Sidney Poitier - ©Theda Bara

In this post, I will highlight Sidney Poitier, a Bahamian-American actor, director, writer, and diplomat (Poitier was born in the United States but grew up on Cat Island, in the Bahamas). In 1964, he received the Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in “Lilies of the Field” (1963), playing the unemployed construction worker, “Homer Smith”. 

Sidney Poitier was the first Black man to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, a historic milestone in cinema, breaking racial barriers and paving the way for other Black actors, although Hattie McDaniel (1893-1952) was the first Black person to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in the film “Gone With The Wind” (1940), playing the character “Mammy”. The actor also received an honorary Oscar in 2022.

Sidney Poitier received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the 44th President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama II (1961-), in a ceremony at the White House on August 12, 2009. This is the highest American civilian honor, in recognition of his contributions as a pioneering actor and advocate for civil rights.

In addition to two Oscars and a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama Film in 1964, Poitier also received two more Golden Globes: the Henrietta Award in 1969 and the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1982; and a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album in 2001 for “The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography”. Two BAFTA awards: Best Foreign Actor for “The Defiant Ones” (1959), for his role as “Noah Cullene”, and a Fellowship award in 2016.

Sidney Poitier has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 7065 Hollywood Boulevard, in the Film category.

Poitier was born on February 20, 1927, in Miami, Florida, United States, and died on January 6, 2022, in Beverly Hills, California, United States, a month before his 95th birthday.

The actor was married twice and had only daughters. His first marriage was to Juanita Hardy (1950-1965), an African-American model with whom he had four daughters: American actresses Beverly Poitier-Henderson (1952-), Pamela Poitier (1954-), Sherri Poitier (1956-) and the youngest, Gina Patrice Poitier Gouraige (1961-2018). His second marriage was to Canadian actress Joanna Marie Shimkus (1943-), from 1976 to 2022, who eventually became Poitier’s widow. The couple had two daughters: Canadian-American director and actress Anika Poitier (1972-) and Canadian-American actress Sydney Tamiia Poitier (1973-).