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| Sydney Pollack dies of cancer; director was 73 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 27 2008, 11:01 PM (47 Views) | |
| Jolie Rouge | May 27 2008, 11:01 PM Post #1 |
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Cruise, Kidman, Streisand Remember Pollack Gina Serpe Tue May 27, 8:42 AM ET Los Angeles (E! Online) - Judging by the A-list tributes extended by those who worked with director Sydney Pollack, he wasn't just a dedicated filmmaker, he was a dedicated friend. "I first met him while he was in the midst of editing Tootsie (one of the all-time classics)," Tom Cruise said of Pollack, who died Monday at 73 after a battle with cancer. "I'd seen every one of his pictures and he generously took the meeting. Years later, having lived through some short post schedules myself, I realized just how generous. He spent over six hours, with the patience of Job, answering all my questions. "Throughout the years, unpretentious and never condescending, he shared with me what he loved about family, storytelling, food, flying and a great bottle of vino," said Cruise, who acted for Pollack in The Firm and costarred with him in Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. "He was a Renaissance man and a great friend. I will miss him dearly." Nicole Kidman, who also pulled double duty with Pollack, starring in his thriller The Intepreter and opposite him in Eyes Wide Shut, called him "irreplaceable to so many people." "He was elegant, a gentleman, smart and generous, a wonderful actor, a great cook...a true connoisseur of life," Kimdan said today in a statement. He guided me artistically and personally, not just as a director or producer but as a mentor and a friend. I will miss him terribly." Barbara Streisand honored her The Way We Were director as "a great actor's director because he was a great actor." "He knew how to tell a love story," she said in a statement. "And he was a very good friend, someone I even shared secrets with." Similar sentiments were issued by longtime Pollack pal Martin Landau. The men became friends when both were industry newbies. "Ever since we started together in New York, Sydney excelled at everything he set out to do, his friendships and his humanity no less than his extraordinary talents." Greg Kinnear made the jump from E!'s Talk Soup to the big screen when Pollack cast him in Sabrina opposite Harrison Ford. "Sydney Pollack earned his reputation as the quintessential actor's director. He was challenging, he cared about the work and made you feel safe, even if he was directing you in your first film. I'll always be grateful to him. He was a class act and will certainly be missed," said Kinnear. George Clooney, meanwhile, was first out of the gate to remember the Hollywood legend and all-around nice guy, issuing a statement Monday night. Pollack served as a producer on Clooney's two most recent big-screen outings, Leatherheads and Michael Clayton. "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." http://news.yahoo.com/s/eonline/20080527/en_celeb_eo/62d7a936_a92e4d9e_ac3e_f1d3b376223c;_ylt=AvNJQ0OoKOC9pwCnngqSZ7us0NUE Pollack dies of cancer; director was 73 By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON, Associated Press Writer Tue May 27, 12:41 PM ET LOS ANGELES - Sydney Pollack was remembered Tuesday as a generous, unpretentious talent by the elite actors he directed in films such as "Out of Africa," "Tootsie" and "Absence of Malice." Pollack, diagnosed with cancer about nine months ago, died Monday afternoon, surrounded by family, at his home in Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles, said his publicist, Leslee Dart. He was 73. Unlike many other top directors of his era, Pollack was also a film and television actor himself, and he used this unique position to forge a relationship with Hollywood's elite stars and create some of the most successful films of the 1970s and '80s. "I sort of straddle the line ... between personal movies and mainstream Hollywood," he told The Associated Press in 1993. In 1970, "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" about Depression-era marathon dancers, received nine Oscar nominations, including one for 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 the exasperated agent who tells him, "I begged you to get some therapy." 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. Last fall, Pollack played law firm boss Marty Bach opposite George Clooney in "Michael Clayton," which he also co-produced. It received seven Oscar nominations. "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 in a statement. "He'll be missed terribly." Other A-listers Pollack directed include Sally Field and Paul Newman in "Absence of Malice," Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn in "The Interpreter," Robert Mitchum in "The Yakuza," Tom Cruise in "The Firm," and Redford in seven films: "This Property Is Condemned," "Jeremiah Johnson," "Three Days of the Condor," "The Way We Were" with Barbra Streisand, "The Electric Horseman," "Out of Africa" and "Havana." "I first met him while he was in the midst of editing `Tootsie,'" Cruise said in a statement. "I'd seen every one of his pictures and he generously took the meeting. ... He spent over six hours, with the patience of Job, answering all my questions." "Throughout the years, unpretentious and never condescending, he shared with me what he loved about family, storytelling, food, flying and a great bottle of vino," Cruise said. "He was a Renaissance man and a great friend. I will miss him dearly." 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 (Eric McCormack) father, and appeared in the "The Sopranos," "Frasier" and "Mad About You." His last screen appearance was in "Made of Honor," a romantic comedy currently in theaters, where he played the oft-married father of star Patrick Dempsey's character. "Most of the great directors that I know of were not actors, so I can't tell you it's a requirement," Pollack said at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2005. "On the other hand, it's an enormous help." Pollack first met Redford when they acted in 1962's low-budget "War Hunt," and would go on to play a major role in making Redford a star. "It's easy working with Bob; I don't have to be diplomatic with him," Pollack once told The Associated Press. "I know what he can and cannot do; I know all the colors he has. I've always felt he was a character actor in the body of a leading man." Pollack produced many independent films with the late Anthony Minghella and the production company Mirage Enterprises. His 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. Sidney Irwin Pollack was born in Lafayette, Ind., to first-generation Russian-Americans. In high school in South Bend, he fell in love with theater, a passion that prompted him to forgo college, move to New York and enroll in the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater. Studying under the renowned Sanford Meisner, Pollack spent several years cutting his teeth in various areas of theater, eventually becoming Meisner's assistant. "We started together in New York and he always excelled at everything he set out to do, his friendships and his humanity as much as his talents," Martin Landau, a longtime close friend and associate in the Actors Studio, said in a statement. 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. The film was scored by Quincy Jones. "Sydney Pollack's immense talents as a director were only surpassed by the compassion that he carried in his soul for his fellow man," Jones said Monday. Pollack said in 2005 that for "Tootsie," Hoffman pushed him into playing the agent role, repeatedly sending him roses with a note reading, "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. The love soon frayed as Pollack and Hoffman differed over whether the film should lean toward comedy or drama, and the tension spilled into the public arena. But the result was a hit at the box office and received 10 Oscar nominations, with Jessica Lange winning for best supporting actress. "Stars are like thoroughbreds," Pollack once told The New York Times. "Yes, it's a little more dangerous with them. They are more temperamental. You have to be careful because you can be thrown. But when they do what they do best — whatever it is that's made them a star — it's really exciting." Pollack is survived by his wife, Claire; two daughters, Rebecca and Rachel; his brother Bernie; and six grandchildren. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080527/ap_on_en_mo/obit_sydney_pollack;_ylt=AoEKNxWyn_LBdkXPIf59JUZ2F78C Sydney in a scene from Tootsie: http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=2131 In a scene from Michael Clayton: http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=9344& |
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