Sidney Poitier

A gifted, handsome leading man, generally acknowledged as Hollywood's first black superstar and the first black performer to win an Oscar as Best Actor ("Lilies of the Field" 1963), Sidney Poitier grew up in humble circumstances in The Bahamas, British West Indies and moved to the USA at age 15 to live with his brother in Miami, FL. After serving in the US Army during World War II as a physiotherapist, he joined the American Negro Theater, making his Broadway debut as understudy for all the male roles in their all-black production of Aristophanes' "Lysistrata" (1946). Poitier starred on Broadway the following year in "Anna Lucasta" and made his feature debut (along with Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis) in Joseph L Mankiewicz's "No Way Out" (1950). Memorable performances as a manly and striking preacher in "Cry, the Beloved Country" (1952), a troubled youth in Richard Brooks' "The Blackboard Jungle" (1955) and as John Cassavetes' understanding friend in Martin Ritt's "Edge of the City" (1957) preceded the international recognition he received for his Oscar-nominated work in "The Defiant Ones" (1958).

Poitier returned to Broadway, starring in Lorraine Hansberry's groundbreaking "A Raisin in the Sun" (1959). The first Broadway play written by a black woman, it was also the first directed by a black man (Lloyd Richards), and the dignified, sedate, intelligent Poitier would reprise his role in the film version two years later, beginning a string of commanding performances at the very core of his body of work. In addition to his Academy Award-winning turn in "Lilies of the Field", he starred in "A Patch of Blue" (1965), "In the Heat of the Night" and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (both 1967), all turning upon the issue of race (and all winning Oscars for fellow actors Shelley Winters, Rod Steiger and Katharine Hepburn) as well as some which didn't--"A Slender Thread" and "The Bedford Incident" (both 1965). Poitier's international popularity and the mainstream middle-class roles he played during this period (authority figures such as doctors, law officers, teachers) helped pave the way for the commercial black cinema of the early 70s and were instrumental in allowing blacks to appear in less stereotypical screen roles.

Poitier debuted first as a director on Broadway, helming "Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights" (1968), and launched his second career in features with "Buck and the Preacher" (1972). He would direct five films, including "A Warm December" (1973) and the immensely popular "Uptown Saturday Night" (1974), before finally directing a film in which he did not also act, the profitable Richard Pryor-Gene Wilder pairing in "Stir Crazy" (1980). After a decade away from acting, Poitier made a much-publicized return to the screen in 1988, working opposite Tom Berenger in Roger Spottiswoode's thriller "Shoot to Kill" and playing an FBI agent in "Little Nikita". The 90s saw him assume a higher profile as a performer while putting directing on the back burner. In addition to his feature roles in movies like the high-tech caper yarn "Sneakers" (1992) and Michael Caton-Jones' political thriller "The Jackal" (1997), Poitier turned in celebrated portrayals for the small screen in the miniseries "Separate But Equal" (ABC, 1991), as Thurgood Marshall, "Children of the Dust" (CBS, 1995), "Mandela and De Klerk" (Showtime, 1997) and the CBS movie "To Sir, With Love II" (1996), in which he reprised his role from the 1967 feature.

• Also Credited As:
  Sir Sidney Poitier
• Born:
  Sidney Poitier on February 20, 1927 in Miami, Florida, USA
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Director, Writer, Busboy, Construction worker, Dishwasher, Janitor, Longshoreman, Messenger, Physiotherapist

Family

• Brother: Cyril Poitier. Born c. 1911; oldest brother; helped raise Sidney; moved to Miami from Cat Island in 1929; had bit roles in Poitier s movies Uptown Saturday Night (1974), Let s Do it Again (1975) and A Piece of the Action (1977); died Nov. 13, 1991 of cancer
• Daughter: Anika Poitier. Born c. 1972; mother, Joanna Shimkus
• Daughter: Beverly Poitier. Born c. 1951; mother, Juanita Hardy
• Daughter: Gina Poitier. Mother, Juanita Hardy
• Daughter: Pamela Poitier. Born c. 1952; mother, Juanita Hardy
• Daughter: Sherri Poitier. Born c. 1953; mother, Juanita Hardy
• Daughter: Sydney Tamiia Poitier. Born c. 1973; mother, Joanna Shimkus; acted with father in the Showtime movie Free of Eden (1999)
• Father: Reginald James Poitier. Bahamian; from Cat Island in the Bahamas
• Mother: Evelyn Poitier. Bahamian; from Cat Island in the Bahamas

Significant Others

• Companion: Diahann Carroll.

Milestones

• 1940 Dropped out of school at age 13
• 1941 Served in the US Army as a physiotherapist
• 1942 Moved to Miami at age 15 to live with his brother Cyril
• 1945 Joined American Negro Theater and made stage debut in Days of Our Youth as Harry Belafonte s understudy
• 1946 Broadway debut as understudy for all of the male roles in the American Negro Theater s all-black production of Lysistrata
• 1947 Starred in the Broadway production of Anna Lucasta
• 1949 Film debut, appearing in the Army Corps documentary short, From Whence Cometh My Help
• 1950 Made feature film debut in Darryl F. Zanuck s No Way Out
• 1952 TV acting debut in NBC s The Philco Television Playhouse
• 1958 Received first Academy Award nomination for Stanley Kramer s The Defiant Ones ; first black male to receive nomination
• 1959 Returned to Broadway in Lorraine Hansberry s A Raisin in the Sun ; first Broadway play written by a black woman; also first time a black man (Lloyd Richards) directed a Broadway show
• 1961 Reprised Broadway role for Daniel Petrie s film version of A Raisin in the Sun
• 1963 Became first Black actor to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for Lilies of the Field
• 1965 Portrayed an African American man, who falls in love with blind white female in A Patch of Blue
• 1967 Had starring roles in three hit movies; Guess Who s Coming to Dinner, To Sir, With Love and In the Heat of the Night
• 1968 Made stage directing debut with Broadway production of Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights
• 1968 Wrote original story for the film For Love of Ivy ; also starred
• 1969 Formed First Artists production company with Paul Newman, Barbra Streisand and others
• 1970 Reprised In the Heat of the Night role for the sequel, They Call Me Mister Tibbs
• 1971 Once again reprised role of Virgil Tibbs for the third film, The Organization
• 1972 Feature directorial debut, Buck and the Preacher
• 1975 Directed and starred opposite Bill Cosby in Let s Do It Again
• 1977 Last feature acting role for more than a decade in A Piece of the Action ; also directed
• 1980 Directed Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor in Stir Crazy ; first time directing a feature in which he did not also act
• 1980 Penned his autobiography, This Life
• 1988 Returned to acting with roles in Roger Spottiswoode s Shoot to Kill and Richard Benjamin s Little Nikita
• 1991 Earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his portrayal of Thurgood Marshall the ABC miniseries Separate But Equal
• 1992 Joined an all-star cast for the high-tech caper, Sneakers
• 1996 Reprised role of Mark Thackaray 30 years later in the Peter Bogdanovich directed, To Sir, With Love II (CBS)
• 1997 Co-starred with Michael Caine for the Showtime miniseries, Mandela and De Klerk
• 1997 Played FBI Deputy Director Carter Preston in Michael Caton-Jones The Jackal
• 1999 Had lead role in the highly-rated CBS TV-movie The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn
• 2000 Helmed second autobiographical work, The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography
• 2001 Appeared in the CBS telefilm, The Last Brickmaker in America
• 2008 Penned his third book, Life Beyond Measure - letters to my Great-Granddaughter ; earned a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word for the CD version
• Born in Miami, Florida when parents took a trip there to sell their produce
• Raised on Cat Island in the Bahamas
• Relocated to New York City where he worked as a dishwasher and busboy in restaurants