Hollywood filmmaker Sydney Pollack, who won a pair of Academy Awards for the epic romance <i>Out of Africa</i> and earned praise for his acting stints in films such as <i>Tootsie</i> and <i>Michael Clayton</i>, died on May 26 after a battle with cancer, his spokesperson said. He was 73.
British film director Anthony Minghella, who won an Oscar for The English Patient, died in a London hospital on Tuesday after a short illness, his agent said. He was 54. Minghella died from complications following surgery last week for cancer of the tonsils and neck, agent Leslee Dart said.