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Sydney Pollack is a Actor, Director, Producer, Director of Photography and Thanks American born on 1 july 1934 at New York City (USA)

Sydney Pollack

Sydney Pollack
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Birth name Sidney Irwin Pollack
Nationality USA
Birth 1 july 1934 at New York City (USA)
Death 26 may 2008 (at 73 years)
Awards Primetime Emmy Award, Academy Award for Best Director

Sydney Irwin Pollack (July 1, 1934 – May 26, 2008) was an American film director, producer and actor. Pollack directed more than 21 films and 10 television shows, acted in over 30 films or shows, and produced over 44 films. His 1985 film Out of Africa won him Academy Awards for directing and producing; he was also nominated for Best Director Oscars for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) and Tootsie (1982), in the latter of which he also appeared. Some of his other best known works include Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Way We Were (1973), Three Days of the Condor (1975) and Absence of Malice (1981). His subsequent films included Havana (1990), The Firm (1993), Sabrina (1995), The Interpreter (2005), and as producer for and actor in Michael Clayton (2007).

Biography

Sydney Pollack nait en 1934, dans l'Indiana, au sein d'une famille d'immigrés juifs russes.

Il est initié au théâtre par un professeur de son lycée, qui fait naître sa vocation d'acteur. Ainsi, à l'obtention de son diplôme de fin d'études en 1952, il part étudier l'art dramatique à New York. Il intègre la Neighborhood Playhouse où il suit les cours de Sanford Meisner, dont il dira plus tard qu'il aura eu une grande influence sur son travail durant toute sa carrière. À partir de sa deuxième année dans cette école, il devient l'assistant de Meisner et exerce comme enseignant.

En tant qu'acteur, il joue d'abord au théâtre : en 1954, il s'illustre notamment dans Stalag 17 (pièce qui fut adaptée au cinéma par Billy Wilder), à Broadway puis en tournée. Puis, à partir de 1955, il apparaît dans plusieurs séries télévisées, comme Playhouse 90, et rencontre notamment Robert Redford et David Rayfiel, son futur scénariste. En 1957, il doit interrompre sa carrière pour accomplir son service militaire, et regagne la Neighborhood Playhouse l'année suivante. Entre-temps, il aura épousé Claire Griswold Bradley, ancienne élève de l'école.

En 1959, le réalisateur John Frankenheimer le choisit comme répétiteur pour son téléfilm The Turn of the Screw, puis pour son film Le Temps du châtiment en 1960. Sur ce tournage, à Hollywood, Pollack est également stagiaire à la mise en scène, ce qui lui permettra quelques mois plus tard de faire ses premiers pas en tant que réalisateur pour quelques épisodes d'une série télévisée, Shotgun Slade. Il continue également sa carrière d'acteur : il apparaît notamment dans des épisodes d'Alfred Hitchcock présente, ou encore de La Quatrième Dimension ainsi que dans le film La guerre est aussi une chasse, où il crée des liens d'amitié avec Robert Redford, qui fait également partie du casting.

En 1965, il obtient un Emmy Award pour sa réalisation du téléfilm The Game, et la même année, il réalise son premier film pour le cinéma Trente minutes de sursis, avec Sidney Poitier et Anne Bancroft. L'année suivante, les producteurs de Propriété Interdite lui confient la réalisation de ce film, après l'abandon de John Huston. Il y dirigera son ami Robert Redford ainsi que Natalie Wood.

Les années 1970 sont fécondes. En 1970, il est nommé à l'Oscar du meilleur réalisateur pour On achève bien les chevaux (1969), en 1972 son western Jeremiah Johnson est présenté à la sélection officielle du festival de Cannes et, en 1975, il tourne Les Trois Jours du condor.

Il aborde ensuite plusieurs genres cinématographiques, la comédie (Tootsie, 1982) ou la fresque romanesque (Out of Africa en 1985, pour lequel il remporte sept Oscars).

Les années 1990 marquent surtout un retour à sa formation initiale d'acteur. On le voit par exemple dans Maris et Femmes de Woody Allen et dans Eyes Wide Shut de Stanley Kubrick.

À travers sa société de production Mirage (fondée en 1985), il finance de nombreux films, dont Raison et sentiments d'Ang Lee.

Il aurait assisté Arnon Milchan dans une opération organisée par les services secrets Israéliens.

Best films

The Firm (1993)
(Director)
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
(Thanks)
Out of Africa (1985)
(Director)
Presumed Innocent (1990)
(Producer)
Tootsie (1982)
(Director)
Cold Mountain (2003)
(Producer)

Usually with

Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Sydney Pollack (72 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

Made of Honor, 1h41
Directed by Paul Weiland
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romantic comedy, Romance
Themes Films about marriage
Actors Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan, Kevin McKidd, Kathleen Denise Quinlan, Sydney Pollack, Busy Philipps
Roles Thomas Sr.
Rating58% 2.9066352.9066352.9066352.9066352.906635
On Halloween night, 1998, at Cornell University, Tom Bailey, Jr. (Patrick Dempsey), in costume as Bill Clinton, slips into bed with his pre-arranged date, Monica. It turns out to be the wrong woman, Monica's roommate Hannah (Michelle Monaghan), and Tom likes her because she is so honest and does not fling herself at him. Ten years later, Hannah and Tom are best friends. Tom is very wealthy because of his creation of the "coffee collar" and gets a dime every time it is used. Tom is with a different girl every week, while Hannah focuses on her career in an art museum. He is very content with his life, suspecting that Hannah is too.
Michael Clayton, 1h59
Directed by Tony Gilroy
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime
Themes Medical-themed films, Films about psychiatry
Actors George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, Sydney Pollack, Michael O'Keefe, Tom McCarthy
Roles Marty Bach
Rating71% 3.5979953.5979953.5979953.5979953.597995
Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is a "fixer" in a prestigious New York City law firm, using his connections and his knowledge of legal loopholes for his clients' benefit. After leaving an underground poker game and dealing with a wealthy client's (Denis O'Hare) hit and run, Michael drives despondently and stops at a remote field, where some horses are standing on a hill. When he leaves his car to climb up the hill to admire the horses, the car explodes behind him.
Sketches of Frank Gehry, 1h26
Directed by Sydney Pollack
Origin German
Genres Documentary
Themes Documentary films about architecture, Documentaire sur une personnalité
Actors Dennis Hopper, Edward Ruscha, Michael Eisner, Bob Geldof, Sydney Pollack, Julian Schnabel
Roles Self
Rating71% 3.595553.595553.595553.595553.59555
Frank O. Gehry est un architecte californien à l'origine, entre autres, du musée Guggenheim à Bilbao ou de la Cinémathèque française.
Avenue Montaigne, 1h46
Directed by Danièle Thompson
Origin France
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Musical, Romance
Themes Films about music and musicians, Films about classical music and musicians, Piano
Actors Cécile de France, Valérie Lemercier, Albert Dupontel, Laura Morante, Claude Brasseur, Sydney Pollack
Roles Brian Sobinski
Rating66% 3.3435653.3435653.3435653.3435653.343565
Jessica has moved from her small Burgundian town of Mâcon to Paris to start a new life, inspired by her grandmother, Madame Roux, who "always loved luxury". In Paris, she initially has trouble finding work, and spends one evening without shelter. She eventually gets a job waitressing in a small café, the Bar des Théâtres, even though the café, following tradition, has never before hired female waiters. The owner hires Jessica only because he is expecting large crowds soon and needs staff. The café is in an area of Paris close by several artistic venues, including the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and a concert hall, on Avenue Montaigne. One of the backstage staff at the theatre, Claudie (Dani), helps to welcome Jessica to Paris.
The Interpreter, 2h
Directed by Sydney Pollack
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Crime
Themes Films set in Africa, Monde imaginaire, Politique, Political films, Films about language and translation
Actors Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, Jesper Christensen, Yvan Attal, Earl Cameron
Roles Jay Pettigrew (uncredited)
Rating63% 3.199413.199413.199413.199413.19941
Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman) is an interpreter working at the United Nations in New York City. She was raised in the Republic of Matobo, a fictional African country, but has dual citizenship. The U.N. is considering indicting Edmond Zuwanie (Earl Cameron), Matobo's president, to stand trial in the International Criminal Court. Initially a liberator, over the past 20 years he has become as corrupt and tyrannical as the government he overthrew, and is now responsible for ethnic cleansing and other atrocities within Matobo. Zuwanie is soon to visit the U.N. and put forward his own case to the General Assembly, in an attempt to avoid the indictment.
Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin, 2h12
Directed by Richard Schickel
Origin USA
Genres Biography, Documentary
Themes Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the film industry
Actors Sydney Pollack, Woody Allen, Richard Attenborough, Claire Bloom, Geraldine Chaplin, Michael Chaplin
Roles Narrator
Rating78% 3.9203953.9203953.9203953.9203953.920395
In chronological order explore the work of Charlie Chaplin and shed light on the controversies related to his personal life.
Changing Lanes, 1h39
Directed by Roger Michell
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Adventure, Crime
Themes Films about alcoholism, Medical-themed films, Films about drugs
Actors Ben Affleck, Samuel L. Jackson, Toni Collette, Sydney Pollack, William Hurt, Amanda Peet
Roles Stephen Delano
Rating64% 3.2485953.2485953.2485953.2485953.248595
A successful New York City attorney, Gavin Banek, is in a rush to file a power of appointment, which will prove a dead man signed his foundation over to Banek's law firm. He has a collision on FDR Drive with another car, belonging to an insurance salesman, Doyle Gipson, who is also in a rush to a hearing to try to gain custody of his children and to prevent his estranged wife from taking them to Oregon. Banek tries to brush Gipson off with a blank check thereby disobeying the law. After Gipson refuses to accept the check and voices his desire to "do the right thing", that is, filing a police report and insurance claim, Banek strands Gipson, telling him, "better luck next time". After arriving to the court late, Gipson learns that it proceeded without him and that it did not go in his favor.
Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures, 2h22
Origin USA
Genres Documentary
Themes Films about films, Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the film industry, Documentaire sur une personnalité
Actors Stanley Kubrick, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Alexander Singer, Paul Mazursky, Christiane Kubrick
Roles Self
Rating79% 3.994123.994123.994123.994123.99412
Un documentaire sur l'univers mystérieux d'un des génies du septième art avec en voix off Tom Cruise. Inspiré des archives de la famille Kubrick, ce long métrage dresse le portrait intimiste d'une figure de légende à travers des images fascinantes (Stanley Kubrick à ses débuts, sur les plateaux de tournage et dans la vie privée) et commentées par ses collaborateurs, collègues et amis. Depuis ses choix musicaux jusqu'à ses angles de caméra en passant par ses projets restés inachevés, il s'agit d'un document essentiel à la compréhension de l'homme et de ses oeuvres.
The Majestic, 2h32
Directed by Frank Darabont
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Romance
Themes Films about writers, Medical-themed films, Films about psychiatry, Films about disabilities, Political films
Actors Jim Carrey, Laurie Holden, Martin Landau, Hal Holbrook, David Ogden Stiers, James Whitmore
Roles Studio Executive (voice)
Rating68% 3.4492753.4492753.4492753.4492753.449275
In 1951 in the midst of the Second Red Scare, Peter Appleton is an up-and-coming young screenwriter in Hollywood. He learns from studio lawyer Leo Kubelsky and his own attorney Kevin Bannerman that he has been accused of being communist because he attended an antiwar meeting in college years before, a meeting he claims he only attended to impress a girl. In an instant, his new film "Ashes to Ashes" is pushed back for a few months, the credit is given to someone else, his movie star girlfriend Sandra Sinclair leaves him, and his contract with the studio is dropped. Peter gets drunk and goes for a drive, where he accidentally drives his car off a bridge to avoid an opossum.
Eyes Wide Shut, 2h39
Directed by Stanley Kubrick, Brian W. Cook
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime, Erotic thriller
Themes Christmas films, Films about sexuality, Erotic films, Films about prostitution, Erotic thriller films
Actors Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack, Todd Field, Jackie Sawiris, Madison Eginton
Roles Victor Ziegler
Rating74% 3.7499653.7499653.7499653.7499653.749965
Dr. Bill Harford (Tom Cruise) and his wife, Alice (Nicole Kidman), are a young couple living in New York. They go to a Christmas party thrown by a wealthy patient, Victor Ziegler (Sydney Pollack). Bill meets an old friend from medical school, Nick Nightingale (Todd Field), who now plays piano professionally. While a Hungarian man named Sandor Szavost (Sky du Mont) tries to pick up Alice, two young models try to take Bill off for a tryst. He is interrupted by a call from his host upstairs, who had been having sex with Mandy (Julienne Davis), a young woman who has overdosed on a speedball. Mandy recovers with Bill's aid.
Random Hearts, 2h13
Directed by Sydney Pollack
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime, Romance
Actors Harrison Ford, Kristin Scott Thomas, Charles Dutton, Bonnie Hunt, Dennis Haysbert, Sydney Pollack
Roles Carl Broman
Rating53% 2.65162.65162.65162.65162.6516
The film adaptation loosely follows the story of the novel, but many of the characters have been changed. Edward Davis is now Sergeant William 'Dutch' Van Den Broeck, a Washington, D.C. police officer. Vivien Simpson is now Kay Chandler, a wealthy Republican Congresswoman with a teenage daughter. They meet when their spouses, Peyton and Cullen, are killed in a plane crash and realize that their partners were having an affair. The story evolves around the relationship between the two surviving spouses, as the tragedy envelopes their lives, and affects his career as a police officer and her campaign for re-election to Congress.
A Civil Action, 1h55
Directed by Steven Zaillian
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Themes Environmental films
Actors John Travolta, Robert Duvall, Tony Shalhoub, William H. Macy, Željko Ivanek, Bruce Norris
Roles Al Eustis
Rating65% 3.2985753.2985753.2985753.2985753.298575
Environmental toxins in the city of Woburn, Massachusetts contaminate the area's water supply, and become linked to a number of deaths of neighboring children. Jan Schlichtmann (John Travolta), a cocky and successful Boston attorney who zips around town in his Porsche, and his small firm of personal injury lawyers are asked by Woburn resident Anne Anderson (Kathleen Quinlan) to take legal action against those responsible.