Sydney Pollack, Director of The Way We Were and Out of Africa

Sydney Pollack, who directed movies such as The Way We Were and Out of Africa has died at the age of 73.

His films in the 70's and 80's captured the movie-goers' spirit of the time and therefore their attention. There was then a sense of idealism, and young people expressed this by engaging to a greater or lesser degree in political activism. The Way We Were was a movie that spoke of a conflict between idealism and success in the material world. Starring Robert Redford and Barbra Striesand, the haunting and melancholic movie theme song was also great hit.

Tootsie, which is a pretty zany movie with Dustin Hoffman dressing up as a woman, was also a great commercial success. Anyhow it was something different.

Pollack's other movies included Havana, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and recently The Interpreter. He took on a bit of acting himself and appeared in A Civil Action and Husbands and Wives. He even did appearances on the TV shows The Sopranos and Just Shoot Me.