Sydney Pollack Highlights

  • 2008: Executive produced the HBO film, "Recount"
  • 2007: Co-starred (also produced) with George Clooney in Tony Gilroy's "Michael Clayton"; earned an Oscar nomination for Best Picture
  • 2006: Helmed a documentary about the famed architect, "Sketches of Frank Gehry"
  • 2005: Directed Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn in "The Interpreter"
  • 2003: Produced Anthony Minghella's "Cold Mountain" starring Jude Law and Nicole Kidman
  • 2002: Served as one of the producers on the remake of "The Quiet American"
  • 2000: Joined by Minghella as a full partner in Mirage Enterprises
  • 2000: Executive produced "Up at the Villa" starring Kristin Scott Thomas
  • 2000: Had occasional recurring role on the NBC sitcom "Will & Grace" playing Will's (Eric McCormack) father
  • 1999: Directed "Random Hearts," a failed romance teaming Kristin Scott Thomas and Harrison Ford
  • 1999: Executive produced "The Talented Mr. Ripley"; written and directed by Anthony Minghella
  • 1998: Replaced Harvey Keitel, acting in Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" (film completed 1998; released in 1999)
  • 1998: Executive produced "Poodle Springs," an HBO movie adapted from the Robert B Parker novel based on an unfinished manuscript by Raymond Chandler
  • 1995: Remade Billy Wilder's "Sabrina" (1954), starring Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond and Greg Kinnear
  • 1993: Directed and produced "The Firm"; first movie adapted from a John Grisham novel
  • 1992: Acted in Woody Allen's "Husbands and Wives" and Robert Altman's "The Player"
  • 1989: Sued by producer Richard Roth for over $1 million after being excluded from production of "Havana" (when Pollack decided to produce and direct himself) on which he had worked for 15 years (when project was known as "The New Orleans Story"); released in 1990, it was his last picture (to date) directing Redford
  • 1989: Split with Mark Rosenberg as partners in Mirage Productions Inc. after three years; company renamed Mirage Enterprises
  • 1986: Served as jury president at 39th Cannes Film Festival
  • 1985: Earned two Oscars, one as producer (Best Picture) and one as Best Director for "Out of Africa"; co-starred Redford and Meryl Streep
  • 1985: Formed production company, Mirage Productions Inc.
  • 1983: Agreed to work with Nova film production company as creative consultant; venture organized by Columbia, HBO and CBS
  • 1982: First feature acting appearance in 20 years as Dustin Hoffman's agent in "Tootsie"; also directed and produced by Pollack; earned Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Picture
  • 1981: Became executive director (with Lee Strasberg) of the Actors Studio in L.A.
  • 1980: Participated in American Legion Seminar with James Woods
  • 1973: Directed Redford and Barbra Streisand in "The Way We Were"
  • 1972: Directed Redford in "Jeremiah Johnson"; won American Heritage Award for Best Western
  • 1969: Directed (also produced) the film "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"; Pollack's first producing credit; received first Best Director Academy Award nomination
  • 1966: First of seven movies directing Redford, "This Property is Condemned"
  • 1965: Directed first feature, "The Slender Thread" starring Sidney Poitier and Anne Bancroft
  • 1964: "Chrysler Theatre" telecast of his "Two is the Number"; won International TV Festival Award in Monte Carlo
  • 1963: Served as voice dubbing supervisor of the American version of Luchino Visconti's "Il Gattopardo/The Leopard" (at Burt Lancaster's request)
  • 1962: Feature film acting debut, "War Hunt"; also Robert Redford's debut
  • 1961: Served as Dialogue coach for Frankenheimer's "The Young Savages" starring Burt Lancaster
  • 1959: Acted on TV in a "Playhouse 90" production of "For Whom the Bell Tolls" directed by John Frankenheimer
  • 1955: Broadway acting debut in Christopher Fry's "Dark Is Light Enough"
  • 1954: Beginning at age 19, assisted Sanford Meisner and taught acting at Neighborhood Playhouse for six years
  • 1954: Off-Broadway acting debut in "A Stone for Danny Fisher" starring Zero Mostel and Sylvia Miles
  • Introduced to agent-turned-movie mogul Lew Wasserman
  • Directed for various TV series including "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and "The Bob Hope Chrysler Theatre"
  • Served in US Army
  • Grew up in South Bend, Indiana
  • Moved to L.A. with his wife
  • Taught drama at NYU
  • Urged to pursue a career in directing by Lancaster
  • First TV directing assignment, an episode of the syndicated half-hour Western series, "Shotgun Slade"

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