SYDNEY POLLACK
July 1, 1934-May 26, 2008
By Robert Redford
Those you shared much of your time with, when they leave, take away part of you. Sydney and I shared a big piece of our professional and personal lives that began in 1960. We were fellow actors in a small indie film called Warhunt. Having started careers in theatre and live television in New York, we shared many views on life, art and the desire to chart a distinct path towards making something different. A full collaboration began in 1965 and lasted until 1990.
Over that time, we worked on many films — Jeremiah Johnson, The Way We Were, and Out of Africa, to name a few — and shared many hopes and fears. The possibilities were rich — nothing to lose. Explore, collaborate, test, argue, doubt, but do it the way we wanted despite the rules. We would compete in friendship — who could drink the most, last the longest, had the most guilt. It was great fun.
And it was all ahead of us. Those were the building years — taking chances, kidding about whether anyone will find out that we don’t know what we’re doing. But all the while secretly believing we did know.
We knew each other's weak spots and mercilessly exploited them for humor and humility. But silently we supported our strengths. I was the actor; he the director, and it was good that way. He was smart and thorough and understood the value of music as a rhythm. I felt comfortable and understood. Free to roam, so to speak. Knowing that Sydney, being a good manager, would make the right decisions. Of course, our careers had their separate course as well. He did his thing and I did mine.
It is a rare thing to say you got what you wanted. But Syd did get what he wanted. He achieved beyond his early hopes and beginnings. The legacy of his achievements will endure.
Over time you gradually come to realize that life consists in a large part of watching things and those around you disappear leaving you momentarily bewildered and sad. And sad I am, but will be happy to know that the large piece of life we shared will carry such fond memories.
Pollack, 73, died of stomach cancer in L.A.
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