Pollack played a director in the 1960
The Twilight Zone episode "
The Trouble with Templeton". He made his feature film debut as an actor in
Denis Sanders's
War Hunt (1962), where he met
Robert Redford, the male lead in seven films Pollack directed. Pollack first found success in television in the 1960s by directing episodes of series, such as
The Fugitive and
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. After that he directed a string of movies that drew public attention. His directorial debut was
The Slender Thread (1965). One of a select group of non- and/or former actors awarded membership in the
Actors Studio, Pollack resumed acting in the 1990s with appearances in
Robert Altman's
The Player (1992) and
Stanley Kubrick's
Eyes Wide Shut (1999), often playing corrupt or morally conflicted power figures. As a
character actor, he appeared in films such as
A Civil Action (1998), and
Changing Lanes (2002), as well as his own, including
Three Days of the Condor (1975),
The Electric Horseman (1979),
Random Hearts (1999), and
The Interpreter (2005, his final non-documentary film as a director). He also appeared in
Woody Allen's
Husbands and Wives (1992) as a New York lawyer undergoing a midlife crisis, and in
Robert Zemeckis's
Death Becomes Her (1992) as an emergency room doctor. His last role was as
Patrick Dempsey's father in the 2008 romantic comedy
Made of Honor, which was in theaters at the time of his death. He was a recurring guest star on the
NBC sitcom
Will & Grace, playing
Will Truman's (
Eric McCormack) unfaithful but loving father, George. He also appeared on NBC's
Just Shoot Me and
Mad About You and in 2007 made guest appearances on HBO's
The Sopranos and
Entourage. Pollack received the first annual Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking award from the
Austin Film Festival on October 21, 2006. As a producer, he helped guide many films that were successful with both critics and audiences, such as
The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989),
Sense and Sensibility (1995),
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999),
Iris (2001),
Cold Mountain (2003), and
Michael Clayton (2007), a film in which he also starred and for which he received his sixth Academy Award nomination, in the
Best Picture category. Pollack and the English director
Anthony Minghella formed the production company
Mirage Enterprises. The last film they produced together,
The Reader (2008), earned them both posthumous Oscar nominations for Best Picture. Pollack was also nominated for five Primetime Emmys, earning two: one for directing in 1966 and another for producing, which was given four months after his death in 2008. The moving image collection of Sydney Pollack is housed at the Academy Film Archive. ==Influences==