Gentlemen: Sydney Pollack and Harvey Korman

Hollywood has lost two more of the "last of a breed" -- that is to say, the last of the true gentlemen.

Director, actor and producer Sydney Pollack passed away last Monday, May 26th, at the age of 73 due to cancer. His films included Tootsie, Out of Africa, The Way We Were, Michael Clayton, The Firm, Absence of Malice and two of my favorites, Three Days of the Condor and Jeremiah Johnson. Go here to see his entire filmography.

To me, Pollack simply exuded class. I knew that when Mr. Pollack directed, acted in or produced a film, it would be a mature film made for adults. So few movies are created for real adults who can comprehend an actual script with true plotting.

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Comedic actor Harvey Korman also passed away this Thursday, May 30th, at age 81, after suffering complications from the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm four months ago. He had undergone several major operations, and passed away at the UCLA Med Center.

Harvey Korman, in concert with Tim Conway, were an unbeatable duo. Korman was a favorite actor of director Mel Brooks and began the major portion of his career with the Carole Burnett Show.

Mel Brooks said of Korman's passing:

A world without Harvey Korman — it's a more serious world," Brooks told the AP on Thursday. "It was very dangerous for me to work with him because if our eyes met we'd crash to the floor in comic ecstasy. It was comedy heaven to make Harvey Korman laugh."

And it's a sadder, sadder world this week.

If you have memories, please leave them in comments.

BZ