Sydney Pollack: Dies of cancer : Netglimse.com News

Sydney Pollack: Dies of cancer

Academy Award-winning director Sydney Pollack, who achieved commercial success and critical acclaim with the gender-bending comedy "Tootsie" and the period drama "Out of Africa", has died of cancer. He was 73.

Leslee Dart, a publicist said that Sydney Pollack was diagnosed with the cancer about nine months ago and died on Monday afternoon at his home in Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles. He was surrounded by his family members.

Unlike many other top directors of his era, Pollack was also a film and television actor. He used this unique position to shape a relationship with Hollywood's elite stars and made some of the most successful films of the 1970s and '80s.

In 1970, "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?," about Great Depression marathon dancers, received nine Oscar nominations, including one for Sydney Pollack's direction. He was nominated again for best director for 1982's "Tootsie," starring Dustin Hoffman as a cross-dressing actor and Pollack as his exasperated agent.

As director and producer, he won Academy Awards for the 1986 romantic epic "Out of Africa," starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep, which captured seven Oscars in all.

Sydney Pollack acted in "Michael Clayton" opposite George Clooney, which he also co-produced and received seven Oscar nominations.

Clooney said in a statement, "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. He'll be missed terribly".

Other hit films, directed by Sydney Pollack are "Absence of Malice", "The Interpreter", "The Yakuza", "The Firm", "This Property Is Condemned", "Jeremiah Johnson", "Three Days of the Condor", "The Way We Were", "The Electric Horseman", "Out of Africa" and "Havana".

The actress Sally Field said in a statement, "Having the opportunity to know Sydney and work with him was a great gift in my life. He was a good friend and a phenomenal director and I will cherish every moment that I ever spent with him".

In later years, Pollack, who stood over six feet tall and had a striking presence on screen, devoted more time to acting, appearing in Woody Allen's "Husbands and Wives," Robert Altman's "The Player," Robert Zemeckis' "Death Becomes Her" and Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut." On television, Pollack had an occasional recurring role on the NBC sitcom "Will & Grace" playing Will's father, and appeared in the "The Sopranos", "Frasier" and "Mad About You".

Sydney Pollack's last appearance was in "Made of Honor," a romantic comedy, where he played the oft-married father of star Patrick Dempsey's character.

Sydney Pollack also produced many independent films with the late Anthony Minghella and the production company Mirage Enterprises. His recent producing credits include "The Talented Mr. Ripley", "Cold Mountain", "Sketches of Frank Gehry", a documentary that was the final film directed by Pollack and the new HBO film "Recount", about the 2000 presidential election.

After appearing in a handful of Broadway productions in the 1950s, Pollack turned to directing. He began on TV series such as "Naked City" and "The Fugitive", then moved to film. His first full-length feature was "The Slender Thread", about a suicide help line.

In 2005, Sydney Pollack said that for "Tootsie," Hoffman pushed him into playing the agent role. He repeatedly sent him roses with a note, "Please be my agent. Love, Dorothy". At that point, Pollack hadn't acted in a movie in 20 years since "The War Hunt" with Redford. He acted in the movie, and the result was a hit at the box office.

Sydney Pollack is survived by his wife, Claire; two daughters, Rebecca and Rachel; his brother Bernie; and six grandchildren.