Sidney Poitier

Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE (born February 20, 1927) is a Bahamian-American actor. He has been hailed as a breakthrough star whose acclaimed performances which, by consciously defying racial stereotyping, gave a new dramatic credibility for black actors to mainstream film audiences in the Western world.

He was born in Miami, Florida, to Bahamian parents and grew up in poverty on Cat Island in the Bahamas. His breakout role was that of a member of an incorrigible high school class in the 1955 film Blackboard Jungle. Remarkably, nobody seemed to notice Poitier was 27 at the time of filming. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the 1963 film Lilies of the Field and was the first actor of African descent to win this award. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II (by right and recommendation of his Bahamian citizenship) in 1974. In 2000 he received the Life Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and in 2002 he received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Poitier (left) on the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C., with Harry Belafonte and Charlton Heston

He acted in the first run of A Raisin in the Sun on Broadway in 1959, and in its Hollywood adaptation in 1961.

When in Hollywood, Poitier made some memorable movies, such as The Greatest Story Ever Told. However, to many audiences, Poitier will forever be remembered as Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania detective in the hit 1960s movie In the Heat of the Night.

First married to Juanita Hardy from April 29, 1950 through 1965, he is currently married to Canadian-born former actress Joanna Shimkus, and has been 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.

In addition to authoring This Life (1980) and The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (2000), he is mentioned extensively in John Guare's play Six Degrees of Separation, when one of the characters (falsely) claims to be his son.

Poitier was appointed a Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE) in 1974. As a citizen of the Bahamas, which recognizes the British monarch as head of state and uses the British Honours System, this is a substantive (rather than honorary) knighthood. He is thus entitled 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" [1].

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).

Awards and recognition

Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album
*Grammy Awards of 2001
**Rick Harris, John Runnette (producers) and Sidney Poitier for The Measure of a ManNAACP 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 DearbornKennedy Center Honors
* 1995: Sidney Poitier; AFI Life Achievement Award
* 1992: Sidney PoitierGolden 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 FieldBAFTA Award for Best Actor
* 1958: Foreign: Sidney Poitier for The Defiant Ones

;British Honours System
*Appointed a Knight of the British Empire in 1974.

Filmography

As 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)
Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey (2001) (documentary) (narrator)
Tell Them Who You Are (2004) (documentary)

As 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)
Hanky Panky (1982)
Fast Forward (1985)
Ghost Dad (1990)

Television Work

Separate But Equal (1991)
Children of the Dust (1995)
To Sir, with Love II (1996)
Mandela and De Klerk (1997)
David and Lisa (1998)
Free of Eden (1999)
The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn (1999)
The Last Bricklayer in America (2001)

See also

* Bahamian American

External links

* Classic Movies (1939 - 1969): Sidney Poitier
* Poitier breaks new ground with Oscar win (BBC, April 13, 1964)
* African-Americans: Sidney Poitier
* Sidney Poitier to get Marian Anderson Award (July 26, 2006)
* The Purpose Prize: Sidney Poitier