Whoa! Film director Sydney Pollack has died of cancer. He was a very young 73.
Pollack won Oscars for directing and producing Out of Africa in 1985. And he made the comedy hit Tootsie (with Dustin Hoffman dressed as a woman) in 1982.
But he’s probably better remembered for his string of hits with Robert Redford in the 1970s: The mountain man adventure Jeremiah Johnson in 1972, the romance The Way We Were (pairing Redford with Barbra Streisand) in 1973, and the gripping and underrated spy story Three Days of the Condor in 1975. He directed Redford in seven films in all.
Known as an actor’s director, Pollack also did some acting himself. He appeared last year with George Clooney in the drama Michael Clayton. He’s also in Made of Honor, a romantic comedy released earlier this month. It was apparently his last role.
Good luck to you in that next big projection room, Mr. Pollack, wherever it may be.