Sidney Poitier

Biography

Sidney Poitier KBE (February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was a Bahamian and American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he became the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, for Lilies of the Field. Other accolades include two competitive Golden Globe Awards, a competitive British Academy of Film and Television Arts award (BAFTA), and a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. Major films featuring Poitier in a starring role include Blackboard Jungle (1955), The Defiant Ones (1958), To Sir, with Love (1967), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), In the Heat of the Night (1967), Sneakers (1992), and The Jackal (1997). Later in his career, he turned to directing with features such as Buck and the Preacher (1972), Uptown Saturday Night (1974), Stir Crazy (1980), and Ghost Dad (1990). At the time of his death, Poitier was one of the last major stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.

Known For

The Jackal

as Carter Preston

In the Heat of the Night

as Virgil Tibbs

Sneakers

as Crease

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

as John Prentice

To Sir, with Love

as Mark Thackeray

The Defiant Ones

as Noah Cullen

Shoot to Kill

as Warren Stantin

Lilies of the Field

as Homer Smith

The Greatest Story Ever Told

as Simon of Cyrene

Blackboard Jungle

as Gregory W. Miller