Born July 1, 1934 in Lafayette, Indiana, Sydney Pollack was the son of a former boxer turned pharmacist and his wife, an alcoholic who died when he was 16.
Pollack moved to New York after graduating from high school in 1952 From 1952-1954 he studied acting at The Neighborhood Playhouse. He then served two years in the army, returning to the Neighborhood Playhouse to teach acting. In 1958, Pollack married his former student, Claire Griswold with whom he had three children.
Pollack first acted on the stage and then on TV where his association with director John Frankenheimer led to his being hired by Frankenheimer to coach the young actors in his 1961 film, The Young Savages. The film’s star Burt Lancaster took a liking to him and referred him to his former agent, now Universal chairman, Lew Wasserman who put him to work directing episodes of TV series.
Pollack’s first film as an actor was 1962’s War Hunt where he met Robert Redford who he would cast in many of his films as a director.
The future Oscar winner made his debut as a film director with 1965’s The Slender Thread starring Sidney Poitier and Anne Bancroft, followed by 1966’s This Property Is Condemned with Natalie Wood and Redford. That was followed by three with Lancaster, 1968’s The Scalphunters and The Swimmer, and 1969’s Castle Keep. Then came 1969’s They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? with Jane Fonda and Michael Sarrazin for which he received his first Oscar nomination.
In 1972, Pollack connected again with Redford in the 1850s frontier drama, Jermiah Johnson and then directed Redford opposite Barbra Streisand in the 1973 megahit, The Way We Were. He then went to Japan to direct 1974’s The Yakuza with Robert Mitchum and Ken Takakura. He returned to the U.S. for the 1975 thriller, Three Days of the Condor with Redford and Faye Dunaway.
The director’s next film, 1977’s Bobby Deerfield, a racing film with Al Pacino, was his first flop. His next, 1979’s The Electric Horseman with Redford and Fonda was only a moderate success, but 1981’s Absence of Malice with Paul Newman and Sally Field was another huge success.
1982’s Tootsie with Dustin Hofman and Jessica Lange was Pollack’s biggest hit yet, a film for which he received his second and third Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director.
1985’s Out of Africa was another huge success, earning him Oscars for both Best Picture and Best Director.
Pollack’s 1990 film, Havana starring Redford and Lena Olin was a major flop, but he rebounded with 1993’s The Firm with Tom Cruise.
Pollack’s 1995 remake of Sabrina with Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond was modestly successful but his 1999 film, Random Hearts with Ford and Kirstin Scott Thomas was a huge flop. He hit pay dirt that year, though, as producer of Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr. Ripley. He was Oscar nominated once again for Best Picture for producing 2006’s Michael Clayton and he and Minghella were both nominated posthumously for producing 2008’s The Reader.
Sydney Pollack died May 26. 2008. He was 73.
ESSENTIAL FILMS
THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY? (1969)
Nominated for 9 Oscars and winner of 1, this microcosm of life in the 1930s depression era follows a disparate group of contestants who intertwine in a grueling and inhumane dance marathon. Despite its nominations for writing, directing, acting, editing, production and costume design, and score, it failed to receive a Best Picture nomination. In her tenth year in leading film roles, Jane Fonda finally proved to be a great actress gaining her first Oscar nomination. Gig Young, usually cast as comic support, won Best Supporting Actor for his monstrous emcee. Also outstanding were Michael Sarrazin, Red Buttons, Bonnie Bedelia and Oscar nominated Susannah York.
THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1975)
Nominated for just one Oscar for its editing, this thrilling film version of James Grady’s Six Days of the Condor was one of the best of its kind featuring Robert Redford as a bookish CIA researcher in Manhattan who comes back with his co-workers’ lunch to find them all dead, must work to outwit those responsible until he figures out who he can really trust. Redford, by now one of Hollywood’s biggest stars after such films as Pollack’s The Way We Were two years earlier had one of the best roles of his career here opposite Faye Dunaway between Chinatown and Network as the woman he kidnaps to help him. Max von Sydow is the principal villain.
TOOTSIE (1982)
Nominated for 10 Oscars and winner of one for Jessica Lange’s supporting performance, this celebrated comedy about an unsuccessful actor, who disguises himself as a woman in order to get a role on a trashy hospital soap brought Pollack two Oscar nominations for himself as producer and director. Dustin Hoffman had one of his most memorable roles in the lead between his Oscar wins for Kramer vs. Kramer and Rain Man. Lange, also a Best Actress nominee that year for Frances was one of two supporting actresses nominated for the film. The other was Terri Garr. Charles Durning, Pollack himself and Bill Murray also stand out in support.
OUT OF AFRICA (1985)
Nominated for 11 Oscars and winner of 7 including two for Pollack as producer and director, this film based on the autobiographical writings of Danish author Isak Dinesen takes place in 20th-century colonial Kenya, where Meryl Streep as a Danish baroness/plantation owner has a passionate love affair with a free-spirited big-game hunter played by Robert Redford. Exquisitely filmed with an unforgettable supporting performance by Klaus Maria Brandauer as Streep’s syphilis infected husband, the film which is not about anything much surprised everyone including Pollack with its enormous success.
THE FIRM (1993)
Based on John Grisham’s bestseller about a young lawyer joins a prestigious law firm only to discover its sinister dark side was another box-office winner for Pollack and his star, Tom Cruise on the heals of the equally successful thriller, A Few Good Men. Cruise is quite memorable as is Jeanne Tripplehorn as his wife, but the standouts are supporting players Gene Hackman, Hal Holbrook, Ed Harris, Wilfrid Brimley, Gary Busey, Davis Strathairn, and Oscar nominee Holly Hunter who was also nominated and would win Best Actress for The Piano that same year. The film was also nominated for Dave Grusin’s score.
SYDNEY POLLACK AND OSCAR
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969) – nominated – Best Director
Tootsie (1982) – nominated – Best Picture
Tootsie (1982) – nominated – Best Director
Out of Africa (1985) – Oscar – Best Picture
Out of Africa (1985) – Oscar – Best Director
Michael Clayton (2006) – nominated – Best Picture
The Reader (2008) – nominated – Best Picture
