opular and beloved actor/director Sydney Pollack has passed away due to stomach cancer. He was 73. Pollack had been suffering from the deadly disease for months, but had been careful to keep the information out of the public eye. He worked right up until the end, directing two films in 2005 (The Interpreter and the documentary Sketches of Frank Gehry) and acting in such films as last year’s Michael Clayton. He was originally scheduled to direct the recent HBO movie Recount, but had to pass duties to Jay Roach out of health concerns. He will be sorely missed.

Pollack had an incredibly prolific career in Hollywood, compiling over 30 directing credits and 32 acting credits in film and television. He began, like so many performers of his generation, studying acting in New York and learning his craft through a variety of stage and television projects (including a well-received performance in a 1959 Playhouse 90 telecast of For Whom The Bell Tolls directed by John Frankenheimer). While he continued to ac occasionally, Pollack dedicated himself to directing ine the 1960s, accumulating credits on such respected programs as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Fugitive (even picking up an Emmy for his troubles). He made the jump to the big screen in 1965 with a well-received Sidney Poitier drama The Slender Thread.