Tuesday, May 27, 2008

In Memoriam - Sydney Pollack

The Associated Press reports:
Academy Award-winning director Sydney Pollack, a Hollywood mainstay who achieved commercial success and critical acclaim with the gender-bending comedy "Tootsie" and the period drama "Out of Africa, has died. He was 73.

Pollack died of cancer Monday afternoon at his home in Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles, surrounded by family, said agent Leslee Dart. He had been diagnosed with cancer about nine months ago, said Dart.
Born July 1, 1934, in Lafayette, Indiana, Pollack directed and produced more than 40 films.

Some of my favorites included:

The Firm (1993)
Leaving Normal (1992)
Tootsie (1982)
Absence of Malice (1981)
The Electric Horseman (1979)
The Way We Were (1973)
The Swimmer (1971)
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)
The Slender Thread (1965)
Pollack appeared in some of my favorite films and television shows, such as: Will & Grace, The Sopranos, Mad About You, Frasier, and The Twilight Zone. And The Interpreter, The Majestic, Eyes Wide Shut, Tootsie, and The Electric Horseman.

This is a terrible loss.

2 comments:

Dean Wormer said...

This is a pretty big loss.

I would have to put Tootsie at the top of my own list of his films.

But the end of the Electric Horseman gets me every time.

BAC said...

Just for clarification, I listed the films in order of their release date. I'd have a hard time picking a favorite, as I like each of them for vastly different reasons. "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" absolutely blew me away when I first saw it. And I still cry every time I watch "The Way We Were."

I loved "Tootsie", too!

And "Leaving Normal" gets a nod because it stars Christine Lahti, one of my "adopt an actor" favorites.


BAC