Sidney Poitier, 1st Black man to win best actor Oscar, dies at 94
Category: News & Politics
Via: sister-mary-agnes-ample-bottom • 2 years ago • 34 commentsBy: ABC - no author listed
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Sidney Poitier , the Oscar-winning actor who brought a quiet dignity to his characters on screen and helped break down the color barrier in Hollywood, has died. He was 94 years old.
Poitier's death was confirmed by two Bahamian ministers. Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper told ABC News he was "conflicted with great sadness and a sense of celebration when I learned of the passing of Sir Sidney Poitier."
"Sadness that he would no longer be here to tell him how much he means to us, but celebration that he did so much to show the world that those from the humblest beginnings can change the world and that we gave him his flowers while he was with us," he said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell also told ABC News, "We've lost a great Bahamian and I've lost a personal friend."
MORE: Sydney Poitier through the years
Poitier became the first Black man to win an Academy Award for best actor in 1964 for his role in "Lilies of the Field." He was perhaps best known for his role as a Black doctor engaged to a white woman in 1967's "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," in which he starred opposite Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.
That same year, he portrayed his most successful character, Philadelphia detective Virgil Tibbs in the Southern crime drama "In the Heat of the Night." It was a role he would reprise in two sequels. He played an inner-city teacher in "To Sir, with Love," his third film in 1967.
Born Feb. 20, 1927, in Miami while his Bahamian parents were visiting, Poitier spent most of his childhood in the Bahamas. As a teen, he was sent to live with one of his brothers in Miami, and at age 16, moved on his own to New York City. After working a series of menial jobs and a brief stint in the Army, he finally landed a spot at the American Negro Theatre in Harlem.
He made his film debut in 1950 in "No Way Out," playing a doctor treating a white bigot. His breakthrough role came in 1955 playing a student in an inner-city school in "Blackboard Jungle." He had earned his first Academy Award nomination for starring in the 1958 crime drama "The Defiant Ones" with Tony Curtis.
Other memorable roles included the musical "Porgy and Bess," the film adaptation of "A Raisin in the Sun" and "A Patch of Blue."
Starting in the 1970s, Poitier directed a number of films, including "Uptown Saturday Night" and "Let's Do It Again" with Bill Cosby. In 1980, he directed the hit comedy "Stir Crazy," starring Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder .
After retiring from acting in 1997, he served as the non-resident Bahamian ambassador to Japan until 2007.
In 2002, 38 years after receiving his best actor Oscar, Poitier was given an honorary Academy Award for his "remarkable accomplishments as an artist and as a human being." In 2009, President Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor.
Poitier is survived by six daughters, four of whom he had with first wife Juanita Hardy. He is also survived by his current wife Joanna Shimkus, the mother of two of his daughters, including actress Sydney Tamiia Poitier.
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If this keeps up, my perpetual state of sadness will remain in a perpetual state of sadness.
Oh, and at some point in the near future, I'll be watching To Sir With Love, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.
Those are two of my favorites. Just watched "To Sir, with Love" a couple of weeks ago. If you haven't already seen them, watch "Blackboard Jungle", "A Patch of Blue", and "In the Heat of the Night". They're excellent, too!
Rest peacefully, Sidney Poitier.
Heaven has a new power couple....Sidney Poitier and Betty White.
I like that
Rest in peace, Mr. Poitier. You were a remarkable man.
Morning...
What a sad way to start the day..
Another light has gone out and our world has become a little bit darker once again...
It is difficult to pick a fav film of his, but mine is A Patch Of Blue.
The most iconic black actor of all time. And a civil rights icon.
I do wish though that he would have been able to show a more fun side of his personality from time to time. He was presented as this endlessly noble figure and it typecast him.
he elevated black actors in hollywood from caricatures to serious actors prior to and during a turbulent time in american race relations. he broke the hollywood color barrier with his 1st academy award.
Please watch Uptown Saturday Night, Let's Do It Again and perhaps A Piece of the Action, his three-film directing deal with American International (AI). Though the first two are comedies, and the third having more serous undertones, the movies show his comedic side with being buffoonery and stereotypical. Even the guest appearances aren't overly done.
Sidney and Tony Curtis in ''The Defiant Ones'' was a very good movie. Of course, the others listed in the were all first class.
Almost every actor has had a stinker of a film, but he never did....not one.
I never thought of it, but it doesn't surprise me one bit.
Thank you, Mr. Poitier. You can ascend your steps to our pantheon of highly favored and decent souls. You rescued a people and gave us more to hope for in seeing your portrayals "in black" than we ever thought possible at the time. A man among men. A black among Blacks. A friend among friends. Well done good and faithful one!
!!!!!!!!!
And now, sadly, we can add Bob Saget to the list.
They do die in threes in Hollywood, eh? Betty White; Sidney Poitier; Bob Saget.
Dobie Gillis (Dwayne Hickman) died today at 87. My childhood is disappearing.
Oh, no! I hadn't heard about Dwayne Hickman. I'm so bummed.
I know! Bob Saget was a complete shock. Sidney Poitier, as lovely as he was, and as wonderful as his memory will always be due to his films and the way he lived his life, was 94. Bob Saget was 65. That's whippersnapper young.
Yes, though it is superstition, I imagine in Hollywood when the first new death happens. . .all get nervous as if walking on eggshells wandering after the next two (to come).
Betty White died in 2021, so Dobie makes it 3 for 2022.
They die in "threes" is not based on crossing the new year. It depends on Hollywood. Dobie may start a new count. . . oh-oh. . . Hollywood is on notice again, GS'. Scary business of being a Hollywood 'type.'
It's pretty scary, CB.
RIP, Mr. Poitier. Thank you for your work. The pleasure is all mine
I like that.