Entertainment Times Online reports that Oscar winning driector Sydney Pollack died Monday afternoon at his home after succumbing to stomach cancer. He was 73.
He was born Sydney Irwin Pollack in Lafayette, Indiana to Rebecca and David Pollack, Jewish immigrants from Russia.
Pollack studied with Sanford Meisner at The Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City and later taught acting there for 5 years before embarking on his own acting career. His directing career began in TV in the 1960s with episodes of The Fugitive and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. He won the Academy Award for Directing for Out of Africa (1985). Pollack also received nominations for Best Director Oscars for They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? and Tootsie.
Thanks in part to an active feud with actor Dustin Hoffman during the filming of Tootsie, Pollack began to appear in character roles in films such as A Civil Action, Changing Lanes, and Eyes Wide Shut, as well as in several of his own films including Random Hearts and The Interpreter. He would also appear in Woody Allen’s Husbands and Wives as a lawyer undergoing a midlife crisis, and as a doctor in Robert Zemeckis’ Death Becomes Her. He had a recurring guest role on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace as Will Truman’s (Eric McCormack) father, George Truman. In 2007 Pollack had guest appearances on both the The Sopranos and Entourage. His last film appearance was as Patrick Dempsey’s father in the 2008 comedy Made of Honor.
Pollack was married to Claire Griswold, from 1958 until his death. The couple had three children: Rachel, Rebecca, and Steven Pollack. Steven died in a plane crash in 1993.
Sources:
Wikipedia
Entertainment Times Online