Pollack, Sydney 1934–

POLLACK, Sydney 1934–

PERSONAL

Born July 1, 1934, in Lafayette, IN; son of David (a pharmacist and professional boxer) and Rebecca (maiden name, Miller) Pollack; brother of Bernie Pollack (a costume designer); married Claire Griswold (an architect), September 22, 1958; children: Steven (died), Rebecca (a film executive), Rachel. Education: Graduated from the Neighborhood Playhouse Theatre School, 1954.

Addresses: Agent— Creative Artists Agency, 9830 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90212. Publicist— PMK/HBH New York, 650 Fifth Ave., 33rd Floor, New York, NY 10019. Office— Mirage Enterprises, 233 S. Beverly Dr., Suite 200, Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

Career: Director, producer, and actor. Neighborhood Playhouse Theatre, New York City, assistant to Sanford Meisner, 1954, acting instructor, 1954–60, dialogue coach; Mirage Productions, 1985, cofounder, renamed Mirage Enterprises, 1989; Actors Studio, executive director of West Coast branch; taught acting at New York University. Military service: U.S. Army, 1957–59.

Awards, Honors: Emmy Award, outstanding directorial achievement in drama, 1963, for Ben Casey; Emmy Awards, outstanding directorial achievement in drama, 1964 and 1966, both for Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theater; Academy Award nomination, best director, 1969, Golden Globe Award nomination, best director—motion picture, Directors Guild of America Award nomination, outstanding directorial achievement in motion pictures, 1970, all for They Shoot Horses, Don't They?; Golden Palm Award nomination, Cannes Film Festival, 1972, Bronze Wrangler (with others), theatrical motion picture, Western Heritage Awards, 1973, both for Jeremiah Johnson; Golden Italia Catalina Award nomination, best film, Cartagena Film Festival, 1976, for Three Days of the Condor; honorable mention, Reader Jury of the Berliner Morgenpost, and Golden Bear nomination, all Berlin International Film Festival, 1982, for Absence of Malice; New York Film Critics Circle Award, best director, and Academy Award nominations, best picture (with Dick Richards) and best director, 1982, Bodil Festival Award, best American film, Golden Globe Award nomination, best director—motion picture, Readers' Choice Award, best foreign language film, Kinema Junpo Awards, Directors Guild of America Award nomination, outstanding directorial achievement in motion pictures, 1983, Film Award nominations, best film (with Dick Richards) and best direction, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Cesar Award nomination, best foreign film, 1984, all for Tootsie; ShoWest Award, producer of the year, 1983; Academy Awards, best picture and best director, 1985, Golden Globe Award nomination, best director—motion picture, Silver Ribbon, best director—foreign film, Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists, Directors Guild of America Award nomination, outstanding directorial achievement in motion pictures, 1986, Guild Film Award—Gold, foreign film, Guild of German Art House Cinemas, 1987, Video Premiere Award nomination, best DVD audio commentary, DVD Exclusive Awards, 2001, all for Out of Africa; Berlinale Camera, Berlin International Film Festival, 1986; Joseph Plateau Life Achievement Award, 1997; Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film nomination (with others), British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1999, for Sliding Doors; John Huston Award for Artists Rights, 2000; Blockbuster Entertainment Award nomination, favorite supporting actor—drama/romance, 2000, for Eyes Wide Shut; Outstanding Achievement in Cinema, Savannah Film and Video Festival, 2002; Leopard of Honor, Locarno International Film Festival, 2002; Film Award nomination (with others), best film, and Alexander Korda Award (with others), best British film, both British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award nomination (with others), PGA Golden Laurel Awards, 2004, all for Cold Mountain.

CREDITS

Film Work:

Voice dubbing supervisor for American version, The Leopard, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1963.

Director, The Slender Thread, Paramount, 1965.

Director, This Property Is Condemned, Paramount, 1966.

Director, The Scalphunters, United Artists, 1968.

(Uncredited) Additional director, The Swimmer, Columbia, 1968.

Director, Castle Keep, Columbia, 1969.

Director and (with Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff) producer, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, ABC/Cinerama, 1969.

Director, Jeremiah Johnson, Warner Bros., 1972.

Director and producer, The Way We Were, Columbia, 1973.

Director, Three Days of the Condor, Paramount, 1975.

Director and producer, The Yakuza (also known as Brotherhood of the Yakuza ), Warner Bros./Toei, 1975.

Director and producer, Bobby Deerfield (also known as Heaven Has No Favorites ), Columbia, 1976.

Director, The Electric Horseman, Columbia, 1979.

Executive producer, Honeysuckle Rose (also known as On the Road Again ), Warner Bros., 1980.

Director and producer, Absence of Malice, Columbia, 1981.

Director and (with Dick Richards) producer, Tootsie, Columbia, 1982.

Producer, Songwriter, TriStar, 1984.

Director and producer, Out of Africa, Universal, 1985.

Consultant, Nine 1/2 Weeks, 1986.

(With Mark Rosenberg) Producer, Bright Lights, Big City, United Artists, 1988.

(With Rosenberg) Executive producer, Major League, Paramount, 1989.

Executive producer, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1989.

Executive producer, White Palace, Universal, 1990.

Producer, The Last Ship, 1990.

(With Rosenberg) Producer, Presumed Innocent, Warner Bros., 1990.

Director and (with Richard Roth) producer, Havana, Universal, 1990.

Executive producer, Dead Again, Paramount, 1991.

(With others) Executive producer, King Ralph, Universal, 1991.

Executive producer, Leaving Normal, Universal, 1992.

Director and (with Scott Rudin, John A. Davis, and Michael Hausman) producer, The Firm, Paramount, 1993.

Executive producer, Searching for Bobby Fischer (also known as Innocent Moves ), Paramount, 1993.

Executive producer, Flesh and Bone, Paramount, 1993.

Director and producer, Sabrina, Paramount, 1995.

Executive producer, Sense and Sensibility, Columbia, 1995.

Producer, Sliding Doors, Miramax, 1998.

Director and producer, Random Hearts, Columbia/TriStar, 1999.

Producer, The Talented Mr. Ripley (also known as The Strange Mr. Ripley and The Mysterious Yearning Secretive Sad Lonely Troubled Confused Loving Musical Gifted Intelligent Beautiful Tender Sensitive Haunted Passionate Talented Mr. Ripley ), Paramount, 1999.

Producer, 20 Billion (also known as Twenty Billion ), Paramount, 1999.

Executive producer, Up at the Villa, October Films, 2000.

Executive producer, Blow Dry (also known as Ueber kurz oder lang ), Miramax, 2001.

Executive producer, Birthday Girl, Miramax, 2001.

Executive producer, Iris, Miramax, 2001.

Executive producer, Heaven, Miramax, 2002.

Executive producer, The Quiet American (also known as The Spy and Der Stille Amerikaner ), Miramax, 2002.

Producer, Cold Mountain, Miramax, 2003.

Executive producer, In the Name of Love, 2003.

Executive producer, Forty Shades of Blue, 2004.

Film Appearances:

Sergeant Owen Van Horn, War Hunt, United Artists, 1962.

(Uncredited) Man who makes a pass at Alice, The Electric Horseman, 1979.

George Fields, Tootsie, Columbia, 1982.

Dick Mellen, The Player, Fine Line, 1992.

Jack, Husbands and Wives, TriStar, 1992.

(Uncredited) Emergency room doctor, Death Becomes Her, Universal, 1992.

Himself, The Directors: Sydney Pollack, 1997.

Al Eustis, A Civil Action, Buena Vista, 1998.

Victor Ziegler, Eyes Wide Shut (also known as EWS ), Warner Bros., 1999.

Himself, Looking Back: The Making of "The Way We Were, " 1999.

Carl Broman, Random Hearts, Sony Pictures Releasing, 1999.

Himself, Inside "The Talented Mr. Ripley, " 1999.

Himself, Lost Angeles, 2000.

Himself, Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures, 2001.

Voice of studio executive, The Majestic, 2001.

Stephan Delano, Changing Lanes, Paramount, 2002.

Himself, A Decade under the Influence, 2003.

Narrator, Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin, 2003.

Himself, More about the Condor, 2003.

Himself, The Last Mogul: Life and Times of Lew Wasserman, 2004.

Television Work; Series:

Executive producer, Fallen Angels, Showtime, 1993–1995.

Television Work; Movies:

Dialogue director, The Turn of the Screw, NBC, 1959.

Executive producer, Poodle Springs, HBO, 1998.

Executive producer, Bronx County, 1998.

Television Work; Specials:

Video segment director and executive producer, "Sanford Meisner—The Theater's Best Kept Secret," American Masters, PBS, 1990.

Television Work; Pilots:

Director, Diagnosis: Danger, CBS, 1963.

Director, "The Watchman," Kraft Suspense Theatre, NBC, 1964.

Executive producer, The Last Defense, CBS, 1998.

Producer, Sliding Doors, CBS, 2000.

Executive producer, Emerald City, Showtime, 2002.

Director and executive producer, The Rackets, ABC, 2003.

Television Work; Episodic:

Director, Ben Casey, ABC, 1962–1963.

Director, "Something about Lee Wiley," Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theater (also known as The Chrysler Theater and Universal Star Time ), NBC, 1963.

Director, "The Fliers," Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theater (also known as The Chrysler Theater and Universal Star Time ), NBC, 1963.

Director, "Solo for B–Flat Clarinet," Breaking Point, 1963.

Director, "The Game," Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theater (also known as The Chrysler Theater and Universal Star Time ), NBC, 1965.

Executive producer, "Mirage" (also known as "Miss Sherri" and "The Sherri Finkbine Story"), A Private Matter, HBO, 1992.

Also directed episodes of The Fugitive, ABC; Target: The Corrupters, ABC; The Defenders; Alfred Hitchcock Presents; The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

Television Appearances; Series:

Host of The Essentials, TCM.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Himself, The Making of "Absence of Malice, " 1982.

Himself, The 58th Annual Academy Awards, 1986.

Putting It Together: The Making of the Broadway Album, HBO, 1986.

Hello Actors Studio, 1987.

Himself, Natalie Wood (documentary), Cinemax, 1987.

Himself, "Sanford Meisner—The Theater's Best Kept Secret," American Masters, PBS, 1990.

Robert Redford and Sydney Pollack: The Men and Their Movies (also known as Robert Redford: The Man, the Movies, and the Myth ), NBC, 1990.

The New Hollywood, NBC, 1990.

Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star (documentary), Cinemax, 1991.

Jessica Lange: It's Only Make–Believe (documentary), Cinemax, 1991.

Street Scenes: New York on Film (documentary), AMC, 1992.

Himself, "John Barry's Moviola," Great Performances, PBS, 1993.

Willie Nelson, the Big Six–O: An All–Star Birthday Celebration (also known as Willie Nelson: The Big Six–O ), CBS, 1993.

Planet Hollywood Salutes the Top Ten Comedy Movies of All Time, Fox, 1995.

Burt Lancaster: Daring to Reach (documentary), Arts and Entertainment, 1996.

Burt Lancaster (documentary), AMC, 1997.

Himself, Independent's Day (documentary), Sundance Channel, 1998.

The Orange British Academy Film Awards, 2000.

Himself, AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs: America's Funniest Movies, CBS, 2000.

Himself, Hollywood, D.C. (also known as Hollywood, D.C.: A Tale of Two Cities ), Bravo, 2000.

Robert Redford: Hollywood Outlaw, Arts and Entertainment, 2000.

Himself, John Barry: License to Thrill (documentary; also known as Omnibus: John Barry—License to Thrill ), BBC, 2000.

Himself, Sydney Pollack y la generacion del compromiso, 2001.

Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures, Cinemax, 2001.

Dustin Hoffman: First in His Class, Arts and Entertainment, 2001.

AFI Lifetime Achievement Award: A Tribute to Barbra Streisand, Fox, 2001.

The Score (documentary), Trio, 2002.

Robert Redford (documentary), Bravo, 2002.

Himself, I Love New York, 2002.

Himself, Nicole Kidman: An American Cinematheque Tribute (documentary), AMC, 2003.

Himself, Biography Special: The Fondas, Arts and Entertainment, 2004.

Presenter, AFI Lifetime Achievement Award: A Tribute to Meryl Streep, USA Network, 2004.

Also appeared in A Cardinal Act of Mercy.

Television Appearances; Pilots:

Elizabeth's husband, Fling, 2001.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

"Family Man," Brenner, 1959.

Benson, "The Case of Julia Walton," The United States Steel Hour, 1959.

Bernie Samuelson, "The Contest for Aaron Gold," Alfred Hitchcock Presents, NBC, 1960.

Willis, "The Trouble with Templeton," The Twilight Zone, CBS, 1960.

Chuck Johnson, "Spoken in Silence," The Deputy, NBC, 1961.

Joe Gulp, "Quiet Night on the Town: Parts 1 & 2," Have Gun—Will Travel, 1961.

Austin Rogers, "The Compulsion to Confess," The New Breed, 1961.

"Monument to an Aged Hunter," Ben Casey, ABC, 1962.

Bert Masters, "Walk This Street Lightly," The New Breed, 1962.

"Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star," Crazy about the Movies, Cinemax, 1991.

Himself, "Naked Hollywood," A & E Premieres, Arts and Entertainment, 1991.

"Jessica Lange: It's Only Make–Believe," Crazy about the Movies, Cinemax, 1991.

Voice of guest caller Holden Thorpe, "The Candidate," Frasier, NBC, 1994.

Himself, Inside the Actors Studio, Bravo, 1995.

American Cinema, PBS, 1995.

Narrator, "Billy Wilder," Sex and the Silver Screen, Showtime, 1996.

"Burt Lancaster: Daring to Reach," Biography, Arts and Entertainment, 1996.

Dr. Sydney Warren, "Cheating on Sheila," Mad about You (also known as Loved by You ), NBC, 1997.

Himself, Intimate Portrait: Jessica Lange, Lifetime, 1998.

Himself, The Directors, Encore!, 1999.

George Truman, "Oh Dad, Poor Dad, He's Kept Me in the Closet and I'm So Sad," Will & Grace, NBC, 2000.

Himself, "A&E Biography: Nina Van Horn," Just Shoot Me, NBC, 2000.

Voice of Grant Trimble, "Transnational Amusements Presents: Peggy's Magic Sex Feet," King of the Hill (animated), Fox, 2000.

George Truman, "Cheaters," Will & Grace, NBC, 2001.

Himself, The Ray Martin Show, 2001.

George Truman, "Cheatin' Trouble Blues," Will & Grace, NBC, 2002.

Also appeared in Alcoa Presents (also known as One Step Beyond ), ABC; Playhouse 90, CBS; Shotgun Slade, syndicated.

Stage Appearances:

A Stone for Danny Fisher, Downtown National Theatre, New York City, 1954.

Rusti, The Dark Is Light Enough, American National Theatre and Academy, New York City, 1955.

Major Tours:

Appeared in Stalag 17, U.S. cities.

RECORDINGS

Videos:

The Making of "Tootsie, " Columbia, 1983.

WRITINGS

Television Episodes:

Wrote episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Defenders.

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

Dworkin, Susan, Making "Tootsie ": A Film Study with Dustin Hoffman and Sydney Pollack, New Market Press, 1983.

International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, Volume 2: Directors, St. James Press, 1996.

Meyer, Janet L., Sydney Pollack: A Critical Filmography, McFarland & Co., 1998.

Taylor, William Robert, Sydney Pollack, Twayne Publishers, 1981.

Periodicals:

Variety, November 26, 2001, p. 6.