HOLLYWOOD director, producer and actor Sydney Pollack has died aged 73.
A representative of Pollack`s family has said he died of cancer at his Los Angeles home, the New York Times has reported.
Pollack was known for his star-heavy, popular films that still allowed room for artistic merit, the Times wrote in its obituary. "It is not impossible to make mainstream films which are really good," it quoted him as saying.
Pollack`s greatest success as a director came in the 1980s, winning the Best Director Oscar for his work on 1985`s Out of Africa, which was also named Best Picture.
He was nominated for the Best Director award for two other films - They Shoot Horses Don`t They? (1969) and Tootsie (1982).
He also had hits in the 1970s with The Way We Were and Three Days of the Condor. The Firm (1993) was also a box office winner.
In 2005, Pollack directed Nicole Kidman in The Interpreter, the first film to be allowed to film inside the United Nations.
He also produced films such as Cold Mountain with business partner Anthony Minghella and the Oscar-nominated Michael Clayton.
In Clayton, Pollack made one of his occasional ventures in front of the camera. His final on-screen role is in the Patrick Dempsey rom-com Made of Honour.
His production credits also include The Quiet American, The Talented Mr Ripley (also with Minghella) and Sliding Doors.
Pollack`s illness first became known when he was forced to pull out of a project last August.
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