Interpreter'' (2005), ''Sabrina (1995 film)'', ''The Firm'' (1993) and ''Havana''. He has appeared in over 15 films, including ''The Interpreter'' (2005), ''Eyes Wide Shut'' (1999), ''Husbands and Wives'' (1992), ''The Player'' and ''The Electric Horseman'' (1979).

Contents

Career

Personal life

Selected filmography

Director

Producer

Actor

External links

Career

Born in Lafayette, Indiana, Pollack studied with Sanford Meisner at The Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City from 1952 to 1954. He later taught acting there from 1954 to 1959 before embarking on his acting career. He then moved behind the camera to direct and produce. His directing career began in the 1960s with episodes of TV series such as ''The Fugitive'' and ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents''. He won the Academy Award for Directing for ''Out of Africa'' (1985). Pollack had previously been nominated for Best Director Oscars for ''They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' and ''Tootsie''.
While directing ''Tootsie'', his rows with Dustin Hoffman became well known. Eventually Hoffman began pushing the idea that Pollack play the role of his agent and Pollack reluctantly agreed. Their off-screen relationship added authenticity to their scenes in the movie, most of which feature them arguing. Pollack has since taken on more acting roles in addition to producing and directing.
As a character actor, Pollack has subsequently appeared in films such as ''A Civil Action'', ''Changing Lanes'' and ''Eyes Wide Shut'', as well as his own including ''The Interpreter''. He also appeared in Woody Allen's ''Husbands and Wives'' as a New York lawyer undergoing a mid-life crisis.
He had a recurring guest star role on the NBC sitcom ''Will & Grace'', playing Will Truman's (Eric McCormack) unfaithful but loving father, George Truman. In 2007 Pollack made guest appearances on the HBO TV series ''The Sopranos'' and ''Entourage''.
Sydney Pollack received the first annual Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking award from the Austin Film Festival October 21, 2006.

Personal life

His parents divorced when he was young and his mother, an alcoholic, died at the age of 37 when Pollack was sixteen. His brother is the costume designer, producer and actor Bernie Pollack.
Pollack has been married to Claire Griswold, a former student of his, since 1958. They had three children, one of whom, Steven Pollack, died in a plane crash in 1993.
He appeared as himself in the Documentary One Six Right, describing his joy of owning and piloting his Citation X jet aircraft.

Selected filmography

Director

★ ''War Hunt'' (1962) actor -- film debut

★ ''The Slender Thread'' (1965) director

★ ''This Property Is Condemned'' (1966) director

★ ''The Scalphunters' (1968) director

★ ''The Swimmer'' (1968) co-director

★ ''Castle Keep'' (1969) director

★ ''They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' (1969) director

★ ''Jeremiah Johnson'' (1972) director

★ ''The Way We Were'' (1973) director

★ ''Three Days of the Condor'' (1975) director

★ ''The Yakuza'' (1975) director/producer

★ ''Bobby Deerfield'' (1977) director/producer

★ ''The Electric Horseman'' (1979) director/actor

★ ''Absence of Malice'' (1981) director/producer

★ ''Tootsie'' (1982) director/producer/actor

★ ''Out of Africa'' (1985) director/producer

★ ''Havana'' (1990) director/co-producer

★ ''The Firm'' (1993) director/producer

★ ''Sabrina'' (1995) director/producer

★ ''Random Hearts'' (1999) director

★ ''Sketches of Frank Gehry'' (2005) director

★ ''The Interpreter'' (2005) director, executive producer, and actor

Producer

★ ''The Fabulous Baker Boys'' (1989) executive producer

★ ''Sense and Sensibility'' (1995) executive producer

★ ''Sliding Doors'' (1998) producer

★ ''The Talented Mr. Ripley'' (1999) executive producer

★ ''Iris'' (2001) executive producer

★ ''The Quiet American'' (2002) executive producer

★ ''Cold Mountain'' (2003) producer

★ ''Breaking and Entering'' (2006) producer

Actor

★ ''Husbands and Wives'' (1992) actor

★ ''Eyes Wide Shut'' (1999) actor

★ ''Changing Lanes'' (2002) actor

★ ''One Six Right'' (2005) self

★ ''The Interpreter'' (2005) actor

★ ''Avenue Montaigne'' (2006) acting as himself

★ ''The Sopranos'' (2007) actor

★ ''Michael Clayton'' (2007) actor

★ ''Entourage'' (2007) acting as himself

External links

★

★ Existentiality of Pollack