Description: Sydney Pollack was an Academy Award-winning director, producer, actor, writer and public figure, who directed and produced over 40 films. Sydney Irwin Pollack was born July 1, 1934 in Lafayette, Indiana, USA, to Rebecca (Miller), a homemaker, and David Pollack, a professional boxer turned pharmacist. All of his grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants. His parents divorced when he was young. His mother, an alcoholic, died at age 37, when Sydney was 16. He spent his formative years in Indiana, graduating from his HS in 1952, then moved to New York City. From 1952-1954 young Pollack studied acting with Sanford Meisner at Sydney Pollack was an Academy Award-winning director, producer, actor, writer and public figure, who directed and produced over 40 films.

Sydney Irwin Pollack was born July 1, 1934 in Lafayette, Indiana, USA, to Rebecca (Miller), a homemaker, and David Pollack, a professional boxer turned pharmacist. All of his grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants. His parents divorced when he was young. His mother, an alcoholic, died at age 37, when Sydney was 16. He spent his formative years in Indiana, graduating from his HS in 1952, then moved to New York City.

From 1952-1954 young Pollack studied acting with Sanford Meisner at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York. He served two years in the army, and then returned to the Neighborhood Playhouse and taught acting. In 1958, Pollack married his former student Claire Griswold. They had three children. Their son, Steven Pollack, died in a plane crash on November 26, 1993, in Santa Monica, California. Their daughter, Rebecca Pollack, served as vice president of film production at United Artists during the 1990s. Their youngest daughter, Rachel Pollack, was born in 1969.

Pollack began his acting career on stage, then made his name as television director in the early 1960s. He made his big screen acting debut in War Hunt (1962), where he met fellow actor Robert Redford, and the two co-stars established a life-long friendship. Pollack called on his good friend Redford to play opposite Natalie Wood in This Property Is Condemned (1966). Pollack and Redford worked together on six more films over the years. His biggest success came with Out of Africa (1985), starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. The movie earned eleven Academy Award nominations in all and seven wins, including Pollack's two Oscars: one for Best Direction and one for Best Picture.

Pollack showed his best as a comedy director and actor in Tootsie (1982), where he brought feminist issues to public awareness using his remarkable wit and wisdom, and created a highly entertaining film, which was nominated for ten Academy Awards. Pollack's directing revealed Dustin Hoffman's range and nuanced acting in gender switching from a dominant boyfriend to a nurse in drag, a brilliant collaboration of director and actor that broadened public perception about sex roles. Pollack also made success in producing such films as The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), The Quiet American (2002) and Cold Mountain (2003). Pollack returned to the director's chair in 2004, when he directed The Interpreter (2005), the first film ever shot on location at the United Nations Headquarters and within the General Assembly in New York City.

In 2000, Sydney Pollack was honored with the John Huston Award from the Directors Guild of America as a "defender of artists' rights." He died from cancer on May 26, 2008, at his home in the Los Angeles suburb of Pacific Palisades, California. ... (more)

Tags: Actor (17), Director (7), Oscar Winner (6), American (5), Male (4), Jewish (3), Born 1934 (3), Producer (3), Died 2008 (3), Deceased (2), US Army (2), Cancer (2), Out Of Africa (1), Consultant (1), The Interpreter (1), The Firm (1), Random Hearts (1), Sabrina (1), Tootsie (1), Meryl Streep (1)

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TV

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1. The Sopranos (1999)

Rating:

8.5

1829 Watched

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2. Will & Grace (1998)

Rating:

6.6

1812 Watched

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3. Frasier (1993)

Rating:

6.8

1474 Watched

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4. King of the Hill (1997)

Rating:

6.4

1454 Watched

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5. The Twilight Zone

Rating:

8.2

858 Watched

View all Sydney Pollack TV (39 more)

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1. Cannes Film Festival (1952)

Rating:

46 Watched

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2. The Sopranos (1999)

Rating:

8.5

1829 Watched

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3. Charlie Rose

Rating:

8.5

45 Watched

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4. Biography (1987)

Rating:

8.4

102 Watched

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5. Inside the Actors Studio (1994)

Rating:

8.4

120 Watched

View all Sydney Pollack TV (39 more)

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1. The Last Movie Stars

Rating:

9.3

7 Watched

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2. The Last Movie Stars

0 want to see

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3. The 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009)

Rating:

7.8

76 Watched

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4. Elvis Mitchell: Under the Influence (2008)

Rating:

8.5

2 Watched

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5. The Last Mogul (2005)

Rating:

6.3

9 Watched

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Movies

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1. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Rating:

3066 Watched

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2. Death Becomes Her (1992)

Rating:

6.4

1725 Watched

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3. Tootsie (1982)

Rating:

6.9

1103 Watched

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4. The Interpreter (2005)

Rating:

6.1

916 Watched

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5. Michael Clayton (2007)

Rating:

6.8

846 Watched

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1. Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (2003)

Rating:

7.7

91 Watched

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2. Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2001)

Rating:

7.5

144 Watched

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3. The Player (1992)

Rating:

7.4

483 Watched

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4. Husbands and Wives (1992)

Rating:

7.2

263 Watched

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5. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

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3066 Watched

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1. Robert Redford: L'ange blond (2019)

1 want to see

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2. Milius (2013)

Rating:

6.6

20 Watched

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3. Made of Honor (2008)

Rating:

5.6

695 Watched

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4. The Visions of Stanley Kubrick (2007)

Rating:

7.9

9 want to see

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5. View from the Overlook: Crafting 'the Shining' (2007)

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5 Watched

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1. Tootsie (1982)

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6.9

1103 Watched

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2. The Firm (1993)

Rating:

6.5

964 Watched

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3. The Interpreter (2005)

Rating:

6.1

916 Watched

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4. Out of Africa (1985)

Rating:

6.9

588 Watched

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5. Sabrina (1995)

Rating:

5.8

525 Watched

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1. The Swimmer (1968)

Rating:

7.8

123 Watched

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2. They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)

Rating:

7.7

180 Watched

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3. This Property Is Condemned (1966)

Rating:

7.4

65 Watched

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4. Jeremiah Johnson (1972)

Rating:

7.4

171 Watched

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5. Three Days of the Condor (1975)

Rating:

7.4

331 Watched

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1. Sketches of Frank Gehry (2006)

Rating:

7.7

8 Watched

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2. The Interpreter (2005)

Rating:

6.1

916 Watched

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3. Random Hearts (1999)

Rating:

4.6

144 Watched

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4. The Firm (1993)

Rating:

6.5

964 Watched

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5. Havana (1990)

Rating:

5.9

57 Watched

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TV directed by

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1. The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962)

Rating:

8.1

42 Watched

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2. The Fugitive (1963-1967)

Rating:

8.4

29 Watched

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3. American Masters

Rating:

9.2

28 Watched

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4. Wagon Train (1957)

Rating:

8.1

18 Watched

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5. Dr. Kildare (2002)

Rating:

8.4

11 Watched

View all Sydney Pollack TV (10 more)

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1. The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962)

Rating:

8.1

42 Watched

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1. American Masters

Rating:

9.2

28 Watched

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2. The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962)

Rating:

8.1

42 Watched

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3. The Fugitive (1963-1967)

Rating:

8.4

29 Watched

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4. The Defenders (1961-1965)

Rating:

9.5

3 want to see

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5. Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre

Rating:

9.4

4 Watched

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" Victor Ziegler - Eyes Wide Shut "Listen, Bill. Nobody killed anybody. Someone died. It happens all the time. Life goes on. It always does, until it doesn't. But you know that, don't you?" "

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"Robert Redford - This Property is Condemned (1966) - Jeremiah Johnson (1972) - The Way We Were (1973) - Three Days of the Condor (1975) - The Electric Horseman (1979) - Out of Africa (1985) - Havana (1990) "

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