Biography
Sydney Irwin Pollack (July 1, 1934 – May 26, 2008) was an American film director, producer and actor. For his film Out of Africa (1985), Pollack won the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Picture. He was also nominated for Best Director Oscars for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) and Tootsie (1982). 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 Hav...
Known For
Complete Filmography

Babenco: Tell Me When I Die
2020
as Self (archive footage)
Besieged by cancer and nearing the end, the genius Argentine-Brazilian filmmaker Héctor Babenco (1946-2016) asks Bárbara Paz, his wife, for one last w...

Amazing Grace
2018
as Self - Director (archive footage) (uncredited)
A behind-the-scenes documentary about the recording of Aretha Franklin's best-selling album finally sees the light of day more than four decades after...

Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
2014
as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
The extraordinary life of Orson Welles (1915-85), an enigma of Hollywood, an irreducible independent creator: a musical prodigy, an excellent painter,...

The Story of The Swimmer
2014
as Self (archive footage)
A documentary about the making of the cult film The Swimmer (1968).

And the Oscar Goes To...
2014
as Self (archive footage)
The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... traces the history of the Academy ...

Char·ac·ter
2012
as Self
A raw and candid dialogue about the life and craft of acting between longtime colleagues and friends Dabney Coleman, Peter Falk, Charles Grodin, Mark ...

Silver Linings Playbook
2012
Thanks
After losing his job and wife, and spending time in an institution, a former teacher winds up living with his parents. He wants to rebuild his life an...

Margaret
2011
Producer
A young woman witnesses a bus accident, and is caught up in the aftermath, where the question of whether or not it was intentional affects many people...

Glanz und Elend in Hollywood: Natalie Wood
2009
as Self

The Reader
2008
Producer
The story of Michael Berg, a German lawyer who, as a teenager in the late 1950s, had an affair with an older woman, Hanna, who then disappeared only t...

Recount
2008
Executive Producer
In 2000, the election of the U.S. Presidential boiled down to a few precious votes in the state of Florida — and a recount that would add "hanging cha...

Made of Honor
2008
as Thomas Sr.
Tom and Hannah have been platonic friends for 10 years. He's a serial dater, while she wants marriage but hasn't found Mr. Right. Just as Tom is start...

Leatherheads
2008
Executive Producer
A light hearted comedy about the beginnings of Professional American Football. When a decorated war hero and college all star is tempted into playing ...

A Better Man: The Making of 'Tootsie'
2008
as Self
Documentary about the making of the 1982 film, featuring interviews with the cast and crew.

James Taylor | One Man Band
2007
Executive Producer
James Taylor's "One Man Band," a new CD/DVD set of live recordings and the stories behind the songs. The set list is drawn from Taylor's recent concer...

Great Bolshy Yarblockos!: Making 'A Clockwork Orange'
2007
as Self
In this documentary, we follow Stanley Kubrick as he creates one of the most controversial films of all time, one that retains its power to shock audi...

View from the Overlook: Crafting 'The Shining'
2007
as Self
An overview of the making of, and a look at the continuing popularity of, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.

The Visions of Stanley Kubrick
2007
as Self
A look at the visual design of the film The Shining (1980).

Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001
2007
as Self
This documentary about "2001: A Space Odyssey" looks at some of the things that seemed fanciful in 1968, which don't seem quite as much anymore.

Lost Kubrick: The Unfinished Films of Stanley Kubrick
2007
as Self
He is considered by many the greatest film director the medium has ever known. Yet in a 45-year career, Stanley Kubrick's films number only a dozen. T...

Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001
2007
as Self
Stanley Kubrick's groundbreaking 2001: A Space Odyssey opened the door to all the films and filmmakers who followed it. Through interviews with direct...

Michael Clayton
2007
as Marty Bach
A law firm brings in its "fixer" to remedy the situation after a lawyer has a breakdown while representing a chemical company that he knows is guilty ...

Michael Clayton
2007
Producer
A law firm brings in its "fixer" to remedy the situation after a lawyer has a breakdown while representing a chemical company that he knows is guilty ...

Breaking and Entering
2006
Producer
Set in a blighted, inner-city neighbourhood of London, Breaking and Entering examines an affair which unfolds between a successful British landscape a...

Catch a Fire
2006
Executive Producer
The true story of anti-apartheid activists in South Africa, and particularly the life of Patrick Chamusso, a timid foreman at Secunda CTL, the largest...

Filmmakers in Action
2006
as Self
What is the state of cinema and what being a filmmaker means? What are the measures taken to protect authors' copyright? What is their legal status in...

Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light
2006
as Self
Film Noir burrows into the mind; it's disorienting, intriguing and enthralling. Noir brings us into a gritty underworld of lush morbidity, providing i...

Boffo! Tinseltown's Bombs and Blockbusters
2006
as Self
Hollywoods biggest talents explore what is the recipe for blockbuster, flops, and how absolute happenstance and controlled luck can make movie magic.

Sketches of Frank Gehry
2006
as Self
First and foremost, Frank Gehry is an artist. Described as a young child as having golden hands, Frank begins his creation through sketch. Forming tho...

Sketches of Frank Gehry
2006
Director, Director of Photography, Executive Producer
First and foremost, Frank Gehry is an artist. Described as a young child as having golden hands, Frank begins his creation through sketch. Forming tho...

Avenue Montaigne
2006
as Brian Sobinski
A young woman arrives in Paris where she finds a job as a waitress in bar next on Avenue Montaigne that caters to the surrounding theaters and the wea...

Forty Shades of Blue
2005
Executive Producer
A Russian woman living in Memphis with a much older rock-n-roll legend experiences a personal awakening when her husband's estranged son comes to visi...

One Six Right
2005
as Himself
An exhilarating documentary film that celebrates the unsung hero of aviation - the local airport - by tracing the life, history, and struggles of an a...

The Art of Imagination: A Tribute to Oz
2005
as Narrator (voice)
"The Art of Imagination: A Tribute to Oz" - a featurette narrated by Sydney Pollack.

Filmmakers vs. Tycoons
2005
as Self
How the cinema industry does not respect the author's work as it was conceived, how manipulates the motion pictures in order to make them easier to wa...

The Last Mogul
2005
as Self
A biography of powerful Hollywood agent and executive Lew Wasserman.

The Interpreter
2005
as Jay Pettigrew (uncredited)
After Silvia Broome, an interpreter at United Nations headquarters, overhears plans of an assassination, an American Secret Service agent is sent to i...

The Interpreter
2005
Director, Executive Producer
After Silvia Broome, an interpreter at United Nations headquarters, overhears plans of an assassination, an American Secret Service agent is sent to i...
Männer im Trenchcoat, Frauen im Pelz
2004
as Self
Film noir, which enjoyed particular success in the 1930s and 1940s, is probably the most profound genre of classic Hollywood cinema. Eckhart Schmidt t...

Something About Sydney Pollack
2004
as Self
In this archival documentary, Sydney Pollack discusses his career and relationship with various actors, directors and producers. A large portion of th...

A Dying Breed: The Making of 'The Leopard'
2004
as Self
An hour-long documentary featuring interviews with Claudia Cardinale, screenwriter Suso Ceccho D’Amico, Rotunno, filmmaker Sydney Pollack, and many ot...

Barbra Streisand: The Concert - Live at the MGM Grand
2004
as Self
Barbra Streisand returned to regular concert performances with this lavish production at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. Performing on New Years Eve...

Cold Mountain
2003
Producer
In this classic story of love and devotion set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, a wounded Confederate soldier named W.P. Inman deserts ...

Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin
2003
as Narrator
Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, writ...

A Decade Under the Influence
2003
as Self
A documentary examining the decade of the 1970s as a turning point in American cinema. Some of today's best filmmakers interview the influential direc...

In the Name of Love
2003
Executive Producer
Several young "Russian mail order brides" are followed over a three year period as they meet, date, and, in some cases, marry the American men who fou...
More About the Condor
2003
Robert Redford discusses his involvement with 3 Days of the Condor, his interest in politics, how cinema has changed since the '70s, etc. Additionally...

The Quiet American
2002
Executive Producer
Cynical British journalist Fowler falls in love with a young Vietnamese woman but is dismayed when a naïve U.S. official also begins vying for her att...

The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
2002
as Narrator (voice)
Samuel Fuller discusses his career as a filmmaker, illustrated by plenty of clips.

AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions: America's Greatest Love Stories
2002
as Self
A look at one hundred years of romance in American cinema.

Changing Lanes
2002
as Stephen Delano
A rush-hour fender-bender on New York City's crowded FDR Drive, under most circumstances, wouldn't set off a chain reaction that could decimate two pe...

Heaven
2002
Executive Producer
Cate Blanchett stars as Philippa, a British teacher living in Turin, Italy, who has seen many friends, including her husband, fall victim to drug over...

The Majestic
2001
as Studio Executive (voice)
Set in 1951, a blacklisted Hollywood writer gets into a car accident, loses his memory and settles down in a small town where he is mistaken for a lon...

Iris
2001
Executive Producer
True story of the lifelong romance between novelist Iris Murdoch and her husband John Bayley, from their student days through her battle with Alzheime...

Birthday Girl
2001
Executive Producer
John is a mild-mannered banker who has never been lucky in love. Fed up with waiting for the right girl to come along, John takes a chance on a Russia...

The Story Behind "Absence of Malice"
2001
as Self
A wonderfully entertaining series of interviews with Pollack, Newman, Field and Luedtke about the film, its development, its themes and the experience...

Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures
2001
as Self
With commentary from Hollywood stars, outtakes from his movies and footage from his youth, this documentary looks at Stanley Kubrick's life and films....
Dino De Laurentiis: The Last Movie Mogul
2001
as Self
Documentary about legendary Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis who's credits range from Fellini's La Strada to today's Hannibal franchise. This profi...

Blow Dry
2001
Executive Producer
The annual British Hairdressing Championship comes to Keighley, a town where Phil and son Brian run a barbershop and Phil's ex-wife Shelly and her lov...

Inside 'The Talented Mr. Ripley'
2000
as Self
A look inside the making of 'The Talented Mr. Ripley'.

Up at the Villa
2000
Executive Producer
Superficial people are revealed and drastically changed by circumstance or luck in this a tale of death, seduction, blackmail and theft among British ...

A Song of Africa
2000
as Self
An impressively done new documentary taking a look back at the making of this picture. Interviews with everyone from director Pollack to composer John...
Lost Angeles - Eine Stadt zwischen Traum und Trauma
2000
as Self
Documentary about the dark side of Los Angeles.

The Talented Mr. Ripley
1999
Executive Producer
Tom Ripley is a calculating young man who believes it's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. Opportunity knocks in the form of a wealthy U...

Random Hearts
1999
as Carl Broman
After losing their spouses in a plane crash, an internal affairs cop and a congresswoman find each other's keys in each other's loved ones' possession...

Random Hearts
1999
Director, Producer
After losing their spouses in a plane crash, an internal affairs cop and a congresswoman find each other's keys in each other's loved ones' possession...

The Last Movie: Stanley Kubrick and 'Eyes Wide Shut'
1999
as Self
A documentary chronicling the making of Kubrick's final film, 'Eyes Wide Shut', and his legacy.

Eyes Wide Shut
1999
as Victor Ziegler
After Dr. Bill Harford's wife, Alice, admits to having sexual fantasies about a man she met, Bill becomes obsessed with having a sexual encounter. He ...

The Way We Were: Looking Back
1999
as Self
A behind-the-scenes look at the making of the classic film about romance set against a backdrop of war and political differences. Includes interviews ...

A Civil Action
1998
as Al Eustis
Jan Schlickmann is a cynical lawyer who goes out to 'get rid of' a case, only to find out it is potentially worth millions. The case becomes his obses...

Poodle Springs
1998
Executive Producer
Private eye Philip Marlowe and his bride move to a desert town, where he uncovers a land scheme.

Sliding Doors
1998
Producer
London publicist Helen, effortlessly slides between parallel storylines that show what happens when she does or does not catch a train back to her apa...

Independent's Day
1998
as Self
Filmmakers at the Sundance Film Festival discuss what it is like to be an independent filmmaker, and what Sundance has done for them.

Love in Hollywood
1996
as Self
Various Hollywood people talk about love.

Burt Lancaster: Daring to Reach
1996
as Self
He went from street-wise tough to art-collector liberal-activist, from circus-acrobat hunk to Academy Award winner. Burton Stephen Lancaster — later B...

Sabrina
1995
Director, Producer
Sabrina Fairchild, a chauffeur's daughter, grew up at the Long Island estate of the wealthy Larrabee family enchanted with their sparkling world of pr...

Sense and Sensibility
1995
Executive Producer
The Dashwood sisters, sensible Elinor and passionate Marianne, whose chances at marriage seem doomed by their family's sudden loss of fortune. When H...

Red Wind
1995
Executive Producer
In 1940s, sympathetic African American L.A. shamus Philip Marlowe helps a dame in trouble whose lovers are offing each other over a possibly fake pear...

Flesh and Bone
1993
Executive Producer
Haunted by memories of his father murdering a family, Arlis Sweeney prefers to keep to himself, focusing his energy on his work. One day, the traumati...

Searching for Bobby Fischer
1993
Executive Producer
A seven-year-old chess prodigy refuses to harden himself in order to become a champion like the famous but unlikable Bobby Fischer.

The Firm
1993
Director, Producer
Mitch McDeere is a young man with a promising future in Law. About to sit his Bar exam, he is approached by 'The Firm' and made an offer he doesn't re...

Willie Nelson: The Big Six-O
1993
as Self
Willie Nelson and friends celebrate his sixtieth birthday in a star-studded concert event.

Husbands and Wives
1992
as Jack
When Jack and Sally announce that they're splitting up, this comes as a shock to their best friends Gabe and Judy. Maybe mostly because they also are ...

Death Becomes Her
1992
as Hospital Doctor (uncredited)
Madeline is married to Ernest, who was once her arch-rival Helen's fiancé. After recovering from a mental breakdown, Helen vows to kill Madeline and s...

A Private Matter
1992
Executive Producer
The true story of Romper Room host "Miss Sherri" Finkbine, who, after the devastating effects of thalidomide were discovered in the early 1960s, spark...

The Player
1992
as Dick Mellen
A Hollywood studio executive is being sent death threats by a writer whose script he rejected - but which one?

Leaving Normal
1992
Executive Producer
Darly, a waitress with a past that's weighing her down, decides to drive to Alaska to try and come to terms with her unfortunate history. Along the wa...

Dead Again
1991
Executive Producer
In 1949, composer Roman Strauss is executed for the murder of his wife. In 1990s Los Angeles, a detective comes across a mute amnesiac woman who is so...

Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star
1991
as Self
A retrospective on the career of Robert Mitchum through interviews with friends and co-workers, scenes from his films and the actor himself.

King Ralph
1991
Executive Producer
As the only relative in line to ascend the Royal throne, a down-on-his-luck American slob must learn the ways of the English.

Havana
1990
Director, Producer
During the revolution, a high-stakes gambler arrives in Cuba seeking to win big in poker games. Along the way, he meets and falls in love with the wif...
Robert Redford & Sydney Pollack: The Men and Their Movies
1990
as Self
A special highlighting actor/producer/director Robert Redford's 30-year career in motion pictures and his special relationship with director Sidney Po...

White Palace
1990
Executive Producer
Max Baron is a Jewish advertising executive in his 20s who's still getting over the death of his wife. Nora Baker is a 40-something diner waitress who...
Sanford Meisner: The American Theatre's Best Kept Secret
1990
as Self
A leading acting teacher who trained some of the most famous performers of the stage and screen, Sanford Meisner was a founding member of the Group Th...

Sanford Meisner Master Class
1990
Director
Encapsulating Meisner's 1980 Master Class into eight hours and providing rare insight into his increasingly popular acting style. Essential viewing f...
Sanford Meisner: The American Theatre's Best Kept Secret
1990
Executive Producer, Other
A leading acting teacher who trained some of the most famous performers of the stage and screen, Sanford Meisner was a founding member of the Group Th...

Presumed Innocent
1990
Producer
Rusty Sabich is a deputy prosecutor engaged in an obsessive affair with a coworker who is murdered. Soon after, he's accused of the crime. And his fig...

The Fabulous Baker Boys
1989
Executive Producer
The lives of two struggling musicians, who happen to be brothers, inevitably change when they team up with a beautiful, up-and-coming singer.
Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre
1989
as Himself
A study of the Group Theatre, a company that changed the face of American drama. The Group was founded in 1931 by Cheryl Crawford, Harold Clurman and ...

Hello Actors Studio
1988
as Self
After Lee Strasberg’s death in 1982, the most prestigious talents from the Actors Studio assumed the leadership of this exceptional organization. For ...

Bright Lights, Big City
1988
Producer
A disillusioned young writer living in New York City turns to drugs and drinking to block out the memories of his dead mother and estranged wife.

A Tiger's Tale
1988
Thanks
A young man falls for his girlfriend's mother.

Barbra Streisand: One Voice
1986
as Self - Audience Member (uncredited)
Originally broadcast as an exclusive special on HBO, Barbra Streisand launched her September 6, 1986 concert One Voice, in part, as a protest against ...

Nine 1/2 Weeks
1986
Other
An erotic story about a woman, the assistant of an art gallery, who gets involved in an impersonal affair with a man. She barely knows about his life,...

Putting It Together: The Making of the Broadway Album
1986
as Himself
In 1985, Barbra Streisand released "The Broadway Album," which remains one of her most popular records. Barbra's first television special on HBO debut...

Out of Africa
1985
Director, Producer
Tells the life story of Danish author Karen Blixen, who at the beginning of the 20th century moved to Africa to build a new life for herself. The film...

Songwriter
1984
Producer
Doc Jenkins may be one of country music's most beloved stars, but his private life is a wreck. He's split up with his longtime partner, Blackie Buck, ...

Tootsie
1982
as George Fields
When struggling, out of work actor Michael Dorsey secretly adopts a female alter ego – Dorothy Michaels – in order to land a part in a daytime drama, ...

Tootsie
1982
Director, Producer
When struggling, out of work actor Michael Dorsey secretly adopts a female alter ego – Dorothy Michaels – in order to land a part in a daytime drama, ...

Absence of Malice
1981
Director, Producer
Megan Carter is a reporter duped into running an untrue story on Michael Gallagher, a suspected racketeer. He has an alibi for the time his crime was ...

Honeysuckle Rose
1980
Executive Producer
Buck Bonham is a country singer on the road caught in a romantic triangle with Dyan Cannon and Amy Irving, the daughter of one of his longtime musical...

The Electric Horseman
1979
as Man Who Makes Pass at Alice (uncredited)
A former champion rodeo rider is reduced to using his saddle skills to promote a breakfast cereal in a gaudy Las Vegas show. When he's asked to perfor...

The Electric Horseman
1979
Director
A former champion rodeo rider is reduced to using his saddle skills to promote a breakfast cereal in a gaudy Las Vegas show. When he's asked to perfor...

Bobby Deerfield
1977
Director, Producer
Bobby Deerfield, a famous American race car driver on the European circuit, falls in love with the enigmatic Lillian Morelli, who is terminally ill.

Three Days of the Condor
1975
Director, Producer
When bookish CIA researcher Joe Turner finds all his co-workers dead, he, together with a woman he has kidnapped, must work together to outwit those r...

The Yakuza
1974
Director, Producer
When George Tanner does business with high-ranking Yakuza Tono, Tono kidnaps his daughter, and George summons his old friend, private eye Harry Kilmer...

The Way We Were
1973
Director
Opposites attract when, during their college days, Katie Morosky, a politically active Jew, meets Hubbell Gardiner, a feckless WASP. Years later, in t...

The Men Who Made the Movies: King Vidor
1973
as Self - Narrator (voice)
Overview of director King Vidor's filmography.

The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks
1973
as Narrator (voice)
A documentary filmography of Howard Hawks, including lengthy footage of Hawks himself discussing his films and many clips from his best-known pictures...

Jeremiah Johnson
1972
Director
A mountain man who wishes to live the life of a hermit becomes the unwilling object of a long vendetta by Indians when he proves to be the match of th...

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
1969
Director
In the midst of the Great Depression, manipulative emcee Rocky enlists contestants for a dance marathon offering a $1,500 cash prize. Among them are a...

Castle Keep
1969
Director
During the Battle of the Bulge, an anachronistic count shelters a ragtag squad of Americans in his isolated castle hoping they will defend it against ...

The Scalphunters
1968
Director
Forced to trade his valuable furs for a well-educated escaped slave, a rugged trapper vows to recover the pelts from the Indians and later the renegad...

This Property is Condemned
1966
Director
Owen Legate, a railroad official, comes to Dodson, Mississippi to shut down the local railway - the town's main income. But Owen unexpectedly finds l...

The Slender Thread
1965
Director
Alan is a Seattle college student volunteering at a crisis center. One night when at the clinic alone, a woman calls up the number and tells Alan that...

War Hunt
1962
as Sgt. Owen Van Horn
Dispatched to the front lines during the Korean War, an idealistic American soldier discovers the horrors of combat and comes at odds with a psychopat...

The Young Savages
1961
Dialect Coach
A district attorney investigates the racially charged case of three teenagers accused of the murder of a blind Puerto Rican boy.

Startime: The Turn of the Screw
1959
Dialogue Coach
A governess put in charge of two young children begins to see the ghost of her dead predecessor.

For Whom the Bell Tolls
1959
as Andres
During the Spanish Civil War, an American allied with the Republicans finds romance during a desperate mission to blow up a strategically important br...