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Sidney Poitier

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Sidney Poitier

Sidney Poitier 1968.jpg
Poitier in 1968
Born(1927-02-20)February 20, 1927
Miami, Florida, U.S.
DiedJanuary 6, 2022(2022-01-06) (aged 94)
Nationality
  • American
  • Bahamian
Occupations
  • Actor
  • film director
  • diplomat
Years active1946–2009
WorksFull list
Spouses
Juanita Hardy
(m. 1950; div. 1965)
(m. 1976)
PartnerDiahann Carroll (1959–1968)
Children6, including Sydney Tamiia
AwardsFull list
Ambassador of the Bahamas
1997–2007Ambassador to Japan
2002–2007Ambassador to UNESCO
Military career
Service/branchUnited States Army
Years of service1943–1944
Battles/warsWorld War II

Sidney Poitier KBE (/ˈpwɑːtj/ PWAH-tyay;[1] February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was a Bahamian and American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor.[2] He received two competitive Golden Globe Awards, a competitive British Academy of Film and Television Arts award (BAFTA), and a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. Poitier was one of the last major stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.

Poitier's family lived in the Bahamas, then still a Crown colony, but he was born unexpectedly in Miami, Florida, while they were visiting, which automatically granted him U.S. citizenship. He grew up in the Bahamas, but moved to Miami at age 15, and to New York City when he was 16. He joined the American Negro Theatre, landing his breakthrough film role as a high school student in the film Blackboard Jungle (1955). In 1958, Poitier starred with Tony Curtis as chained-together escaped convicts in The Defiant Ones, which received nine Academy Award nominations; both actors received nominations for Best Actor, with Poitier's being the first for a Black actor. They both also had Best Actor nominations for the BAFTAs, with Poitier winning. Additionally Poitier won the Silver Bear for Best Actor for his performance in the film. In 1964, he won the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Actor[3][note 1] for Lilies of the Field (1963), playing an itinerant handyman helping a group of German-speaking nuns build a chapel.[4]

Poitier also received acclaim for Porgy and Bess (1959), A Raisin in the Sun (1961), and A Patch of Blue (1965), because of his strong roles as epic African American male characters. He continued to break ground in three successful 1967 films which dealt with issues of race and race relations: To Sir, with Love; Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and In the Heat of the Night, the latter of which won the Academy Award for Best Picture for that year. He received Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his performance in the last film, and in a poll the next year he was voted the US's top box-office star.[5] Beginning in the 1970s, Poitier also directed various comedy films, including Stir Crazy (1980), starring Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder, among other films. After nearly a decade away from acting, he returned to television and film starring in Shoot to Kill (1988) and Sneakers (1992).

Poitier was granted a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 1974.[6][7] In 1982, he received the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award. In 1995, he received the Kennedy Center Honor. From 1997 to 2007, he was the Bahamian Ambassador to Japan.[8] In 1999, he ranked 22nd among male actors on the "100 Years...100 Stars" list by the American Film Institute and received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award.[9][10] In 2002, he was given an Honorary Academy Award, in recognition of his "remarkable accomplishments as an artist and as a human being".[11] In 2009, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States, by President Barack Obama.[12] In 2016, he was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship for outstanding lifetime achievement in film.[7]

Discover more about Sidney Poitier related topics

Academy Award for Best Actor

Academy Award for Best Actor

The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. The award is traditionally presented by the previous year's Best Actress winner.

British Academy of Film and Television Arts

British Academy of Film and Television Arts

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual award ceremonies, BAFTA has an international programme of learning events and initiatives offering access to talent through workshops, masterclasses, scholarships, lectures, and mentoring schemes in the United Kingdom and the United States.

American Negro Theatre

American Negro Theatre

The American Negro Theatre (ANT) was co-founded on June 5, 1940 by playwright Abram Hill and actor Frederick O'Neal. Determined to build a "people's theatre", they were inspired by the Federal Theatre Project's Negro Unit in Harlem and by W. E. B. Du Bois' "four fundamental principles" of Black drama: that it should be by, about, for, and near African Americans.

Blackboard Jungle

Blackboard Jungle

Blackboard Jungle is a 1955 American social drama film about an English teacher in an interracial inner-city school, based on the 1954 novel The Blackboard Jungle by Evan Hunter and adapted for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks. It is remembered for its innovative use of rock and roll in its soundtrack, for casting grown adults as high school teens, and for the unique breakout role of a black cast member, film icon Sidney Poitier, as a rebellious yet musically talented student.

A Raisin in the Sun (1961 film)

A Raisin in the Sun (1961 film)

A Raisin in the Sun is a 1961 American drama film directed by Daniel Petrie and starring Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, Roy Glenn, and Louis Gossett Jr., and adapted from the 1959 play of the same name by Lorraine Hansberry. It follows a black family that wants a better life away from the city. A Raisin in the Sun was released by Columbia Pictures on May 29, 1961.

A Patch of Blue

A Patch of Blue

A Patch of Blue is a 1965 American drama film directed by Guy Green about the friendship between an educated black man and an illiterate, blind, white 18-year-old girl, and the problems that plague their friendship in a racially divided America. Made in 1965 against the backdrop of the growing civil rights movement, the film explores racism while playing on the idea that "love is blind."

Academy Award for Best Picture

Academy Award for Best Picture

The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only category in which every member of the Oscars is eligible to submit a nomination and vote on the final ballot. The Best Picture category is traditionally the final award of the night and is widely considered as the most prestigious honor of the ceremony.

AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars

AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars

AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars is the American Film Institute's list ranking the top 25 female and 25 male greatest screen legends of American film history and is the second list of the AFI 100 Years... series.

American Film Institute

American Film Institute

The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.

Academy Honorary Award

Academy Honorary Award

The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards – is given annually by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Since 2009, it has been presented at the separate annual Governors Awards rather than at the regular Academy Awards ceremony. The Honorary Award celebrates motion picture achievements that are not covered by existing Academy Awards, although prior winners of competitive Academy Awards are not excluded from receiving the Honorary Award.

Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is an American former politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African-American president of the United States. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004, and previously worked as a civil rights lawyer before entering politics.

BAFTA Fellowship

BAFTA Fellowship

The BAFTA Fellowship, or the Academy Fellowship, is a lifetime achievement award presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in recognition of "outstanding achievement in the art forms of the moving image". The award is the highest honour the Academy can bestow, and has been awarded annually since 1971. Fellowship recipients have mainly been film directors, but some have been awarded to actors, film/television producers, cinematographers, film editors, screenwriters and contributors to the video game industry. In 2002, Merchant Ivory Productions became the first organisation to win the award. People from the United Kingdom dominate the list, but it includes over a dozen U.S. citizens and several from other countries in Europe, though none of the latter have been recognized since 1996. In 2010, Shigeru Miyamoto became the first citizen of an Asian country to receive the award, with video game designer Hideo Kojima becoming the second in 2020.

Early life

Sidney Poitier was born on February 20, 1927, in Miami, Florida.[13] He was the youngest of seven children[14] born to Evelyn (née Outten) and Reginald James Poitier, Afro-Bahamian farmers who owned a farm on Cat Island.[15] The family would travel to Miami to sell tomatoes and other produce to wholesalers. His father also worked as a cab driver in Nassau.[16] Poitier was born unexpectedly in Miami while his parents were there on business; his birth was two months premature, and he was not expected to survive, but his parents remained in Miami for three months to nurse him to health.[17] Poitier grew up in the Bahamas, then a British Crown colony. His birth in the United States entitled him to US citizenship.[17]

Some believe that the Poitier ancestors had migrated from Haiti,[18] and were probably among the runaway slaves who established maroon communities throughout the Bahamas, including Cat Island. Poitier was originally a French name, and there were then no Poitiers of French ancestry nearby in the Bahamas.[19] However, there had been a Poitier of French ancestry on Cat Island—the name came from planter Charles Leonard Poitier, who had immigrated from Jamaica in the early 1800s. In 1834, his wife's estate on Cat Island had 86 slaves of West African origin who kept the name Poitier, a name that had been introduced into the Anglosphere since the Norman Conquest in the eleventh century.[20] Charles Leonard Poitier might have been from Haiti originally but had lived in Jamaica previously.

Poitier lived with his family on Cat Island until he was ten, when they moved to Nassau. There he was exposed to the modern world, where he saw his first automobile and first experienced electricity, plumbing, refrigeration, and motion pictures.[21][22] He was raised Catholic[23] but later became an agnostic[24] with views closer to deism.[25]

At age fifteen, he was sent to Miami to live with his brother's large family, but Poitier found it impossible to adjust to the racism in Jim Crow era Florida.[26] At sixteen, he moved to New York City, looking to become an actor, holding a string of jobs as a dishwasher in the meantime.[27] After failing his first audition with the American Negro Theatre due to his inability to fluently read the script, an elderly Jewish waiter sat with him every night for several weeks, helping him to improve his reading by using the newspaper.[28][29] During World War II, in November 1943, he lied about his age and enlisted in the Army. He was assigned to a Veteran's Administration hospital in Northport, New York, and was trained to work with psychiatric patients. Poitier became upset with how the hospital treated its patients and feigned mental illness to obtain a discharge. Poitier confessed to a psychiatrist that he was faking his condition, but the doctor was sympathetic and granted his discharge under Section VIII of Army regulation 615–360 in December 1944.[30]

After leaving the Army, he worked as a dishwasher until a successful audition landed him a role in an American Negro Theatre production, the same company he failed his first audition with.[31][32][29]

Discover more about Early life related topics

Cat Island, Bahamas

Cat Island, Bahamas

Cat Island is located in central Bahamas, and is one of its districts. Cat Island also has the nation's highest point, Mount Alvernia. It rises to 63 metres (207 ft) and is topped by a monastery called The Hermitage. This assembly of buildings was erected by the Franciscan "Brother Jerome".

Nassau, Bahamas

Nassau, Bahamas

Nassau is the capital and largest city of the Bahamas. With a population of 274,400 as of 2016, or just over 70% of the entire population of the Bahamas, Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in the country. It is the centre of commerce, education, law, administration, and media of the country.

Birthright citizenship in the United States

Birthright citizenship in the United States

Birthright citizenship in the United States is United States citizenship acquired by a person automatically, by operation of law. This takes place in two situations: by virtue of the person's birth within United States territory or because one or both of their parents is a US citizen. Birthright citizenship contrasts with citizenship acquired in other ways, for example by naturalization.

Haiti

Haiti

Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island which it shares with the Dominican Republic. To its south-west lies the small Navassa Island, which is claimed by Haiti but is disputed as a United States territory under federal administration. Haiti is 27,750 km2 (10,714 sq mi) in size, the third largest country in the Caribbean by area, and has an estimated population of 11.4 million, making it the most populous country in the Caribbean. The capital is Port-au-Prince.

Anglosphere

Anglosphere

The Anglosphere is a group of English-speaking nations that share cultural or historical ties with the United Kingdom, and which today maintain close political, diplomatic and military co-operation. While the nations included in different sources vary, the Anglosphere is usually not considered to include all countries where English is an official language, so it is not synonymous with anglophone, though the nations that are commonly included were all once part of the British Empire.

Norman Conquest

Norman Conquest

The Norman Conquest was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops—all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conqueror.

Catholic Church

Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2019. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization. The church consists of 24 sui iuris churches, including the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, which comprise almost 3,500 dioceses and eparchies located around the world. The pope, who is the bishop of Rome, is the chief pastor of the church. The bishopric of Rome, known as the Holy See, is the central governing authority of the church. The administrative body of the Holy See, the Roman Curia, has its principal offices in Vatican City, a small enclave of the Italian city of Rome, of which the pope is head of state.

Deism

Deism

Deism is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that empirical reason and observation of the natural world are exclusively logical, reliable, and sufficient to determine the existence of a Supreme Being as the creator of the universe. More simply stated, Deism is the belief in the existence of God, specifically in a creator who does not intervene in the universe after creating it, solely based on rational thought without any reliance on revealed religions or religious authority. Deism emphasizes the concept of natural theology.

American Negro Theatre

American Negro Theatre

The American Negro Theatre (ANT) was co-founded on June 5, 1940 by playwright Abram Hill and actor Frederick O'Neal. Determined to build a "people's theatre", they were inspired by the Federal Theatre Project's Negro Unit in Harlem and by W. E. B. Du Bois' "four fundamental principles" of Black drama: that it should be by, about, for, and near African Americans.

World War II

World War II

World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries, including all of the great powers, fought as part of two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. Many participants threw their economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind this total war, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and the delivery of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war.

United States Army

United States Army

www.kelvin.com

Northport, New York

Northport, New York

Northport is a historic maritime village on the northern shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, United States. Initially designated Great Cow Harbour by 17th-century English colonists, the area was officially renamed Northport in 1837. In 1894, in an effort to localize governance, the community was incorporated as a village.

Career

Early work and blacklist

Poitier joined the American Negro Theater but was rejected by audiences. Contrary to what was expected of black actors at the time, Poitier's tone deafness made him unable to sing.[33] Determined to refine his acting skills and rid himself of his noticeable Bahamian accent, he spent the next six months dedicating himself to achieving theatrical success. He modeled his legendary speech pattern after radio personality Norman Brokenshire. On his second attempt at the theater, he was noticed and given a leading role in the Broadway production of Lysistrata, through which, though it ran a failing four days, he received an invitation to understudy for Anna Lucasta.[34]

In 1947, Poitier was a founding member of the Committee for the Negro in the Arts (CNA),[35] an organization whose participants were committed to a left-wing analysis of class and racial exploitation.[36] Among his other CNA-related activities, in the early 1950s he was a Vice Chair of the organization.[37] In 1952, he was one of several narrators in a pageant written by Alice Childress and Lorraine Hansberry for the Negro History Festival put on by the leftist Harlem monthly newspaper Freedom.[38]

His participation in such events and CNA generally, along with his friendships with other leftist Black performers, including Canada Lee and Paul Robeson, led to his subsequent blacklisting for a few years.[39] Even associating with Poitier added to the basis for blacklisting Alfred Palca, the writer and producer of one of Poitier's earliest films, the 1954 Go Man Go.[40]

Poitier never did sign a loyalty oath, despite being asked in connection with his prospective role in Blackboard Jungle (1955).[41]

1950s

A scene from the play A Raisin in the Sun in 1959, with (from left) Louis Gossett Jr. as George Murchison, Ruby Dee as Ruth Younger, and Poitier as Walter Younger
A scene from the play A Raisin in the Sun in 1959, with (from left) Louis Gossett Jr. as George Murchison, Ruby Dee as Ruth Younger, and Poitier as Walter Younger

By late 1949, Poitier had to choose between leading roles on stage and an offer to work for Darryl F. Zanuck in the film No Way Out (1950).[42] His performance in No Way Out, as a doctor treating a white bigot (played by Richard Widmark, who became a friend), was noticed and led to more roles, each considerably more interesting and more prominent than those most African-American actors of the time were offered.[43] In 1951, he traveled to South Africa with the African-American actor Canada Lee to star in the film version of Cry, the Beloved Country.[44] Poitier's distinction continued in his role as Gregory W. Miller, a member of an incorrigible high-school class in Blackboard Jungle (1955).[45] But it was his performance in Martin Ritt's 1957 film Edge of the City that the industry could not ignore. It was a pitch towards stardom granted him.

Poitier enjoyed working for director William Wellman on Good-bye, My Lady (1956).[46] Wellman was a big name, he had previously directed the famous Roxie Hart (1942) with Ginger Rogers and Magic Town (1947) with James Stewart.[46] What Poitier remembered indelibly was the wonderful humanity in this talented director. Wellman had a sensitivity that Poitier thought was profound, which Wellman felt he needed to hide."[46] Poitier later praised Wellman for inspiring his thoughtful approach to directing when he found himself taking the helm from Joseph Sargent on Buck and the Preacher in 1971.[46][47]

In 1958 he starred alongside Tony Curtis in director Stanley Kramer's The Defiant Ones.[48] The film was a critical and commercial success with the performances of both Poitier and Curtis being praised.[49][50] The film landed eight Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Actor nominations for both stars, making Poitier the first Black male actor to be nominated for a competitive Academy Award as best actor.[51] Poitier did win the British Academy Film Award for Best Foreign Actor.[52]

Poitier acted in the first production of A Raisin in the Sun alongside Ruby Dee on the Broadway stage at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in 1959. The play was directed by Lloyd Richards. The play introduced details of Black life to the overwhelmingly White Broadway audiences, while director Richards observed that it was the first play to which large numbers of Black people were drawn.[53] The play was a groundbreaking piece of American theater with Frank Rich, critic from The New York Times writing in 1983, that A Raisin in the Sun "changed American theater forever".[54] For his performance he earned a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination. That same year Poitier would star in the film adaptation of Porgy and Bess (1959) alongside Dorothy Dandridge. For his performance, Poitier received a 1960 Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.[55]

1960s

If the fabric of the society were different, I would scream to high heaven to play villains and to deal with different images of Negro life that would be more dimensional . . . But I'll be damned if I do that at this stage of the game. Not when there is only one Negro actor working in films with any degree of consistency . . .

Sidney Poitier (1967)[56]

In 1961, Poitier starred in the film adaptation of A Raisin in the Sun for which he received another Golden Globe Award nomination.[57] Also in 1961, Poitier starred in Paris Blues alongside Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Louis Armstrong, and Diahann Carroll.[58] The film dealt with the American racism of the time by contrasting it with Paris's open acceptance of Black people.[58] In 1963 he starred in Lilies of the Field.[59] For this role, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor and became the first Black male to win the award.[60] His satisfaction at this honor was undermined by his concerns that this award was more of the industry congratulating itself for having him as a token and it would inhibit him from asking for more substantive considerations afterward.[61] Poitier worked relatively little over the following year; he remained the only major actor of African descent and the roles offered were predominantly typecast as a soft-spoken appeaser.[62]

In 1964, Poitier recorded an album with the composer Fred Katz called Poitier Meets Plato, in which Poitier recites passages from Plato's writings.[63] He also performed in the Cold War drama The Bedford Incident (1965) alongside the film's producer Richard Widmark, the Biblical epic film The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) alongside Charlton Heston and Max von Sydow, and A Patch of Blue (1965) co-starring Elizabeth Hartman and Shelley Winters.[64][65][66]

In 1967, he was the most successful draw at the box office, the commercial peak of his career, with three popular films, To Sir, with Love, and In the Heat of the Night, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.[67] Although these three films seemingly shared little similarity, they all, albeit not overtly, dealt with the black and white divide.[68]

In To Sir, with Love, Poitier plays a teacher at a secondary school in the East End of London. The film deals with social and racial issues in the inner city school. The film was met with mixed response; however, Poitier was praised for his performance, with the critic from Time writing, "Even the weak moments are saved by Poitier, who invests his role with a subtle warmth."[69]

In Norman Jewison's mystery drama In the Heat of the Night, Poitier played Virgil Tibbs, a police detective from Philadelphia who investigates a murder in the deep south in Mississippi alongside a cop with racial prejudices played by Rod Steiger. The film was a critical success with Bosley Crowther of The New York Times calling it "the most powerful film I have seen in a long time."[70] Roger Ebert placed it at number ten on his top ten list of 1967 films.[71][72] Art Murphy of Variety felt that the excellent Poitier and outstanding Steiger performances overcame noteworthy flaws, including an uneven script.[73] Poitier received a Golden Globe Award and British Academy Film Award nomination for his performance.[52]

In Stanley Kramer's social drama Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Poitier played a man in a relationship with a White woman played by Katharine Houghton. The film revolves around her bringing him to meet with her parents played by Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. The film was one of the rare films at the time to depict an interracial romance in a positive light, as interracial marriage historically had been illegal in most states of the United States. It was still illegal in 17 states—mostly Southern states—until June 12, 1967, six months before the film was released. The film was a critical and financial success. In his film review, Roger Ebert described Poitier's character as "a noble, rich, intelligent, handsome, ethical medical expert" and that the film "is a magnificent piece of entertainment. It will make you laugh and may even make you cry."[74] To win his role as Dr. Prentice in the film, Poitier had to audition for Tracy and Hepburn at two separate dinner parties.[75]

Poitier began to be criticized for being typecast as over-idealized African-American characters who were not permitted to have any sexuality or personality faults, such as his character in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Poitier was aware of this pattern himself but was conflicted on the matter. He wanted more varied roles; but he also felt obliged to set an example with his characters, by challenging old stereotypes, as he was the only major actor of African descent being cast in leading roles in the American film industry at the time. For instance, in 1966, he turned down an opportunity to play the lead in an NBC television production of Othello with that spirit in mind.[76] Despite this, many of the films in which Poitier starred during the 1960s would later be cited as social thrillers by both filmmakers and critics.[77][78][79][80]

1970s

In the Heat of the Night featured his most successful character, Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, detective whose subsequent career was the subject of two sequels: They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970) and The Organization (1971).[81]

In 1972 he made his feature film directorial debut, the Western Buck and the Preacher, in which Poitier also starred, alongside Harry Belafonte and Ruby Dee.[82] Poitier replaced the original director, Joseph Sargent.[83] The following year he directed his second feature, the romantic drama A Warm December.[84] Poitier also starred in the film alongside Esther Anderson.

During the 1970s, Poitier directed several financially successful comedy films, including three in which he also starred: Uptown Saturday Night (1974) with Bill Cosby and Harry Belafonte; and Let's Do It Again (1975) and A Piece of the Action (1977), both with Cosby.[85] His most successful comedy was Stir Crazy (1980), starring Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder, which for many years was the highest-grossing film directed by a person of African descent.[86]

Later career

Poitier in 2000
Poitier in 2000

In 1985, he directed Fast Forward[87] and, in 1990, he reunited with Cosby directing him in the family comedy Ghost Dad.[88]

In 1988, he starred in Shoot to Kill with Tom Berenger.[89] In 1992, he starred in Sneakers with Robert Redford and Dan Aykroyd.[90] In 1997, he co-starred in The Jackal with Richard Gere and Bruce Willis.[91] In the 1990s, he starred in several well received television movies and miniseries such as Separate but Equal (1991), To Sir, with Love II (1996), Mandela and de Klerk (1997), and The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn (1999).[91][92] He received Emmy nominations for his work in Separate but Equal and Mandela and de Klerk, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for the former.[93] He won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2001.[94]

In 2002, Poitier received the 2001 Honorary Academy Award for his overall contribution to American cinema.[91] Later in the ceremony, Denzel Washington won the award for Best Actor for his performance in Training Day, becoming the second Black actor to win the award.[95] In his victory speech, Washington saluted Poitier by saying "I'll always be chasing you, Sidney. I'll always be following in your footsteps. There's nothing I would rather do, sir."[96]

With the death of Ernest Borgnine in 2012, Poitier became the oldest living recipient of the Academy Award for Best Actor.[97] On March 2, 2014, Poitier appeared with Angelina Jolie at the 86th Academy Awards to present the Best Director Award.[98] He was given a standing ovation and Jolie thanked him for all his Hollywood contributions, stating: "We are in your debt."[98] Poitier gave a brief speech, telling his peers to "keep up the wonderful work" to warm applause.[99] In 2021, the academy dedicated the lobby of the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles as the "Sidney Poitier Grand Lobby" in his honor.[100]

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Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, or Broadway, are the theatrical performances presented in the 41 professional theatres, each with 500 or more seats, located in the Theater District and the Lincoln Center along Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Broadway and London's West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world.

Anna Lucasta (play)

Anna Lucasta (play)

Anna Lucasta is a 1944 American play by Philip Yordan. Inspired by Eugene O'Neill's Anna Christie, the play was originally written about a Polish American family. The American Negro Theatre director Abram Hill and director Harry Wagstaff Gribble adapted the script for an all African American cast, and presented the first performance on June 16, 1944. The play moved from Harlem to Broadway's Mansfield Theatre, running August 30, 1944 – November 30, 1946. The Broadway cast included Hilda Simms, Canada Lee, and Alice Childress.

Alice Childress

Alice Childress

Alice Childress was an American novelist, playwright, and actress, acknowledged as "the only African-American woman to have written, produced, and published plays for four decades." Childress described her work as trying to portray the have-nots in a have society, saying: "My writing attempts to interpret the 'ordinary' because they are not ordinary. Each human is uniquely different. Like snowflakes, the human pattern is never cast twice. We are uncommonly and marvellously intricate in thought and action, our problems are most complex and, too often, silently borne." Childress became involved in social causes, and formed an off-Broadway union for actors.

Lorraine Hansberry

Lorraine Hansberry

Lorraine Vivian Hansberry was a playwright and writer. She was the first African-American female author to have a play performed on Broadway. Her best-known work, the play A Raisin in the Sun, highlights the lives of black Americans in Chicago living under racial segregation. The title of the play was taken from the poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes: "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" At the age of 29, she won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award — making her the first African-American dramatist, the fifth woman, and the youngest playwright to do so. Hansberry's family had struggled against segregation, challenging a restrictive covenant in the 1940 US Supreme Court case Hansberry v. Lee.

Freedom (American newspaper)

Freedom (American newspaper)

Freedom was a monthly newspaper focused on African-American issues published between 1950–1955. The publication was associated primarily with the internationally renowned singer, actor and then officially disfavored activist Paul Robeson, whose column, with his photograph, ran on most of its front pages. Freedom's motto was: "Where one is enslaved, all are in chains!" The newspaper has been described as "the most visible African American Left cultural institution during the early 1950s." In another characterization, "Freedom paper was basically an attempt by a small group of black activists, most of them Communists, to provide Robeson with a base in Harlem and a means of reaching his public... The paper offered more coverage of the labor movement than nearly any other publication, particularly of the left-led unions that were expelled from the CIO in the late 1940s... [It] encouraged its African American readership to identify its struggles with anti-colonial movements in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Freedom gave extensive publicity to... the struggle against apartheid."

Canada Lee

Canada Lee

Canada Lee was an American professional boxer and then an actor who pioneered roles for African Americans. After careers as a jockey, boxer and musician, he became an actor in the Federal Theatre Project, including the 1936 production of Macbeth adapted and directed by Orson Welles. Lee later starred in Welles's original Broadway production of Native Son (1941). A champion of civil rights in the 1930s and 1940s, Lee was blacklisted and died shortly before he was scheduled to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He advanced the African American tradition in theatre pioneered by such actors as Paul Robeson. Lee was the father of actor Carl Lee.

Hollywood blacklist

Hollywood blacklist

The Hollywood blacklist was an entertainment industry blacklist, broader than just Hollywood, put in effect in the mid-20th century in the United States during the early years of the Cold War. The blacklist involved the practice of denying employment to entertainment industry professionals believed to be or to have been Communists or sympathizers. Actors, screenwriters, directors, musicians, and other American entertainment professionals were barred from work by the studios.

Go Man Go (film)

Go Man Go (film)

Go, Man, Go! is a 1954 American sports film directed by James Wong Howe, starring Dane Clark, Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Patricia Breslin, The Harlem Globetrotters and Slim Gaillard. Clark plays Abe Saperstein, the organizer of the Globetrotters. Poitier's character is Inman Jackson, the team's showboating center. Breslin plays Sylvia Saperstein, the love interest, and Abe's daughter. Gaillard plays himself.

Blackboard Jungle

Blackboard Jungle

Blackboard Jungle is a 1955 American social drama film about an English teacher in an interracial inner-city school, based on the 1954 novel The Blackboard Jungle by Evan Hunter and adapted for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks. It is remembered for its innovative use of rock and roll in its soundtrack, for casting grown adults as high school teens, and for the unique breakout role of a black cast member, film icon Sidney Poitier, as a rebellious yet musically talented student.

A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes. The story tells of a black family's experiences in south Chicago, as they attempt to improve their financial circumstances with an insurance payout following the death of the father, and deals with matters of housing discrimination, racism, and assimilation. The New York Drama Critics' Circle named it the best play of 1959, and in recent years publications such as The Independent and Time Out have listed it among the best plays ever written.

Louis Gossett Jr.

Louis Gossett Jr.

Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. is an American actor. Born in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, He had his stage debut at the age of 17, in a school production of You Can't Take It with You. Shortly after he successfully auditioned for the Broadway play Take a Giant Step. Gossett would go on acting on stage. One of these plays was A Raisin in the Sun in 1959, and in 1961 he made his debut on screen in its film adaptation. From thereon, Gossett added to his resume many roles in films and television, as well as releasing music. In 1977, Gossett gained wide recognition for his role of Fiddler in the popular miniseries Roots. For which he won "Outstanding lead actor for a single appearance in a drama or comedy series" at the Emmy Awards.

Darryl F. Zanuck

Darryl F. Zanuck

Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors. He produced three films that won the Academy Award for Best Picture during his tenure.

Board and diplomatic service

From 1995 to 2003, Poitier served as a member of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company.[101]

In April 1997, Poitier was appointed ambassador from the Bahamas to Japan, a position he held until 2007.[8][102] From 2002 to 2007, he was concurrently the ambassador of the Bahamas to UNESCO.[103]

Personal life

Poitier's house in Stuyvesant, New York, 2019
Poitier's house in Stuyvesant, New York, 2019

Poitier was first married to Juanita Hardy from April 29, 1950, until 1965. Though Poitier became a resident of Mount Vernon in Westchester County, New York in 1956,[104] they raised their family in Stuyvesant, New York, in a house on the Hudson River.[105] In 1959, Poitier began a nine-year affair with actress Diahann Carroll.[106] He married Joanna Shimkus, a Canadian actress who starred with Poitier in The Lost Man in 1969, on January 23, 1976, and they remained married until his death. He had four daughters with his first wife (Beverly,[107][108] Pamela,[109] Sherri,[110] and Gina[111]) and two with his second (Anika[112] and Sydney Tamiia[113]). In addition to his six daughters, Poitier had eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.[114] When Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas in September 2019, Poitier's family had 23 missing relatives.[115]

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Stuyvesant, New York

Stuyvesant, New York

Stuyvesant is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 1,931 at the 2020 census, down from 2,027 at the 2010 census. The town is in the northwest corner of Columbia County. U.S. Route 9 crosses the southeastern corner of the town.

Mount Vernon, New York

Mount Vernon, New York

Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, immediately to the north of the borough of the Bronx. As of the 2020 census, Mount Vernon had a population of 73,893, making it the eighth most populous city in the state (2010).

Westchester County, New York

Westchester County, New York

Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population of 1,004,456, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 55,344 (5.8%) from the 949,113 counted in 2010. Located in the Hudson Valley, Westchester covers an area of 450 square miles (1,200 km2), consisting of six cities, 19 towns, and 23 villages. Established in 1683, Westchester was named after the city of Chester, England. The county seat is the city of White Plains, while the most populous municipality in the county is the city of Yonkers, with 211,569 residents per the 2020 U.S. Census.

Hudson River

Hudson River

The Hudson River is a 315-mile (507 km) river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between New York City and Jersey City, eventually draining into the Atlantic Ocean at Lower New York Bay. The river serves as a physical boundary between the states of New Jersey and New York at its southern end. Farther north, it marks local boundaries between several New York counties. The lower half of the river is a tidal estuary, deeper than the body of water into which it flows, occupying the Hudson Fjord, an inlet which formed during the most recent period of North American glaciation, estimated at 26,000 to 13,300 years ago. Even as far north as the city of Troy, the flow of the river changes direction with the tides.

Joanna Shimkus

Joanna Shimkus

Joanna Marie Shimkus is a Canadian film actress. She is the widow of actor Sidney Poitier and mother of actress Sydney Tamiia Poitier.

The Lost Man

The Lost Man

The Lost Man is a 1969 American crime film, written and directed by Robert Alan Aurthur, loosely based on British author F.L. Green's 1945 novel Odd Man Out, which was previously made into a 1947 film directed by Carol Reed and starring James Mason.

Sydney Tamiia Poitier

Sydney Tamiia Poitier

Sydney Tamiia Poitier is an American-Canadian television and film actress.

Hurricane Dorian

Hurricane Dorian

Hurricane Dorian was an extremely powerful and catastrophic Category 5 Atlantic hurricane, which became the most intense tropical cyclone on record to strike the Bahamas, and tied for strongest landfall in the Atlantic basin. It is also regarded as the worst natural disaster in the Bahamas' recorded history. It was also one of the most powerful hurricanes recorded in the Atlantic Ocean in terms of 1-minute sustained winds, with those winds peaking at 185 mph (295 km/h). In addition, Dorian surpassed Hurricane Irma of 2017 to become the most powerful Atlantic hurricane on record outside of the Caribbean Sea. Dorian was the fourth named storm, second hurricane, the first major hurricane, and the first Category 5 hurricane of the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season. Dorian struck the Abaco Islands on September 1 with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph (295 km/h), tying with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane for the highest wind speeds of an Atlantic hurricane ever recorded at landfall. Dorian went on to strike Grand Bahama at similar intensity, stalling just north of the territory with unrelenting winds for at least 24 hours. The resultant damage to these islands was catastrophic; most structures were flattened or swept to sea, and at least 70,000 people were left homeless. After it ravaged through the Bahamas, Dorian proceeded along the coasts of the Southeastern United States and Atlantic Canada, leaving behind considerable damage and economic losses in those regions.

Death

On January 6, 2022, Poitier died at his home in Beverly Hills, California, at the age of 94.[116][117][118][119][120] His death was confirmed by Fred Mitchell, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Bahamas.[121] According to a copy of his death certificate obtained by TMZ, the cause of death was cardiopulmonary failure, with Alzheimer's disease and prostate cancer listed as underlying causes.[117]

Upon Poitier's death, many released statements honoring him, including President Joe Biden, who wrote in part: "With unflinching grandeur and poise – his singular warmth, depth, and stature on-screen – Sidney helped open the hearts of millions and changed the way America saw itself." Former president Barack Obama paid tribute to Poitier, calling him "a singular talent who epitomized dignity and grace". Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton also released statements.[122]

Many in the entertainment industry also paid tribute to Poitier, including Martin Scorsese who wrote, "For years, the spotlight was on Sidney Poitier. He had a vocal precision and physical power and grace that at moments seemed almost supernatural."[123] Harry Belafonte, Morgan Freeman, Viola Davis, Whoopi Goldberg, Lupita Nyong'o, Halle Berry, Ava DuVernay, Oprah Winfrey, Octavia Spencer, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Esposito, Quincy Jones, Michael Eisner, Ron Howard and others also paid tribute.[124][125][126] Broadway paid tribute when its theaters dimmed their lights on January 19, 2022, at 7:45 pm ET.[127]

The Ebertfest film festival announced it would be dedicating their 2022 event to the memory of Poitier and Gilbert Gottfried.[128]

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Beverly Hills, California

Beverly Hills, California

Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is located immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately 12.2 miles (19.6 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills' land area totals to 5.71 square miles (14.8 km2), and along with the smaller city of West Hollywood in the east, is almost entirely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 32,701; marking a decrease of 1,408 from the 2010 census count of 34,109.

Fred Mitchell (Bahamian politician)

Fred Mitchell (Bahamian politician)

Frederick Audley Mitchell Jr. is a Bahamian Progressive Liberal Party politician serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs for the third time. He is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Fox Hill, first elected in 2002 and then again in 2021. He also served two terms in the Senate.

Death certificate

Death certificate

A death certificate is either a legal document issued by a medical practitioner which states when a person died, or a document issued by a government civil registration office, that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death, as entered in an official register of deaths.

Heart failure

Heart failure

Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms, caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, and leg swelling. The shortness of breath may occur with exertion or while lying down, and may wake people up during the night. Chest pain, including angina, is not usually caused by heart failure, but may occur if the heart failure was caused by a heart attack. The severity of the heart failure is measured by the severity of symptoms during exercise. Other conditions that may have symptoms similar to heart failure include obesity, kidney failure, liver disease, anemia, and thyroid disease.

Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems with language, disorientation, mood swings, loss of motivation, self-neglect, and behavioral issues. As a person's condition declines, they often withdraw from family and society. Gradually, bodily functions are lost, ultimately leading to death. Although the speed of progression can vary, the typical life expectancy following diagnosis is three to nine years.

Joe Biden

Joe Biden

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is an American politician who is the 46th and current president of the United States. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017 under President Barack Obama, and represented Delaware in the United States Senate from 1973 to 2009.

Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is an American former politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African-American president of the United States. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004, and previously worked as a civil rights lawyer before entering politics.

Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson Clinton is an American retired politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again from 1983 to 1992, and as attorney general of Arkansas from 1977 to 1979. A member of the Democratic Party, Clinton became known as a New Democrat, as many of his policies reflected a centrist "Third Way" political philosophy. He is the husband of Hillary Clinton, who was a U.S. senator from New York from 2001 to 2009, secretary of state from 2009 to 2013 and the Democratic nominee for president in the 2016 presidential election.

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is an American politician and diplomat who served as the 67th United States secretary of state under president Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senator representing New York from 2001 to 2009, and as the first lady of the United States as the wife of President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the party's nominee for president in the 2016 presidential election, becoming the first woman to win a presidential nomination by a major U.S. political party; Clinton won the popular vote, but lost the Electoral College vote, thereby losing the election to Donald Trump.

Lupita Nyong'o

Lupita Nyong'o

Lupita Amondi Nyong'o is a Kenyan-Mexican actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, and nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony Award.

Halle Berry

Halle Berry

Halle Maria Berry is an American actress. She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant and coming in sixth in the Miss World 1986. Her breakthrough film role was in the romantic comedy Boomerang (1992), alongside Eddie Murphy, which led to roles in The Flintstones (1994) and Bulworth (1998) as well as the television film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999), for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award.

Ava DuVernay

Ava DuVernay

Ava Marie DuVernay is an American filmmaker and former film publicist. She is a recipient of a Primetime Emmy Award, a NAACP Image Award, a BAFTA Film Award and a BAFTA TV Award, as well as a nominee of an Academy Award and Golden Globe.

Filmography

Awards and honors

Poitier being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in August 2009
Poitier being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in August 2009

Poitier became the first Black actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for Lilies of the Field (1963).[129] He also received a Grammy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a British Academy Film Award.[94][130][57] He received numerous honoraries during his lifetime including the Academy Honorary Award for his lifetime achievement in film in 2001.[91] In 1992, Poitier received the AFI Life Achievement Award.[131] In 1994, Poitier received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[132] In 1981, he received the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award and in 2016 he received the BAFTA Fellowship.[133][134]

In 1995, he received the Kennedy Center Honor and in 2009, Poitier was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama.[135][136] He was also named an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1974.[137] In 1986, he gave the Commencement Address to the University of Miami graduating class and was given the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Fine Arts.[138]

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List of awards and nominations received by Sidney Poitier

List of awards and nominations received by Sidney Poitier

Sidney Poitier was a Bahamian-American actor known for his appearances on the stage and screen.

Presidential Medal of Freedom

Presidential Medal of Freedom

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." The award is not limited to U.S. citizens and, while it is a civilian award, it can also be awarded to military personnel and worn on the uniform. It was established in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy, superseding the Medal of Freedom that was established by President Harry S. Truman in 1945 to honor civilian service during World War II.

Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is an American former politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African-American president of the United States. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004, and previously worked as a civil rights lawyer before entering politics.

Golden Globe Awards

Golden Globe Awards

The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association starting in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of the HFPA.

British Academy Film Awards

British Academy Film Awards

The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is a highly prestigious annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The ceremonies were initially held at the flagship Odeon cinema in Leicester Square in London, before being held at the Royal Opera House from 2007 to 2016. From 2017 to 2022, the ceremony was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London before moving to the Royal Festival Hall for the 2023 ceremony. The statue awarded to recipients depicts a theatrical mask.

Academy Honorary Award

Academy Honorary Award

The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards – is given annually by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Since 2009, it has been presented at the separate annual Governors Awards rather than at the regular Academy Awards ceremony. The Honorary Award celebrates motion picture achievements that are not covered by existing Academy Awards, although prior winners of competitive Academy Awards are not excluded from receiving the Honorary Award.

AFI Life Achievement Award

AFI Life Achievement Award

The AFI Life Achievement Award was established by the board of directors of the American Film Institute on February 26, 1973, to honor a single individual for his or her lifetime contribution to enriching American culture through motion pictures and television. The recipient is selected and honored at an annual ceremony, with the award presented by a master of ceremonies and, recently, the prior year's recipient.

Hollywood Walk of Fame

Hollywood Walk of Fame

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California. The stars are permanent public monuments to achievement in the entertainment industry, bearing the names of a mix of actors, directors, producers, musicians, theatrical/musical groups, fictional characters, and others.

Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award

Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award

The Cecil B. DeMille Award is an honorary Golden Globe Award bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) for "outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment". The HFPA board of directors selects the honorees from a variety of actors, directors, writers and producers who have made a significant mark in the film industry. It was first presented at the 9th Golden Globe Awards ceremony in February 1952 and is named in honor of its first recipient, director Cecil B. DeMille. The HFPA chose DeMille due to his prestige in the industry and his "internationally recognized and respected name". DeMille received the award the year his penultimate film, The Greatest Show on Earth, premiered. A year later in 1953, the award was presented to producer Walt Disney.

BAFTA Fellowship

BAFTA Fellowship

The BAFTA Fellowship, or the Academy Fellowship, is a lifetime achievement award presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in recognition of "outstanding achievement in the art forms of the moving image". The award is the highest honour the Academy can bestow, and has been awarded annually since 1971. Fellowship recipients have mainly been film directors, but some have been awarded to actors, film/television producers, cinematographers, film editors, screenwriters and contributors to the video game industry. In 2002, Merchant Ivory Productions became the first organisation to win the award. People from the United Kingdom dominate the list, but it includes over a dozen U.S. citizens and several from other countries in Europe, though none of the latter have been recognized since 1996. In 2010, Shigeru Miyamoto became the first citizen of an Asian country to receive the award, with video game designer Hideo Kojima becoming the second in 2020.

Order of the British Empire

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V and comprises five classes across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male or dame if female. There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order.

Legacy

Poitier c. 2013
Poitier c. 2013

Poitier was described as an icon in his obituary by USA Today.[139] Laura Jacobs for Vanity Fair hailed Poitier as the "Martin Luther King Jr. of the movies".[140] Several film historians and journalists have called him Hollywood's first African-American film star.[140][141][142] The New York Times noted after his death, that Poitier was instrumental for the diversity of Hollywood and "paved the way for Black actors in film".[141] The Hollywood Reporter wrote that "Poitier was the first actor to star in mainstream Hollywood movies that depicted a Black man in a non-stereotypical fashion, and his influence, especially during the 1950s and '60s as role model and image-maker, was immeasurable."[143]

While presenting Poitier the Honorary Academy Award in 2002, Denzel Washington said of Poitier: "Before Sidney, African American actors had to take supporting roles in major studio films that were easy to cut out in certain parts of the country. But you couldn't cut Sidney Poitier out of a Sidney Poitier picture".[139] He was an influential African-American actor and highly viewed as such as he became the first Black actor to be nominated for an Academy Award and the first Black male actor to win the award.[139][126] He was also described as the "sole representative" of African-Americans in mainstream cinema during the 1950s and 1960s, especially during the height of the American Civil Rights movement.[144][141] The New York Times noted that Poitier was "an ambassador to white America and a benign emblem of Black power".[145] For his role in diversifying Hollywood and for his role in paving the way for further Black actors, he was described as one of "the most important figures of 20th century Hollywood".[146]

Former president of the United States Barack Obama noted that Poitier had "[advanced] the nation's dialogue on race and respect" and "opened doors for a generation of actors".[147]

Sidney, a documentary film about Poitier's life and legacy by Reginald Hudlin, was released on September 23, 2022.[148]

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USA Today

USA Today

USA Today is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virginia. Its newspaper is printed at 37 sites across the United States and at five additional sites internationally. The paper's dynamic design influenced the style of local, regional, and national newspapers worldwide through its use of concise reports, colorized images, informational graphics, and inclusion of popular culture stories, among other distinct features.

Vanity Fair (magazine)

Vanity Fair (magazine)

Vanity Fair is a monthly magazine of popular culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast in the United States.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who was one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. A Black church leader and a son of early civil rights activist and minister Martin Luther King Sr., King advanced civil rights for people of color in the United States through nonviolence and civil disobedience. Inspired by his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi, he led targeted, nonviolent resistance against Jim Crow laws and other forms of discrimination in the United States.

The Hollywood Reporter

The Hollywood Reporter

The Hollywood Reporter (THR) is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large-format print magazine with a revamped website. As of 2020, the day-to-day operations of the company are handled by Penske Media Corporation through a joint venture with Eldridge Industries.

Black power

Black power

Black Power is a political slogan and a name which is given to various associated ideologies which aim to achieve self-determination for black people. It is primarily, but not exclusively, used by black people activists and proponents of what the slogan entails in the United States. The Black Power movement was prominent in the late 1960s and early 1970s, emphasizing racial pride and the creation of black political and cultural institutions to nurture, promote and advance what was seen by proponents of the movement as being the collective interests and values of black Americans.

Sidney (film)

Sidney (film)

Sidney is a 2022 American documentary film directed by Reginald Hudlin. The film is a portrait of the life and legacy of actor Sidney Poitier.

Reginald Hudlin

Reginald Hudlin

Reginald Alan Hudlin is an American film screenwriter, director, producer, and comic-book writer. Along with his older brother Warrington Hudlin, he is known as one of the Hudlin Brothers. From 2005 to 2008, Hudlin was President of Entertainment for Black Entertainment Television (BET). Hudlin has also written numerous graphic novels. He co-produced the 88th Academy Awards ceremony in 2016 as well as other TV specials.

Works about Poitier

Autobiographies Poitier wrote three autobiographical books:

Biographies

Other works

Poitier wrote the novel Montaro Caine (2013).[154]

Documentaries

Discover more about Works about Poitier related topics

The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography

The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography

The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography is an autobiographical work by Sidney Poitier. On January 26, 2007, Oprah Winfrey chose it for her book club.

Oprah's Book Club

Oprah's Book Club

Oprah's Book Club was a book discussion club segment of the American talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, highlighting books chosen by host Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey started the book club in 1996, selecting a new book, usually a novel, for viewers to read and discuss each month. In total, the club recommended 70 books during its 15 years.

Sidney Poitier Black and White: Sidney Poitier's Emergence in the 1960s as a Black Icon

Sidney Poitier Black and White: Sidney Poitier's Emergence in the 1960s as a Black Icon

Sidney Poitier Black and White: Sidney Poitier's Emergence in the 1960s as a Black Icon is a 2020 biography of Sidney Poitier written by Philip Powers.

Philip Powers

Philip Powers

Philip Powers is a record producer - and author - specialising in film scores and classical music. His recordings have been nominated for five ARIA Awards. He has produced 34 CDs for the 1M1 Records label including The Lighthorsemen and The Coolangatta Gold. He has also produced or executive produced more than 50 CDs for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra on Sydney Symphony Live and other labels. A number of these have been with the conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy as well as two CDs with the conductor Gianluigi Gelmetti. Another CD featured Vladimir Ashkenazy as pianist playing rare Rachmaninov works. He was supervising producer of Sir Charles Mackerras, a double CD featuring famous Czech repertoire and Richard Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras.

Sidney (film)

Sidney (film)

Sidney is a 2022 American documentary film directed by Reginald Hudlin. The film is a portrait of the life and legacy of actor Sidney Poitier.

Source: "Sidney Poitier", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 19th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Poitier.

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See also
Notes
  1. ^ James Baskett won an Academy Honorary Award for Song of the South (1946); it was not competitive.
References
  1. ^ "NLS Other Writings: Say How, M-P". National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) | Library of Congress. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  2. ^ Kaufman, Dave (April 14, 1964). "Sidney Poitier First Black Ever To Receive 'Best Actor' Oscar". Variety. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  3. ^ Goodykoontz, Bill (February 25, 2014). "Oscar win proved Sidney Poitier was second to none". USA Today. Archived from the original on May 4, 2014. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
  4. ^ Awards for Sidney Poitier at IMDb
  5. ^ "Top Ten Money Making Stars". Quigley Publishing Co. Archived from the original on January 14, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2009.
  6. ^ "Award of Honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE) to Sidney Poitier, actor... | The National Archives". Discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Archived from the original on February 5, 2020. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Sidney Poitier to be Honoured with BAFTA Fellowship". BAFTA. January 12, 2016. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  8. ^ a b "Legendary Actor Sidney Poitier Dead at 94". NBC. Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
  9. ^ "Sidney Poitier". Golden Globes. Archived from the original on March 6, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  10. ^ "The 6th annual screen actors guild awards". sagawards.org. Archived from the original on March 7, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  11. ^ "Sidney Poitier awards: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards database". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. January 29, 2010. Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
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