Director Sydney Pollack Dies At 73
Oscar nominated movie director, producer and actor Sydney Pollack has died at his Los Angeles house at the age of 73. The cause of his death was stomach cancer.
Pollack’s movies have received multiple Academy Award nominations, and as a director he won an Oscar for his work on the 1985 film “Out of Africa” as well as nominations for directing “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” (1969) and “Tootsie” (1982).
The International Herald Tribune reports that Pollack had a notable role in a 1959 “Playhouse 90″ telecast of “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” an adaptation of the Hemingway novel directed by John Frankenheimer.
Earlier, Pollack had appeared on Broadway with Zero Mostel in “A Stone for Danny Fisher” and with Katharine Cornell and Tyrone Power in “The Dark Is Light Enough.” But he said later that he probably could not have built a career as a leading man. Instead, Pollack took the advice of Burt Lancaster, whom he had met while working with Frankenheimer, and turned to directing. Lancaster steered him to the entertainment mogul Lew Wasserman, and through him Pollack landed a directing assignment on the television series “Shotgun Slade.”
According to Examiner.com, in recent years, Pollack has also produced many independent films with filmmaker Anthony Minghella and a production company Mirage Enterprises.
Actor George Clooney is quoted speaking about Pollack’s role in the movie industry.
“Sydney made the world a little better, movies a little better and even dinner a little better. A tip of the hat to a class act,” Clooney said.
Pollack is survived by his wife, Claire; two daughters, Rebecca and Rachel; his brother Bernie; and six grandchildren.
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