Sidney Poitier, a Hollywood icon who broke barriers and blazed a trail for Black actors, became the first African person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor, died at the age of 94.
Legendary actor Sidney Poitier dies at 94 after a 71-year career
Sidney Poitier, one of the classiest and most talented actors to ever grace stage and screen, has died from as yet unconfirmed causes at the age of 94, the New York Post reported. In addition to acting, Poitier worked as a director, and offscreen was an activist, NBC reported.
The Bahamas Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell announced Poitier’s death on Friday.
“[I was] conflicted with great sadness and a sense of celebration when I learned of the passing of Sir Sidney Poitier,” Bahamas deputy prime minister Chester Cooper told the Guardian. “We have lost an icon; a hero, a mentor, a fighter, a national treasure.”
Sidney L. Poitier was born two months prematurely in Miami, Florida on February 20, 1927, during his parents’ visit to the United States. He was a native of Cat Island, the Bahamas.
Poitier was raised in poverty and had little formal education. However, at the age of 15, his parents sent him to Miami to live with his brother to forestall growing delinquency. In the US, he experienced racism, something foreign coming from the Bahamas, a nation of mainly African majority.
His first leading acting role was the Broadway production Lysistrata; his first film acting role was the Darryl F. Zanuck production No Way Out (1950). Poitier’s breakout role was Blackboard Jungle (1955). He would later become well-known for other roles such as “In the Heat of the Night” and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.”
Poitier’s acting accomplishments
Sidney Poitier compiled a lengthy list of awards and honors during his career, including being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 from then-President Barack Obama and a Kennedy Center Honor in 1995.
As an actor, Poitier was the first person of African descent to win an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for the 1963 film Lilies of the Field. He was nominated for Best Actor again in 1959, four the 1958 film The Defiant Ones. Poitier also received an honorary Academy Award in 2002.
Poitier won two primetime Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special. The first was in 1991 for Separate But Equal and another in 1997 for Mandela and de Klerk.
Sidney won Golden Globes awards in 1964, 1969, in 1982 and was nominated in 1959, 1960, 1962, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1971, and 1992.
He received multiple other awards as an actor, including BAFTA Awards, American Film Institute, Grammy Awards, Image Awards (NAACP), Screen Actors Guild Awards, and more.
