Pollack was diagnosed with cancer about nine months ago and died Monday afternoon, surrounded by family, at his home in Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles, said his publicist, Leslee Dart.
Unlike many other top directors of his era, Pollack was also a film and television actor himself, and he used this unique position to forge a relationship with Hollywood's elite stars and create some of the most successful films of the 1970s and '80s.
Sydney was a lifelong friend of Barbra's -- he appeared on Barbra's Broadway Album in 1985 (Putting It Together Dialogue)... and appeared at many of her concerts, including the 2006 Staples concert in Los Angeles. You can see Sydney on Barbra's One Voice Concert DVD (applauding after 'Somewhere'). Barbra presented the Best Director Oscar for Out Of Africa... Barbra also mentioned Sydney during her 2000 Cecil B. DeMille Award Speech at the Golden Globes... and you can see Sydney's insight into the making of The Way We Were on the Special Edition DVD.
