Actor, Producer and Director, Sydney Pollack, Dies of Cancer. George Clooney and Tom Cruise Pay Tribute
Oscar-winning director Sydney Pollack died of cancer Monday. He was 73. Pollack, who was also an actor and producer, was surrounded by family at his home in Pacific Palisades when he passed. He was diagnosed with cancer ten months ago and had been undergoing treatment for the disease, she says.
Pollack was credited with directing 20 films, including seven with Robert Redford – most famously The Way We Were and Out of Africa, which won him two Oscars as director and as producer of the film, which won the best picture Oscar.
Pollack also received a best director Oscar nomination for the memorable 1982 comedy starring Dustin Hoffman, Tootsie.
He achieved more than 40 producer credits – from Presumed Innocent to last year’s Michael Clayton.
As an actor, Pollack later appeared in a number of films, including Woody Allen’s Husbands and Wives, Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut and the recent Oscar-nominated Michael Clayton. He even turned up in guest roles on Frasier, Will & Grace and The Sopranos.
For more of Pollack’s impressive body of works, check out the L.A. Times
Pollack co-produced and stared in Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney. He also executive produced Leatherheads, a movie he worked on with George.
George Clooney said,
“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’s tribute continued. “He’ll be missed terribly.”
Tom Cruise said,
“I first met him while he was in the midst of editing Tootsie (one of the all time classics),” Cruise, who later worked with Pollack in 1993’s The Firm, said in a statement released early Tuesday morning. “I’d seen every one of his pictures and he generously took the meeting.”
“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.”
