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Sir Sidney Poitier KBE, (IPA pronunciation: ) (born February 20, 1927), is an Academy Award-winning Bahamian actor, film director, and activist. He has been hailed as a breakthrough star thanks to his acclaimed performances in American films and plays, which, by consciously defying racial stereotyping, gave a new dramatic credibility for black actors to mainstream film audiences in the Western world.
Early life and acting career
Sidney Poitier was born in Cats Island, Bahamas, where his farmer parents, a Bahamian father of Haitian descent and a Bahamian mother, traveled to sell tomatoes and other produce from their farm on tiny Cat Island in The Bahamas. Poitier was born prematurely and was not originally expected to survive the boat ride; his birth was recorded in Miami, as the vessel was already closer to Florida. He spent his early years on the remote island, which had a population of 1,500 and no electricity.
During his early teenage years, Poitier traveled to Nassau with his family. As he got older he displayed an increasing inclination toward juvenile delinquency. At the age of 16 his parents shipped him off to Miami to live with his older brother. At age 17, Poitier moved to New York City and underwent a brief stint in the U.S. Army and a string of menial jobs. During his time of menial jobs he was arrested for vagrancy after being thrown out of his housing complex for not paying rent. Then he decided to join the army. He then tried his hand at the theater, where he was handily rejected by audiences. Determined to refine his acting skills and rid himself of his noticeable Bahamian accent, he spent the next 6 months dedicating himself to achieving theatrical success. On his second attempt at the theater, he was noticed and given a leading role in the Broadway production "Lysistrata", for which he got excellent reviews. By the end of 1949, he was having to choose between leading roles on stage and an offer to work for Darryl F. Zanuck in the film No Way Out (1950). His performance in No Way Out as a doctor treating a white bigot got him plenty of notice and led to more roles, each considerably more interesting and prominent than most black actors of the time were getting, though still less interesting and prominent than those white actors routinely obtained.
In Hollywood, Poitier made many memorable movies. His breakout role was as a member of an incorrigible high school class in the 1955 film Blackboard Jungle (although, like most of the actors in the film, he was not a teenager, and was in fact aged 27).
He was the first male black actor to be nominated for a competitive Academy Award (for The Defiant Ones, 1958), and also the first to win the Academy Award for Best Actor (for Lilies of the Field in 1963). (Note that James Baskett was the first to receive an Oscar, but it was an Honorary Academy Award for his performance as Uncle Remus in the Walt Disney production of Song of the South in 1948; Poitier was the first black male to win, or even be nominated, in a competitive category. Hattie McDaniel had been the first actor to break the race barrier in 1939 when she won Best Supporting Actress for Gone With the Wind).
He acted in the first production of A Raisin in the Sun on Broadway in 1959, and later starred in the film version that was released in 1961. He also gave memorable performances in The Bedford Incident (1965), A Patch of Blue (1965) co-starring Elizabeth Hartman and Shelley Winters; Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? (1967); and To Sir, with Love (1967). To many audiences, however, Poitier will forever be remembered as the unintimidable Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania detective in the hit 1967 movie In the Heat of the Night and its two sequels: They Call Me Mister Tibbs (1970) and The Organization (1971).
Directorial career
Poitier has directed several films, the most successful being the Richard Pryor-Gene Wilder comedy Stir Crazy, which for years was the highest grossing film directed by a person of African descent. His feature film directorial debut was the western Buck and the Preacher in which Poitier also starred in alongside Harry Belafonte. Poitier replaced original director Joseph Sargent. The trio of Poitier, Cosby, and Belafonte reunited again (with Poitier again directing) in Uptown Saturday Night. Poitier also directed (with Cosby starring in) Let's Do It Again, A Piece of the Action, and Ghost Dad. He appeared on Oprah Winfrey's 20th Anniversary show with a speech about Oprah.
Honors
Poitier was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1974. Being a citizen of the Bahamas, a Commonwealth Realm that uses the British Honours System, this is a substantive knighthood which entitles him to use the title "Sir", though he chooses not to do so. Poitier also has served as non-resident Bahamian ambassador to Japan (since April 1997), and to the United Nations (UN) Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In these diplomatic roles, the Bahamian Ministry of Foreign Affairs refers to him as "His Excellency Sir Sidney Poitier" .
In 2000 he received the Life Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), and in 2002 he received an Honorary Academy Award for his lifetime achievement in the film industry from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
In June 2006, the AFI released its list of the 100 Most Inspiring Movies. Poitier was the only actor to have five of his films appear on the list (The Defiant Ones, A Raisin in the Sun, Lilies of the Field, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and In the Heat of the Night).
Personal life
Poitier was first married to Juanita Hardy from April 29, 1950 until 1965. He has been married to Joanna Shimkus, a Canadian-born former actress of Lithuanian descent, since January 23, 1976. He has four children by his first marriage and two children by his second marriage. His fifth daughter is actress Sydney Tamiia Poitier.
He has written two autobiographical books, This Life (1980) and The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (2000). In January 2007, the latter became an Oprah's Book Club selection.
Miscellany
* In 1983, unbeknownst to Poitier, impostor David Hampton spent several months in New York City posing as "David Poitier", Sidney Poitier's nonexistent son. By the time of Hampton's exposure and arrest, he had used this ruse to gain access to private clubs, as well as hospitality and money from the rich, privileged, and famous of New York City. Poitier is therefore mentioned extensively in John Guare's play Six Degrees of Separation (later filmed) which dramatized this incident.
* Poitier reluctantly agreed to star in Otto Preminger's 1959 film version of George Gershwin's musical Porgy and Bess. His voice was dubbed by opera singer Robert McFerrin, Sr., father of Bobby McFerrin.
* A version of Poitier was in South Park in the episode Mecha-Streisand.
* In the British television show The Office, main character David Brent claims Sidney Poitier is his favorite actor of all time.
* One legend states that after Poitier's premature birth, his mother went to a fortune teller to find out what would happen. The fortune teller told his mother that he would one day walk among kings, a prediction that partially became true when he was appointed Bahamian Ambassador to Japan and met the Emperor.
Awards and recognition
2002 Honorary Oscar (Oscar statuette)
* For his extraordinary performances and unique presence on the screen and for representing the industry with dignity, style and intelligence.
Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album
* Grammy Awards of 2001
o Rick Harris, John Runnette (producers) and Sidney Poitier for The Measure of a Man
NAACP Image Award - Hall of Fame Award
* 2001: Sidney Poitier
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
* 2000: Sidney Poitier, The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn
Kennedy Center Honors
* 1995: Sidney Poitier
AFI Life Achievement Award
* 1992: Sidney Poitier
Golden Globe Awards: Film, Best Actor, Drama
* 1964: Sidney Poitier, Lilies of the Field
Academy Award for Best Actor
* 1963: Sidney Poitier for Lilies of the Field
BAFTA Award for Best Actor
* 1958: Foreign: Sidney Poitier for The Defiant Ones
British Honours System
* Appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1974.
Preceded by
Gregory Peck
for To Kill a Mockingbird Academy Award for Best Actor
1963
for Lilies of the Field Succeeded by
Rex Harrison
for My Fair Lady
Filmography
Actor
* From Whence Cometh My Help (1949) (documentary)
* No Way Out (1950)
* Cry, The Beloved Country (1951)
* Red Ball Express (1952)
* Go, Man, Go! (1954)
* Blackboard Jungle (1955)
* Good-bye, My Lady (1956)
* Edge of the City (1957)
* Something of Value (1957)
* Band of Angels (1957)
* Virgin Island (1958)
* The Mark of the Hawk (1958)
* The Defiant Ones (1958)
* Porgy and Bess (1959)
* All the Young Men (1960)
* A Raisin in the Sun (1961)
* Paris Blues (1961)
* Pressure Point (1962)
* The Long Ships (1963)
* Lilies of the Field (1963)
* The Bedford Incident (1965)
* The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
* A Patch of Blue (1965)
* The Slender Thread (1965)
* Duel at Diablo (1966)
* To Sir, with Love (1967)
* In the Heat of the Night (1967)
* Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
* For Love of Ivy (1968)
* The Lost Man (1969)
* King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970) (documentary) (narrator)
* They Call Me MISTER Tibbs! (1970)
* Brother John (1971)
* The Organization (1971)
* Buck and the Preacher (1972)
* A Warm December (1973)
* Uptown Saturday Night (1974)
* The Wilby Conspiracy (1975)
* Let's Do it Again (1975)
* A Piece of the Action (1977)
* Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist (1979) (short subject) (narrator)
* Shoot to Kill (1988)
* Little Nikita (1988)
* Sneakers (1992)
* A Century of Cinema (1994) (documentary)
* Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick (1996) (documentary)
* The Jackal (1997)
* The simple life of Noah Dearborn (1999)
* Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey (2001) (documentary) (narrator)
* Tell Them Who You Are (2004) (documentary)
Director
* Buck and the Preacher (1972)
* A Warm December (1973)
* Uptown Saturday Night (1974)
* Let's Do it Again (1975)
* A Piece of the Action (1977)
* Stir Crazy (1980)
* ornages smile because of 123321 (1982)
* Fast Forward (1985)
* Ghost Dad (1990)
Television
* Separate but Equal (1991)
* Children of the Dust (1995)
* To Sir, with Love II (1996)
* Mandela and De Klerk (1997)
* David and Lisa (1998)
* bla bla bla (1999)
* The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn (1999)
* The Last Bricklayer in America (2001)
| Latest news about Sidney Poitier |
Epic Win: Sidney PoitierSir Sidney Poitier is credited with legitimizing black actors in mainstream cinema. He refused to play into racial stereotypes, even though most roles for black actors demanded. Also, does anyone remember that episode of South Park ... Continue reading
Sidney PoitierEarlier this year President Obama presented Sidney Poitier with the Medal of Freedom, supposedly the highest honor an American can receive. This accolade struck me as particularly poignant. Simply put without Mr Poitier, the concept of ... Continue reading
Get The Defiant Ones OnlineJoker Jackson (Tony Curtis) and Noah Cullen (Sidney Poitier) are two convicts on the run. Escaping from a Southern work gang, the two men are bound together by an unbreakable iron chain and separated by an unbridled hatred towards each ... Continue reading
This Weekend's Film Festival – The Power of Education 200Gregory Miller (Sidney Poitier) is a born leader, who Dadier sees more potential in than the black teen gives himself. Artie West (Vic Morrow) is a thief, who basically uses school as recruiting grounds for his criminal enterprises. ... Continue reading
Drew Toal: The Last Book I Loved, I Am Not Sidney Poitier - The ...So it was with middling expectations that I picked up his last novel, I am Not Sidney Poitier.A day or two later, I could confidently say that this was, and would be, the funniest book I read all year, if not ever. ... Continue reading
"So Set Against the Notion of Convention That I Should Attack It"The essentially satiric character of Everett's fiction is even more pronounced in his latest novel, I Am Not Sidney Poitier. This novel is much less metafictional than Glyph or Erasure, its most outrageous gesture in this direction ... Continue reading
Sidney Poitier Biography - Snippets and Videos, Inspirational PeopleInspirational snippets from Sidney Poitier biography. Short inspirational stories or snippets about the lives of real people who followed their cause or dream, and made a difference! Continue reading
Book Report: I am Not Sidney Poitier by Percival Everett ...The Goods: I am Not Sidney Poitier is – blarg – a bit hard to blurb. It's the story of a young man named Not Sidney Poitier who looks, in fact, an awful lot like Sidney Poitier, and his coming-of-age, which the author (Percival Everett, ... Continue reading
Highly Regarded Films To Check Out Then Download Now | Copywriting ...Cast includes Sidney Poitier, Abbey Lincoln, Guy Bridges, Leon Bibb, Nan, Martin, Lauri Peters, and Carroll O'Connor. MGM's The Big Parade of Comedy - Fifty of the best megastars of all time come out in this collection, ... Continue reading
Presidential Medal of Freedom: Sidney Poitier | The Defenders OnlineLast month, President Obama awarded Poitier, the first African American to ever win an Academy award for best actor, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian honor. I couldn't have felt more proud. Continue reading
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