Stars pay tribute to late Pollack

Obituary: Sydney Pollack

Hollywood stars have paid tribute to US film director and producer Sydney Pollack, who has died aged 73.

"He knew how to tell a love story - he was a great actor's director because he was a great actor," singer Barbra Streisand said.

Actress Sally Field described being directed by Pollack in the film Absence of Malice as "a great gift".

Pollack died of cancer on Monday, surrounded by family members, at his home in Los Angeles.

He won producing and directing Oscars for the epic romance Out of Africa, starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep, in 1985.

'Unpretentious'

The director went on to collaborate with Robert Redford more than any other actor for a total seven films and formed a close friendship.

"Sydney's and my relationship both professionally and personally covers 40 years," Redford said.

"It's too personal to express in a sound bite."

He was elegant, a gentleman, smart and generous, a wonderful actor, a great cook - a true connoisseur of life. Nicole Kidman

Pollack directed Tom Cruise in the 1993 film The Firm and co-starred in Stanley Kubrick's 1999 Eyes Wide Shut.

Cruise said: "Throughout the years, unpretentious and never condescending, he shared with me what he loved about family, storytelling, food, flying and a great bottle of vino.

"He was a Renaissance man and a great friend."

Paul Newman co-starred with Sally Field in Absence of Malice and said Pollack was "a very special person".

"But the thing that impressed me was that he was special enough so that he didn't have to think that he was," he said.

Pollack directed Dustin Hoffman in the 1982 film Tootsie In pictures: Sydney Pollack

Pollack directed Nicole Kidman in The Interpreter - the first film shot at UN headquarters.

"He was elegant, a gentleman, smart and generous, a wonderful actor, a great cook - a true connoisseur of life," Kidman said.

"He guided me artistically and personally, not just as a director or producer but as a mentor and friend."

Pollack started out as an actor after developing a love of drama and enrolling at a drama school in New York.

Oscar-winning actor and long-time friend Martin Landau said: "We started together in New York and he always excelled at everything he set out to do, his friendships and his humanity as much as his talents."

Pollack's last screen appearance was in romantic comedy Made of Honour, where he played the on-screen father of star Patrick Dempsey.

He had been diagnosed with cancer 10 months ago.