Spike Lee, George Lucas, Frank Marshall, Martin Scorsese and AFI chief Bob Gazzale pay tribute to Tom Pollock, the former chairman of Universal Pictures, who died Saturday night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles following a heart attack.
Pollock, who was 77, also served as chairmanof the American Film Institute and co-founded the Montecito Picture Co. Spike Lee: My deep condolences to Mr.
Tom Pollock's family. He was a key figure in my development as a young filmmaker while he was head of Universal Pictures. He let me make and supported my films.
He was the unsung hero ofDo the Right Thing —he put his neck on the line. He did not cave in when many racist pundits told him not to release the movie in the summer for fear Black.
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