Sydney Pollack is dead at 73

By Matt Holmes / June 25, 2011

Prolific actor, producer, director and all around nice guy - Sydney Pollack died at his home yesterday, losing his battle with cancer at the age of 73.

Pollack worked in the industry successfully for three decades, never suffering a dip in his career, though he never really changed his methods or persona. They say truly talented people can work in the industry during any era, and Pollack certainly carried that sense about him. Always in demand for making movies, always with interesting stories to tell or characters to play. He leaves behind a fantastic film legacy... 20 movies as a director... Pollack's finest achievement, Out of Africa - a movie that won him a Best Director and Best Picture Oscar about a doomed love affair between Robert Redford and Meryl Streep set in 20th century Kenya.

He was also Oscar nominated for Tootsie, where Pollack's off screen disagreements with star Dustin Hoffman became legendary, adding extra authenticity to their scenes together in the movie. It's probably the most fun way to remember Pollack, watching him get angrier and angrier as the movie goes on. And They Shoot Horses Don't They?

Other notable films, being the pretty decent Tom Cruise thriller The Firm, a movie which is often regarded as helming the A-List star move into more adult material... Two Harrison Ford movies, both of which were a little under-cooked. The comedy Sabrina and the drama Random Hearts.

And more recently The Interpreter, his last feature movie as a director which just missed out on Oscar acclaim...

He also directed several other movies with Robert Redford including Jeremiah Johnson, The Electric Horseman, The Way We Were, Three Days of the Condor and Havana which resulted in a really interesting partnership of films in their own right. However to the modern day film-goer, he may be more recognisable as the great character actor he was, especially during the last ten years of his career. He had a great face for any authoritative role going, in political drama's (he put himself in The Interperter), uber convincing as a journalist (Michael Clayton), a studio executive (The Majestic), a lawyer (Changing Lanes, Husbands and Wives) - though his last role saw him play a wisecracking dad in the forgettable comedy Made of Honor.

He always said his acting was the weakest part of his talent and would only appear in movies to watch how other great directors would work. Maybe he never truly realised how interesting he was to watch on film. One such director was Stanley Kubrick, who he saw helm his last movie in Eyes Wide Shut... Pollack also produced over 40 films, including Presumed Innocent, Sense and Sensibility, The Talented Mr. Ripley and Michael Clayton among others, Clayton he was a huge part of the movie's sucess. George Clooney said the following yesterday to the LA Times...

"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."

Sadly Sunday night was to the day the HBO production Recount, about the fall-out of the 2000 Presidential campaign which should have seen Pollack credited as a director but he had to pull out some months ago because of his failing health. Unfortunately his health problems were more serious than I originally had thought and he is now gone. He will certainly be missed, by those who appreciated films with great storytelling and those movie goers who always found him an interesting and easily distinguishable character actor.