Current mood:	sympathetic
Entry tags:	film, sydney pollack

Sydney Pollack
It was 1997, I was taking a class on Woody Allen films, and one of the required viewings was a heart-wrenching, difficult-to-watch film about doomed relationships entitled "Husbands and Wives." The 1992 film had a decidedly negative effect on my relationship at the time, and at the same time turned Pollack into one of my favorite on-screen performers. He didn't take on many larger roles than that in "Husbands and Wives", but he guest starred here and there on shows ranging from "Frasier" to "The Sopranos." Most recently he played Marty Bach, the smart-ass no-nonsense partner at the firm in the Oscar-nominated, George Clooney thriller "Michael Clayton." For me, it was another great matter-of-fact performance from Pollack.

Sydney will undoubtedly be remembered most for his time in the director's chair. Two of his films from the 80s defined his career, one became one of the best comedies of the decade ("Tootsie"), the other earned seven Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director ("Out of Africa").

Pollack had been good friends with many top film-makers, having appeared in Stanley Kubrick's final film "Eyes Wide Shut" (a movie much maligned that is far better than it is given credit for) and many uncredited or small parts in Robert Reford's productions. It's hard to find a week that goes by that Sydney Pollack doesn't turn up in one way or another on TCM (Turner Classic Movies, one of my favorite cable channels) or AMC. He recently served as a producer on (the recently deceased) Anthony Minghella's Civil War period piece "Cold Mountain" and the already mentioned "Michael Clayton." This past Sunday, the Pollack-produced "Recount" aired on HBO (haven't seen it yet).

Legendary director, producer, and actor Sydney Pollack passed away yesterday of cancer at age 73. We'll never know the projects he didn't film and that's a sad loss for anyone who appreciates film and great film-makers.