AND THE WINNER IS...

Sydney Pollack, the Oscar-winning director-producer-actor, has succumbed to a long battle with cancer at the age of 73. Pollack, in one capacity or another, was associated with many of the most important films of the past four decades, including: They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969, director), Jeremiah Johnson (1972, director), The Way We Were (1973, director), Three Days of the Condor (1975, director), Absence of Malice (1981, director-producer), Tootsie (1982, director-actor), Out of Africa (1985, director-producer), The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989, producer), Husbands and Wives (1992, actor), The Firm (1993, director), Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993, producer), Sense and Sensibility (1995, producer), Eyes Wide Shut (1999, actor), Iris (2001, producer), Cold Mountain (2003, producer), and Michael Clayton (2007, producer-actor; see my post from October 2007 about his scene-stealing performance). Pollack was awarded the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director for Out of Africa; he was also nominated for Best Director for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and Tootsie, and for Best Picture for Tootsie and Michael Clayton. Anthony Minghella, his longtime producing partner, also died prematurely earlier this year.