According to The New York Times, director, producer, and occasional actor Sydney Pollack died May 26 at his home in Los Angeles. Publicist Leslee Dart said the cause was cancer. He was 73.

The Times goes on to say that Pollack’s award-winning films from the 1970s and ’80s, particularly Out of Africa (1985), for which he won the Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture, made him one of the most prominent and well-established directors in Hollywood, enabling him to attract the biggest stars to his projects. The Times says that he was also nominated for They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? in 1969 and Tootsie in 1982.

Other popular films he directed, according to the Times, include mountain-man epic Jeremiah Johnson; C.I.A. mystery Three Days of the Condor (both of which star Robert Redford); and Absence of Malice, starring Paul Newman and Sally Field.  

The Associated Press reports that Pollack was not just a director, but also an experienced actor—a talent that naturally informed his directing. “Most of the great directors that I know of were not actors, so I can't tell you it's a requirement,” Pollack said in a quote in the AP report. “On the other hand, it's an enormous help.”

He last appeared on the big screen in Made of Honor and in Michael Clayton, in which he played law firm boss Marty Bach opposite George Clooney according to the AP. He maintained a busy schedule as a producer throughout this time.

The Times reports that he is survived by his wife and their two daughters.