James M. Pollack

POLLACK, James M.
James M. Pollack, an actor, comedian, and photographer who once traveled to the South Pole with Admiral Byrd, died in his Los Angeles home on August 7. He was 74. Pollack was born in New York City and moved to Southern California with his parents when he was still a child. After graduating from Van Nuys High School in 1945, Pollack joined the United States Navy and became a Naval photographer, serving on one of the first ships to investigate results of the U.S. government's nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll in 1946. Later that year he sailed to Antarctica as part of Admiral Richard E. Byrd's Operation High Jump expedition. After leaving the Navy, Pollack traveled throughout Europe for a year and a half on a motor bike, gathering insights he would later put to use in comedy routines. "I want to dine with the French, drive with Italians, and chat with the British," he used to joke. He also lived on the island of Mallorca for a year. Returning to Southern California, he became a radio announcer and sportscaster, covering sports car racing events during the 1950s. Pollack also worked as a professional photographer, specializing in portraits that captured the essence of his subjects. His acting career included appearances on television's Taxi, Murphy Brown, and the Tracy Ullman Show, and on film in 1989's The Big Picture. He was a member of the improvisation group, the L.A. Connection and the North Hollywood-based theater group Actors'Alley. He performed stand-up comedy at the Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa Beach and once created the role of a World War I aviator for a stint at CK's restaurant in Houston. Friends remember Pollack as a natural comedian, who could always see the funny side of life. "Jim was an original," recalls playwright J.J. Schnebel, "and the world has need of originals." Pollack was a modern Renaissance man, knowledgeable about architecture, classical music, literature, and film; a talented amateur chef who loved entertaining, an avid golfer with a double-digit handicap, a skier, and a mountain biker. He was an active member of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, Beverly Hills, where he once served as First Reader. Most of all, he was a world-class friend. "Jim was a very caring person," remembers retired office manager Pat Hay. "He was always ready to help anyone in need." Pollack's ex-wife, writer and editor Elizabeth Harryman Lasley, agrees. "If you needed something at 2 o'clock in the morning, he'd be there for you," she says. "Jim defined friendship." Pollack is survived by his brother, William M. Pollack of Sherman Oaks; nieces Mellette Hawksley-Smith of Honolulu, Hawaii and Lesley Anderson and her children, Eva and Dashiell, of Altadena, California, and Ashland, Oregon.