Sydney Pollack

As an Oscar-winning director-producer-actor, Sydney Pollack was remembered as a filmmaker capable of delivering A-list star power in commercially successful, as well as artistically respectable, feature films throughout the 1970s and '80s. A career that began as an actor and acting coach eventually led to directing, thanks to the advice of actor Burt Lancaster. After years of honing his directorial skills on television, Pollack began picking up feature film work in the mid-'60s. The grueling Depression-era drama "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" (1969) garnered him his first Academy Award nomination and put Pollack on the map as a director of note. He would direct Robert Redford in a total of seven movies, with efforts like "The Way We Were" (1973) and "Three Days of the Condor" (1975) numbering among the star's most popular. "Tootsie" (1982) elevated the director to an elite level of power and prestige in Hollywood few enjoyed. Pollack went on to win two Oscars as a director and producer for his work on the sweeping romance "Out of Africa" (1985). And while the latter film marked the apex of Pollack's directing career, he continued to turn in deft performances as an actor on such hit series as "Will & Grace" (NBC, 1998-2006) and in acclaimed films like "Michael Clayton" (2007). Consistently in tune with the socio-political themes of the time, Pollack effectively tapped in to the American psyche time and again throughout his decades-long filmmaking career.