Sydney Pollack: Film Director, Producer and Actor

I was just saddened to read that Sydney Pollack just passed away. What’s amazing about Pollack is not just the wide range of films that he directed and produced, but for me what I admired about him was that he was also an actor. In fact my favorite scenes from the Kubrick film Eyes Wide Shut are when Pollack playing Victor Ziegler tells the score to Tom Cruise who is playing Dr. William “Bill” Hartford. In those scenes he was so believable as the character even though I’d seen him interviewed on the small screen for quite a few years.

To give you an idea of Pollack’s range: He could direct an all time great romantic drama like The Way We Were:

Think about it: That film was made in 1973 and over twenty five years later characters on Sex and the City would be talking about that film. And then on the other hand Pollack could direct a gun shooting action-packed thriller like Three Days of the Condor from 1975:

And then he could direct a comedy like Tootsie from 1982:

I love how Pollack plays the role of the agent in that scene too, Sydney we’ll miss you…