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Sydney Pollack, the Academy Award-winning director who often dabbled in acting, died on Monday afternoon at his home in Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles. He was 73.

According to his publicist Leslee Dart, Pollack died from cancer, which was diagnosed about nine months ago. He was surrounded by his family this Memorial Day when he passed on.

While Pollack is best known as a director, having received an Oscar for 1985’s Out of Africa and been nominated for 1982’s Tootsie and 1969’s They Shoot Horses, Don’t They. He was also a familiar face on the silver screen. Today’s audience are likely to recognize him recently for the humor highlight in Made of Honor in which he plays a serial divorcee and also for his cell phone courtesy ad with Cingular.

George Clooney, who starred in Michael Clayton and Leatherheads (both produced by Pollack), said in a statement from his publicist, “Sydney made the world a little better, movies a little better and even dinner a little better. A tip of the hat to a class act… He’ll be missed terribly.”

Pollack was one of those directors who refused to be pigeon-holed in his field. He often helmed more dramatic fare like The Way We Were and Random Hearts, but he was also responsible for thrillers like Three Days of the Condor, The Interpreter and The Firm.

Still, he had a strong talent for comedy, directing Dustin Hoffman in the 1980s gender-bender Tootsie and showing his softer side in 1999’s Sabrina.

In front of the camera, Pollack was a welcome face in everything from comedy to drama. Never as the starring role, Pollack was a mainstay opposite some top actors that he had directed in the past, including Tom Cruise (directed in The Firm; acted with in Eyes Wide Shut), Meryl Streep (directed in Out of Africa; acted with in Death Becomes Her) and multiple films with Robert Redford.

Pollack was born in Lafayette, Indiana to Russian immigrants. After a rocky early life that included his parents divorcing and his mother later dying of alcoholism when he was 16, Pollack left Indiana and moved to New York City soon after graduating high school.

Pollack started his career as an actor, on stage in New York, then moving into television. He also built his directing resume on television in the early 1960s, working on shows like The Tall Man, Ben Casey and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

While working in television, he met Robert Redford, which proved to be a fruitful relationship. They became fast friends and climbed the Hollywood success ladder together. Pollack had directed Redford in seven films (1966’s This Property Is Condemned, 1972’s Jeremiah Johnson, 1973’s The Way We Were, 1975’s Three Days of the Condor, 1979’s The Electric Horseman, 1985’s Out of Africa and 1990’s Havana).

Pollack is survived by his wife of 49 years Claire, his two daughters Rebecca and Rachel, his brother Bernie and six grandchildren.