The late Sidney Poitier was at the peak of his Hollywood career when he came under fire from Black activists and intellectuals, accused of playing stereotypical, safe roles for white audiences just as the 1960s civil rights movement was exploding.

'Sidney',&nbsp;the new Apple TV+ documentary out Friday, produced by Oprah Winfrey and featuring A-list talking heads from Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman to Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford, sets out to show why they were wrong.

"The reality is, since the invention of cinema there had been these degrading images of Black people, and Sidney Poitier single-handedly destroyed those images, movie after movie after movie," the film's director Reginald Hudlin told AFP. "He was a race warrior. Without him, you don't have me, and you don't have Oprah Winfrey, and you don't have Barack Obama."

It is one of several debates at the heart of 'Sidney',&nbsp;which features interviews Poitier gave to Winfrey years before his death in January at the age of 94.

The film addresses Poitier's affair during his first marriage to Juanita Hardy -- a potentially prickly topic as she and all three of their surviving daughters are interviewed for the documentary.

"When I first sat down with the family, to talk about the possibility of making the movie, I said, 'Is anything off limits?' And I specifically brought up that as an example," said Hudlin. "They were like, 'No, no, no, we want to tell the whole truth.' So I appreciate the fact that they were not interested in just doing a puff piece."

The film also delves into terrifying moments of racist violence in Poitier's life.

In 1964, Poitier and Harry Belafonte were pursued through Mississippi by gun-toting Ku Klux Klan members while delivering cash to a voting rights movement.

An earlier run-in with the Klan, and a white policeman who harassed a teenage Poitier at gunpoint, are presented as formative in his pioneering career and his often-overlooked activism.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-peta-seeks-honour-for-late-comedian-raju-srivastava-518910" hreflang="en">Peta seeks honour for late comedian Raju Srivastava</a>

"That's what is amazing -- he never dissolved into bitterness, he never let them break him," said Hudlin. "He just kept turning it into strength, into more determination, into more willpower."

- 'No precedent' -

But perhaps the most contested part of Poitier's legacy remains the suggestion he was too amenable or obedient to white audiences and Hollywood.

'Sidney'&nbsp;highlights a 1967 New York Times article entitled "Why Does White America Love Sidney Poitier So?" that accused Poitier of "playing essentially the same role, the antiseptic, one-dimensional hero."

It described a "Sidney Poitier syndrome: a good guy in a totally white world, with no wife, no sweetheart, no woman to love or kiss, helping the white man solve the white man's problem."

Just three years earlier, Poitier had become the first Black actor to win an Oscar for 'Lilies of the Field',&nbsp;in which he played a travelling handyman who helps out and ultimately bonds with a community of white nuns. 
Other roles, such as his beggar in 'Porgy and Bess',&nbsp;came to be seen as racist by critics.&nbsp;

According to Hudlin, the backlash "was an inevitable byproduct of the work he was doing," and Poitier -- who "knew it was going to come" -- was more interested in humanizing the Black experience.

"He kept it in a bigger context," said Hudlin, noting that oppressed minorities were "suddenly fighting, and achieving their freedom," and "having to figure this out in real-time as it happened."

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/hollywood/news-cant-control-bold-scenes-from-blonde-going-viral-ana-de-armas-518905" hreflang="en">Can't control bold scenes from 'Blonde' going viral: Ana de Armas</a>

"I think now we can look at it with a broader historical lens, and say that those decisions that Sidney Poitier made were right and helped the greater cause move forward."

The documentary also underlines the groundbreaking nature of Poitier's kiss with white actress Katharine Houghton in 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner',&nbsp;and the moment he slaps a white Southern aristocrat in 'In The Heat of the Night'.

"There was no precedent for who he was and what he was doing," said Hudlin.

The late Sidney Poitier was at the peak of his Hollywood career when he came under fire from Black activists and intellectuals, accused of playing stereotypical, safe roles for white audiences just as the 1960s civil rights movement was exploding.

The late Sidney Poitier was at the peak of his Hollywood career when he came under fire from Black activists and intellectuals, accused of playing stereotypical, safe roles for white audiences just as the 1960s civil rights movement was exploding. 'Sidney', the new Apple TV+ documentary out Friday, produced by Oprah Winfrey and featuring A-list talking heads from Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman to Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford, sets out to show why they were wrong. "The reality is, since the invention of cinema there had been these degrading images of Black people, and Sidney Poitier single-handedly destroyed those images, movie after movie after movie," the film's director Reginald Hudlin told AFP. "He was a race warrior. Without him, you don't have me, and you don't have Oprah Winfrey, and you don't have Barack Obama." It is one of several debates at the heart of 'Sidney', which features interviews Poitier gave to Winfrey years before his death in January at the age of 94. The film addresses Poitier's affair during his first marriage to Juanita Hardy -- a potentially prickly topic as she and all three of their surviving daughters are interviewed for the documentary. "When I first sat down with the family, to talk about the possibility of making the movie, I said, 'Is anything off limits?' And I specifically brought up that as an example," said Hudlin. "They were like, 'No, no, no, we want to tell the whole truth.' So I appreciate the fact that they were not interested in just doing a puff piece." The film also delves into terrifying moments of racist violence in Poitier's life. In 1964, Poitier and Harry Belafonte were pursued through Mississippi by gun-toting Ku Klux Klan members while delivering cash to a voting rights movement. An earlier run-in with the Klan, and a white policeman who harassed a teenage Poitier at gunpoint, are presented as formative in his pioneering career and his often-overlooked activism. Also read: Peta seeks honour for late comedian Raju Srivastava "That's what is amazing -- he never dissolved into bitterness, he never let them break him," said Hudlin. "He just kept turning it into strength, into more determination, into more willpower." - 'No precedent' - But perhaps the most contested part of Poitier's legacy remains the suggestion he was too amenable or obedient to white audiences and Hollywood. 'Sidney' highlights a 1967 New York Times article entitled "Why Does White America Love Sidney Poitier So?" that accused Poitier of "playing essentially the same role, the antiseptic, one-dimensional hero." It described a "Sidney Poitier syndrome: a good guy in a totally white world, with no wife, no sweetheart, no woman to love or kiss, helping the white man solve the white man's problem." Just three years earlier, Poitier had become the first Black actor to win an Oscar for 'Lilies of the Field', in which he played a travelling handyman who helps out and ultimately bonds with a community of white nuns. Other roles, such as his beggar in 'Porgy and Bess', came to be seen as racist by critics. According to Hudlin, the backlash "was an inevitable byproduct of the work he was doing," and Poitier -- who "knew it was going to come" -- was more interested in humanizing the Black experience. "He kept it in a bigger context," said Hudlin, noting that oppressed minorities were "suddenly fighting, and achieving their freedom," and "having to figure this out in real-time as it happened." Also read: Can't control bold scenes from 'Blonde' going viral: Ana de Armas "I think now we can look at it with a broader historical lens, and say that those decisions that Sidney Poitier made were right and helped the greater cause move forward." The documentary also underlines the groundbreaking nature of Poitier's kiss with white actress Katharine Houghton in 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner', and the moment he slaps a white Southern aristocrat in 'In The Heat of the Night'. "There was no precedent for who he was and what he was doing," said Hudlin.

Poitier legacy tackled by Oprah in 'Sidney'

Broadway will be honouring late Sidney Poitier. The theatres will dim their marquee lights on January 19 in the evening to pay tribute to him. He <a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/sidney-poitier-first-black-actor-to-win-best-actor-oscar-dies-aged-94-443021">died</a> at the age of 94 on January 6.

Sidney Poitier had made his Broadway debut in 1946’s ‘Lysistrata’. He earned a Tony Award nomination for his portrayal of Walter Lee Younger in Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play ‘A Raisin in the Sun’.

He reprised the defining role for the 1961 film version of the same.&nbsp;

Sidney Poitier then returned to Broadway in 1968 as director of the play ‘Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights’ starring Louis Gossett Jr., Diane Ladd and Cicely Tyson.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/hollywood/news-sidney-poitier-1927-2022-whoopi-goldberg-oprah-winfrey---others-pay-tribute-to-the-icon-443088">Sidney Poitier (1927-2022): Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey &amp; others pay tribute to the icon</a>

Making the announcement to honour him, Charlotte St. Martin, President of The Broadway League said, “Although Sidney Poitier’s brilliance shone on Broadway stages as a performer and director in just a small number of productions, his presence on Broadway was both titanic and influential. I know that Broadway fans worldwide recognize the incredible impact Mr. Poitier had on our art form. He is a true icon and an inspiration to so very many.”&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/hollywood/news-documentary-on-sidney-poitiers-career-and-life-in-works-at-apple-443611">Documentary on Sidney Poitier's career and life in works at Apple</a>

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/lifestyle/news-indian-people-have-a-great-appetite-for-magic-magician-drummond-money-coutts--his-tryst-with-magic-445513" hreflang="en">Indian people have a great appetite for magic: Magician Drummond Money-Coutts &amp; his tryst with magic</a>

Broadway has a tradition of dimming its lights to honour artists who are no longer with us. &nbsp;

Broadway will be honouring late Sidney Poitier. The theatres will dim their marquee lights on January 19 in the evening to pay tribute to him. He died at the age of 94 on January 6.

Broadway will be honouring late Sidney Poitier. The theatres will dim their marquee lights on January 19 in the evening to pay tribute to him. He died at the age of 94 on January 6. Sidney Poitier had made his Broadway debut in 1946’s ‘Lysistrata’. He earned a Tony Award nomination for his portrayal of Walter Lee Younger in Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play ‘A Raisin in the Sun’. He reprised the defining role for the 1961 film version of the same. Sidney Poitier then returned to Broadway in 1968 as director of the play ‘Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights’ starring Louis Gossett Jr., Diane Ladd and Cicely Tyson. Sidney Poitier (1927-2022): Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey & others pay tribute to the icon Making the announcement to honour him, Charlotte St. Martin, President of The Broadway League said, “Although Sidney Poitier’s brilliance shone on Broadway stages as a performer and director in just a small number of productions, his presence on Broadway was both titanic and influential. I know that Broadway fans worldwide recognize the incredible impact Mr. Poitier had on our art form. He is a true icon and an inspiration to so very many.” Documentary on Sidney Poitier's career and life in works at Apple Also read: Indian people have a great appetite for magic: Magician Drummond Money-Coutts & his tryst with magic Broadway has a tradition of dimming its lights to honour artists who are no longer with us.

Broadway to dim lights in honour of late artist Sidney Poitier

When Sidney Poitier&nbsp;died Thursday at 94,&nbsp;tributes poured forth for him, the first Black performer to win the Academy Award for best actor, and a man whom President Joe Biden called a “once-in-a-generation actor and advocate” whose work “changed the world on and off the big screen."

Four critics for The New York Times reflect on Poitier’s influence and legacy.

A Face to Remember

The elegance, the poise, the steely spine — but, oh, the face — when I think of Sidney Poitier, I first think of how beautiful he was and the sheer physical perfection of the man. He had the kind of old-fashioned Hollywood beauty and glamour that made the movies and made audiences dream and desire, turning them into repeat customers. There was much more to Poitier, yes, and he will be rightly remembered as a towering figure in the civil rights movement, one that has always been fought on the screen and not only in the streets and courts. But we should also honor and be grateful for his beauty, what it meant and what it did.

Physical beauty has its obvious attractions, but it can be a powerful weapon, too. That’s one reason Jim Crow Hollywood had such profound difficulty with Black beauty, which threatened the racist order that the industry upheld, reproduced and eagerly helped legitimize for its audiences. It’s also why Walter White, the head of the NAACP, said in the 1940s that Lena Horne would be an “interesting weapon” against Hollywood racism. The industry ignored and marginalized Black performers, relegating them to the margins of the frame, where they often wore servant costumes and spoke in insulting dialect if they even said anything. Sometimes their names weren’t in the credits; at times their musical numbers were edited out.

The most instructive racist tell is that the industry’s self-censoring Production Code banned sexual relations between Black and white performers — not all people of color, just Black. Hollywood banned what the code called miscegenation until 1957. At that point, Poitier had been acting in movies for a decade. He had made some intriguing films, and his name was being featured more prominently in the advertising. The next year, though, he catapulted to another level with the release of “The Defiant Ones,” about two escaped prisoners who are chained together and, while on the run, grow to care for each other. Directed by Stanley Kramer, it is a prime example of liberal white Hollywood at its most sincere and self-congratulatory.

However hokey, exasperating and contradictory “The Defiant Ones” is, there is also no denying the charms and charisma of its two very handsome and exceedingly fit leads. Poitier wasn’t thrilled when Tony Curtis, who was trying to escape his pretty-boy image, was cast as the other prisoner. But it was apparently Curtis who asked that the two men share top billing, even though contractually only Curtis had that privilege. This immeasurably elevated Poitier’s stature, as did the movie’s great box-office success, making him a bona fide star. I have to think that the jaw-dropping lollapalooza of a poster for “The Defiant Ones” also had something to do with both its success and Poitier’s transformation into a matinee idol.

The poster is drawn and vaguely reminiscent of the work of painter George Bellows with a touch of Tom of Finland. It shows two heavily muscled prisoners facing each other while still chained, snarling and bare-chested. The two figures don’t look much like the performers that they’re meant to represent; instead, they look like bodybuilders who, after mainlining steroids to bulk up, have lost their minds and found themselves in scalding water. The poster emphasizes their antagonism, which may have appealed to some high-minded American audiences. Mostly and unambiguously, the poster was doing what film posters often did: It was selling sex through two semi-naked hotties who were definitely going to get down &lt;em&gt;somehow.&lt;/em&gt;

This was different from the grotesquely racist images of brutish Black masculinity that the movies had historically trafficked in a la “The Birth of a Nation.” Here were two men, Black and white, chained together and forced into a fateful union. In the poster, the Poitier figure is positioned slightly higher than the Curtis one and has one hand on the chain, as if to pull the other man closer. This gesture may have been another white liberal appeal, but in one sense, it also represents Poitier’s historic position as a crossover star, someone who could take up equal space on screen alongside white performers, including in friendships, as in the lovely “Paris Blues” (1961), in which his and Paul Newman’s jazz musicians share a palpably warm camaraderie.

In time, Poitier was also cast as the romantic lead alongside white actresses, although it was complicated. In “A Patch of Blue” (1965), his character becomes involved with a blind woman, and in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (1967), he plays a caricature of perfection who gently rocks the world of his young white fiancee’s parents. Hollywood had understood and profited from Poitier’s magnetism, and it wanted to continue to exploit it yet also wanted him restrained, polite, sexless. It couldn’t deal with his full humanity. One of the few times that he had played a rounded character, one who was desiring and desirable, was in “Paris Blues,” in which his character has a romance with Diahann Carroll. (The story originally featured an interracial affair.)

In 1967, the Times published a profile of Poitier with the headline “He Doesn’t Want to Be Sexless Sidney.” It’s a sobering, tough read. He had found success, certainly, but he was frustrated, noting that he had never worked on screen in a “man-woman relationship that was not symbolic.” He wasn’t interested in “a romantic interlude” with a white woman. He wanted to work with Black actresses. He wanted to put Black women on a pedestal. He wanted to give his daughters “a sense of self” and “the concept of beauty” that TV commercials didn’t provide them. He wanted to make the movies he wanted to make. From then on, he said, “I will continue to be a hero, but I won’t be a neuter,” a purposeful, profound declaration of independence.

Two years later, Poitier founded his own production company, First Artists, with Newman and Barbra Streisand. In 1972, he made his directorial debut with the Western “Buck and the Preacher,” in which he played a former Union soldier, Buck, who leads Black wagon trains from Louisiana to Kansas. Ruby Dee played his wife, and Harry Belafonte was Preacher. Together, they ride and rob and fight to shepherd Black families to safety. It’s a wonderful, loose, galvanizing film, the start of a directing career that included hits such as “Uptown Saturday Night” and “Let’s Do It Again.” He made the movies he had sought to make.

In his 1967 interview, he said, “I have not made my peace with the times — they are still out of kilter — but I have made my peace with myself.” The times remained out of kilter, even as Poitier kept rising above them. — MANOHLA DARGIS

A Career of Glory and Contradiction

Poitier became a star, and was nominated for his first Oscar, in “The Defiant Ones” (1958), a buddy movie that might be thought of as the “Green Book” of its time: a nobly intentioned fable of racial reconciliation compromised by dubious conventions and sentimental assumptions about life in America. In “The Devil Finds Work,” his book-length dismantling of Hollywood mythology, James Baldwin described it as “a film with people we are accustomed to seeing in the movies. Well: all except one.”

That one was Poitier, and Baldwin’s next sentence captures the glory and contradiction that would define the actor’s career. “The irreducible difficulty of this genuinely well-meaning film is that no one, clearly, was able to foresee what Poitier would do with his role — nor was anyone, thereafter, able to undo it — and his performance, which lends the film its only real distinction, also, paradoxically, smashes it to pieces.”

Poitier, called upon to embody a fantasy figure who would disarm the suspicions of some white viewers and flatter the self-regard of others, chose instead to play his character, Noah Cullen, as a human being. “There is no way to believe Noah Cullen &lt;em&gt;and&lt;/em&gt; the story,” Baldwin observed, and the same could be said for Virgil Tibbs and “In the Heat of the Night” and John Prentice and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (both from 1967). Poitier made those movies worth watching, even as his craft and charisma worked to expose their limitations. He was more than a pioneer; he was a revolutionary. He didn’t just make it in Hollywood. He remade Hollywood. — A.O. SCOTT

Insisting on Giving a Slap Back

In an instant, Poitier moved America into the age of Black Power. The year, 1967. The movie, “In the Heat of the Night.” In the scene, debonair Virgil Tibbs (Poitier), a Black homicide detective from Philadelphia, now in Sparta, Mississippi, is questioning Endicott (Larry Gates), a wealthy white plantation owner, about a murder. Angered, Endicott slaps him. Empowered, Tibbs slaps him back.

My family referred to it as “the slap heard around the world.” Poitier has said he insisted that the slap back be added to the script.

For a generation of African Americans, like my mother, who came of age during the civil rights movement, Virgil Tibbs was a revelation. He was practicing self-defense, while the movement leaders championed nonviolence. He channeled Black rage in an era of racial forgiveness. And as played by Poitier, Tibbs was so dignified and charismatic on screen — the embodiment of Black excellence — that stereotypes about Black inferiority, often used by men like Endicott to justify segregation in the real world, appeared completely absurd and antiquated.

Just as important, Poitier modeled a new image of Black masculinity — controlled, defiant, intellectual — that helped liberate the next generation of African Americans. — SALAMISHAH TILLET

When a Giant Played a Giant&nbsp;

Late in his career, Poitier found a space on television for the kind of inspirational performances that had marked his decades in film. In the 1991 miniseries “Separate but Equal,” he played Thurgood Marshall, challenging school segregation in the Brown v. Board of Education case; John J. O’Connor, a critic for the Times, called his performance “simply splendid.”

The last of his great roles was as anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela in the 1997 Showtime film “Mandela and de Klerk,” opposite Michael Caine as F.W. de Klerk, the South African president who released Mandela from prison and negotiated the end of apartheid with him.

The film, available to rent on Amazon, is a typically dutiful, straightforward cable historical drama. But it’s elevated by Poitier’s complex performance, which synthesizes Mandela the icon and Mandela the man. His Mandela is wily, steely, patient and quick-witted, but careful with every word.

Maybe one reason for the performance’s potency is the resonance between actor and character. Mandela, the film points out, was seen as a terrorist by the white government yet also wrestled with more-militant factions of his own party, much as Poitier himself took flak for the straight-arrow characters with which he helped integrate Hollywood. Mandela pursued a revolution from confinement, much as Poitier changed the movies despite the strictures on his roles.

And Mandela, according to a story shared by actor Will Smith in 2007, was influenced by Poitier himself, having watched “In the Heat of the Night” while imprisoned. After later learning that South African prison authorities had censored the scene in which Poitier’s character slaps a white man, Mandela was heartened by “the idea that American movies were putting out that type of imagery,” which meant that “the possibility of change is real and obtainable.”

Poitier’s most intriguing TV role, however, was one he never took: He was offered the role of president in NBC’s “The West Wing” that ultimately went to Martin Sheen. It’s tantalizing to wonder how the series might have been different had a late-career Poitier played a Black president, nearly a decade before Barack Obama. But it remains true, fictional presidency or no, that Sidney Poitier led America from the screen. — JAMES PONIEWOZIK 
&nbsp;

When Sidney Poitier died Thursday at 94, tributes poured forth for him, the first Black performer to win the Academy Award for best actor, and a man whom President Joe Biden called a “once-in-a-generation actor and advocate” whose work “changed the world on and off the big screen.

When Sidney Poitier died Thursday at 94, tributes poured forth for him, the first Black performer to win the Academy Award for best actor, and a man whom President Joe Biden called a “once-in-a-generation actor and advocate” whose work “changed the world on and off the big screen." Four critics for The New York Times reflect on Poitier’s influence and legacy. A Face to Remember The elegance, the poise, the steely spine — but, oh, the face — when I think of Sidney Poitier, I first think of how beautiful he was and the sheer physical perfection of the man. He had the kind of old-fashioned Hollywood beauty and glamour that made the movies and made audiences dream and desire, turning them into repeat customers. There was much more to Poitier, yes, and he will be rightly remembered as a towering figure in the civil rights movement, one that has always been fought on the screen and not only in the streets and courts. But we should also honor and be grateful for his beauty, what it meant and what it did. Physical beauty has its obvious attractions, but it can be a powerful weapon, too. That’s one reason Jim Crow Hollywood had such profound difficulty with Black beauty, which threatened the racist order that the industry upheld, reproduced and eagerly helped legitimize for its audiences. It’s also why Walter White, the head of the NAACP, said in the 1940s that Lena Horne would be an “interesting weapon” against Hollywood racism. The industry ignored and marginalized Black performers, relegating them to the margins of the frame, where they often wore servant costumes and spoke in insulting dialect if they even said anything. Sometimes their names weren’t in the credits; at times their musical numbers were edited out. The most instructive racist tell is that the industry’s self-censoring Production Code banned sexual relations between Black and white performers — not all people of color, just Black. Hollywood banned what the code called miscegenation until 1957. At that point, Poitier had been acting in movies for a decade. He had made some intriguing films, and his name was being featured more prominently in the advertising. The next year, though, he catapulted to another level with the release of “The Defiant Ones,” about two escaped prisoners who are chained together and, while on the run, grow to care for each other. Directed by Stanley Kramer, it is a prime example of liberal white Hollywood at its most sincere and self-congratulatory. However hokey, exasperating and contradictory “The Defiant Ones” is, there is also no denying the charms and charisma of its two very handsome and exceedingly fit leads. Poitier wasn’t thrilled when Tony Curtis, who was trying to escape his pretty-boy image, was cast as the other prisoner. But it was apparently Curtis who asked that the two men share top billing, even though contractually only Curtis had that privilege. This immeasurably elevated Poitier’s stature, as did the movie’s great box-office success, making him a bona fide star. I have to think that the jaw-dropping lollapalooza of a poster for “The Defiant Ones” also had something to do with both its success and Poitier’s transformation into a matinee idol. The poster is drawn and vaguely reminiscent of the work of painter George Bellows with a touch of Tom of Finland. It shows two heavily muscled prisoners facing each other while still chained, snarling and bare-chested. The two figures don’t look much like the performers that they’re meant to represent; instead, they look like bodybuilders who, after mainlining steroids to bulk up, have lost their minds and found themselves in scalding water. The poster emphasizes their antagonism, which may have appealed to some high-minded American audiences. Mostly and unambiguously, the poster was doing what film posters often did: It was selling sex through two semi-naked hotties who were definitely going to get down somehow. This was different from the grotesquely racist images of brutish Black masculinity that the movies had historically trafficked in a la “The Birth of a Nation.” Here were two men, Black and white, chained together and forced into a fateful union. In the poster, the Poitier figure is positioned slightly higher than the Curtis one and has one hand on the chain, as if to pull the other man closer. This gesture may have been another white liberal appeal, but in one sense, it also represents Poitier’s historic position as a crossover star, someone who could take up equal space on screen alongside white performers, including in friendships, as in the lovely “Paris Blues” (1961), in which his and Paul Newman’s jazz musicians share a palpably warm camaraderie. In time, Poitier was also cast as the romantic lead alongside white actresses, although it was complicated. In “A Patch of Blue” (1965), his character becomes involved with a blind woman, and in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (1967), he plays a caricature of perfection who gently rocks the world of his young white fiancee’s parents. Hollywood had understood and profited from Poitier’s magnetism, and it wanted to continue to exploit it yet also wanted him restrained, polite, sexless. It couldn’t deal with his full humanity. One of the few times that he had played a rounded character, one who was desiring and desirable, was in “Paris Blues,” in which his character has a romance with Diahann Carroll. (The story originally featured an interracial affair.) In 1967, the Times published a profile of Poitier with the headline “He Doesn’t Want to Be Sexless Sidney.” It’s a sobering, tough read. He had found success, certainly, but he was frustrated, noting that he had never worked on screen in a “man-woman relationship that was not symbolic.” He wasn’t interested in “a romantic interlude” with a white woman. He wanted to work with Black actresses. He wanted to put Black women on a pedestal. He wanted to give his daughters “a sense of self” and “the concept of beauty” that TV commercials didn’t provide them. He wanted to make the movies he wanted to make. From then on, he said, “I will continue to be a hero, but I won’t be a neuter,” a purposeful, profound declaration of independence. Two years later, Poitier founded his own production company, First Artists, with Newman and Barbra Streisand. In 1972, he made his directorial debut with the Western “Buck and the Preacher,” in which he played a former Union soldier, Buck, who leads Black wagon trains from Louisiana to Kansas. Ruby Dee played his wife, and Harry Belafonte was Preacher. Together, they ride and rob and fight to shepherd Black families to safety. It’s a wonderful, loose, galvanizing film, the start of a directing career that included hits such as “Uptown Saturday Night” and “Let’s Do It Again.” He made the movies he had sought to make. In his 1967 interview, he said, “I have not made my peace with the times — they are still out of kilter — but I have made my peace with myself.” The times remained out of kilter, even as Poitier kept rising above them. — MANOHLA DARGIS A Career of Glory and Contradiction Poitier became a star, and was nominated for his first Oscar, in “The Defiant Ones” (1958), a buddy movie that might be thought of as the “Green Book” of its time: a nobly intentioned fable of racial reconciliation compromised by dubious conventions and sentimental assumptions about life in America. In “The Devil Finds Work,” his book-length dismantling of Hollywood mythology, James Baldwin described it as “a film with people we are accustomed to seeing in the movies. Well: all except one.” That one was Poitier, and Baldwin’s next sentence captures the glory and contradiction that would define the actor’s career. “The irreducible difficulty of this genuinely well-meaning film is that no one, clearly, was able to foresee what Poitier would do with his role — nor was anyone, thereafter, able to undo it — and his performance, which lends the film its only real distinction, also, paradoxically, smashes it to pieces.” Poitier, called upon to embody a fantasy figure who would disarm the suspicions of some white viewers and flatter the self-regard of others, chose instead to play his character, Noah Cullen, as a human being. “There is no way to believe Noah Cullen and the story,” Baldwin observed, and the same could be said for Virgil Tibbs and “In the Heat of the Night” and John Prentice and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (both from 1967). Poitier made those movies worth watching, even as his craft and charisma worked to expose their limitations. He was more than a pioneer; he was a revolutionary. He didn’t just make it in Hollywood. He remade Hollywood. — A.O. SCOTT Insisting on Giving a Slap Back In an instant, Poitier moved America into the age of Black Power. The year, 1967. The movie, “In the Heat of the Night.” In the scene, debonair Virgil Tibbs (Poitier), a Black homicide detective from Philadelphia, now in Sparta, Mississippi, is questioning Endicott (Larry Gates), a wealthy white plantation owner, about a murder. Angered, Endicott slaps him. Empowered, Tibbs slaps him back. My family referred to it as “the slap heard around the world.” Poitier has said he insisted that the slap back be added to the script. For a generation of African Americans, like my mother, who came of age during the civil rights movement, Virgil Tibbs was a revelation. He was practicing self-defense, while the movement leaders championed nonviolence. He channeled Black rage in an era of racial forgiveness. And as played by Poitier, Tibbs was so dignified and charismatic on screen — the embodiment of Black excellence — that stereotypes about Black inferiority, often used by men like Endicott to justify segregation in the real world, appeared completely absurd and antiquated. Just as important, Poitier modeled a new image of Black masculinity — controlled, defiant, intellectual — that helped liberate the next generation of African Americans. — SALAMISHAH TILLET When a Giant Played a Giant Late in his career, Poitier found a space on television for the kind of inspirational performances that had marked his decades in film. In the 1991 miniseries “Separate but Equal,” he played Thurgood Marshall, challenging school segregation in the Brown v. Board of Education case; John J. O’Connor, a critic for the Times, called his performance “simply splendid.” The last of his great roles was as anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela in the 1997 Showtime film “Mandela and de Klerk,” opposite Michael Caine as F.W. de Klerk, the South African president who released Mandela from prison and negotiated the end of apartheid with him. The film, available to rent on Amazon, is a typically dutiful, straightforward cable historical drama. But it’s elevated by Poitier’s complex performance, which synthesizes Mandela the icon and Mandela the man. His Mandela is wily, steely, patient and quick-witted, but careful with every word. Maybe one reason for the performance’s potency is the resonance between actor and character. Mandela, the film points out, was seen as a terrorist by the white government yet also wrestled with more-militant factions of his own party, much as Poitier himself took flak for the straight-arrow characters with which he helped integrate Hollywood. Mandela pursued a revolution from confinement, much as Poitier changed the movies despite the strictures on his roles. And Mandela, according to a story shared by actor Will Smith in 2007, was influenced by Poitier himself, having watched “In the Heat of the Night” while imprisoned. After later learning that South African prison authorities had censored the scene in which Poitier’s character slaps a white man, Mandela was heartened by “the idea that American movies were putting out that type of imagery,” which meant that “the possibility of change is real and obtainable.” Poitier’s most intriguing TV role, however, was one he never took: He was offered the role of president in NBC’s “The West Wing” that ultimately went to Martin Sheen. It’s tantalizing to wonder how the series might have been different had a late-career Poitier played a Black president, nearly a decade before Barack Obama. But it remains true, fictional presidency or no, that Sidney Poitier led America from the screen. — JAMES PONIEWOZIK

The power of Sidney Poitier

Legendary actress Sidney Poitier <a href="http://13.235.153.162/entertainment/sidney-poitier-first-black-actor-to-win-best-actor-oscar-dies-aged-94-443021">passed away </a>on January 7 at the age of 94. He was the first black man to win the best actor Oscar and opened doors for racial minorities in the cinema world, decades before the #OscarsSoWhite and Black Lives Matter movements. 
 
Poitier’s death prompted an <a href="http://13.235.153.162/entertainment/hollywood/news-sidney-poitier-1927-2022-whoopi-goldberg-oprah-winfrey---others-pay-tribute-to-the-icon-443088">outpouring of tributes</a> from his fans and friends, who honoured his iconic Hollywood career. Now, his family has shared a heartfelt note for the beloved actor.&nbsp; 
 
“There are no words to convey the deep sense of loss and sadness we are feeling right now. We are so grateful he was able to spend his last day surrounded by his family and friends,” the statement reads.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/hollywood/news-remembering-sidney-poitier-trailblazing-black-film-star-and-activist-443070" hreflang="en">Remembering Sidney Poitier: Trailblazing Black film star and activist</a> 
 
“To us Sidney Poitier was not only a brilliant actor, activist and a man of incredible grace and moral fortitude, he was also a devoted and loving husband, a supportive and adoring father and a man who always put family first. He is our guiding light who lit up our lives with infinite love and wonder. His smile was healing, his hugs the warmest refuge and his laughter were infectious. We could always turn to him for wisdom and solace and his absence feels like a giant hole in our family and our hearts. Although he is no longer here with us in this realm, his beautiful soul will continue to guide and inspire us. He will live on in us, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren — in every belly laugh, every curious inquiry, every act of compassion and kindness. His legacy will live on in the world, continuing to inspire not only with his incredible body of work, but even more so with his humanity, '' the statement reads further.&nbsp; 
 
“We would like to extend our deepest appreciation to every single one of you for the outpouring of love from around the world,” the family continued. 
&nbsp;“So many have been touched by our dad’s extraordinary life, his unwavering sense of decency and respect for his fellow man. His faith in humanity never faltered, so know that for all the love you’ve shown him, he loved you back.” 
 
Poitier rose to the pinnacle of his profession despite coming from a poor family in the Bahamas and softening his heavy island accent at a time when important opportunities for Black performers were scarce.

In 1964, he was the first Black person and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two Academy Award nominations, ten Golden Globes nominations, two Primetime Emmy Awards nominations, six BAFTA nominations, eight Laurel nominations, and one Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) nomination 
&nbsp;

Legendary actress Sidney Poitier passed away on January 7 at the age of 94. He was the first black man to win the best actor Oscar and opened doors for racial minorities in the cinema world, decades before the #OscarsSoWhite and Black Lives Matter movements.

Legendary actress Sidney Poitier passed away on January 7 at the age of 94. He was the first black man to win the best actor Oscar and opened doors for racial minorities in the cinema world, decades before the #OscarsSoWhite and Black Lives Matter movements. Poitier’s death prompted an outpouring of tributes from his fans and friends, who honoured his iconic Hollywood career. Now, his family has shared a heartfelt note for the beloved actor. “There are no words to convey the deep sense of loss and sadness we are feeling right now. We are so grateful he was able to spend his last day surrounded by his family and friends,” the statement reads. Remembering Sidney Poitier: Trailblazing Black film star and activist “To us Sidney Poitier was not only a brilliant actor, activist and a man of incredible grace and moral fortitude, he was also a devoted and loving husband, a supportive and adoring father and a man who always put family first. He is our guiding light who lit up our lives with infinite love and wonder. His smile was healing, his hugs the warmest refuge and his laughter were infectious. We could always turn to him for wisdom and solace and his absence feels like a giant hole in our family and our hearts. Although he is no longer here with us in this realm, his beautiful soul will continue to guide and inspire us. He will live on in us, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren — in every belly laugh, every curious inquiry, every act of compassion and kindness. His legacy will live on in the world, continuing to inspire not only with his incredible body of work, but even more so with his humanity, '' the statement reads further. “We would like to extend our deepest appreciation to every single one of you for the outpouring of love from around the world,” the family continued. “So many have been touched by our dad’s extraordinary life, his unwavering sense of decency and respect for his fellow man. His faith in humanity never faltered, so know that for all the love you’ve shown him, he loved you back.” Poitier rose to the pinnacle of his profession despite coming from a poor family in the Bahamas and softening his heavy island accent at a time when important opportunities for Black performers were scarce. In 1964, he was the first Black person and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two Academy Award nominations, ten Golden Globes nominations, two Primetime Emmy Awards nominations, six BAFTA nominations, eight Laurel nominations, and one Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) nomination

Sidney Poitier's family pays heartfelt tribute to the legendary actor: His legacy will live on in the world

Legendary star Sidney Poitier, the first black man to win the best actor Oscar, passed away at age of 94 on January 7. Poitier's death was confirmed by Eugene Torchon-Newry, acting director-general of the Bahamas Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Legendary star Sidney Poitier, the first black man to win the best actor Oscar, passed away at age of 94 on January 7. Poitier's death was confirmed by Eugene Torchon-Newry, acting director-general of the Bahamas Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Remembering Sidney Poitier: Trailblazing Black film star and activist By remembering his work and legacy, many Hollywood celebrities took their social media to pay their heart-warming respects to Hollywood's first big Black movie star. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Halle Berry (@halleberry) × Actress Halle Berry, who was the first black actress to win the best actress Oscar in 2002, took her Instagram account to mourn the loss of the stars. Sharing a picture with the late icon, she wrote: '"A tiny bit of myself is lost when my friends are gone," Sidney Poitier wrote in his book LIFE BEYOND MEASURE. My dear Sidney, an enormous part of my soul weeps at your passing. In your ninety-four years on this planet, you left an indelible mark with your extraordinary talent, paving the way for Black people to be seen and heard in the fullness of who we are. You were an iconic trailblazer; yours was a life well lived.'' Sidney Poitier. What a landmark actor. One of a kind. What a beautiful, gracious, warm, genuinely regal man. RIP, Sir. With love. (📷Sam Falk/NYT) pic.twitter.com/5ZaKxxPdxw — Jeffrey Wright (@jfreewright) January 7, 2022 × Emmy-winning actor Jeffrey Wright tweeted: ''Sidney Poitier. What a landmark actor. One of a kind. What a beautiful, gracious, warm, genuinely regal man. RIP, Sir. With love.'' Oscar-winner Whoopi Goldberg tweeted: 'If you wanted the sky I would write across the sky in letters that would soar a thousand feet high.. To Sir… with Love,' she wrote, adding: 'Sir Sidney Poitier R.I.P. He showed us how to reach for the stars.' If you wanted the sky i would write across the sky in letters that would soar a thousand feet high.. To Sir… with Love Sir Sidney Poitier R.I.P. He showed us how to reach for the stars — Whoopi Goldberg (@WhoopiGoldberg) January 7, 2022 × Oprah Winfrey paid a heartfelt tribute to the legendary star. Sharing a happy picture of them, she wrote, ''For me, the greatest of the “Great Trees” has fallen: Sidney Poitier. My honor to have loved him as a mentor. Friend. Brother. Confidant. Wisdom teacher. The utmost, highest regard and praise for his most magnificent, gracious, eloquent life. I treasured him. I adored him. He had an enormous soul I will forever cherish. Blessings to Joanna and his world of beautiful daughters 🙏🏾'' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Oprah (@oprah) × Actor Mark Ruffalo said: "Immediately dispelling the perverted, obscene, and misinformed notion of white supremacy in every beautifully human, artistic and dignified way = Sidney Poitier." Immediately dispelling the perverted, obscene, and misinformed notion of white supremacy in every beautifully human, artistic and dignified way = Sidney Poitier. https://t.co/aU4ptHBKCx — Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 7, 2022 × Poitier rose to the pinnacle of his profession despite coming from a poor family in the Bahamas and softening his heavy island accent at a time when important opportunities for Black performers were scarce. In 1964, he was the first Black person and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two Academy Award nominations, ten Golden Globes nominations, two Primetime Emmy Awards nominations, six BAFTA nominations, eight Laurel nominations, and one Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) nomination. From 1997 to 2007, he was the Bahamian Ambassador to Japan.

Sidney Poitier (1927-2022): Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey  & others pay tribute to the icon

Sidney Poitier, who has<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/sidney-poitier-first-black-actor-to-win-best-actor-oscar-dies-aged-94-443021"> died at age 94</a>, was a pioneering Black movie star who opened doors for racial minorities in film decades before the #OscarsSoWhite and Black Lives Matter movements.

The trailblazing thespian became the first male Black star nominated for an Academy Award with 1958's 'The Defiant Ones'&nbsp;and, six years later, was the first to win the best actor Oscar for his performance in 'Lilies of the Field.'

Collecting his historic award, Poitier told the glamorous audience of mainly white contemporaries it had been "a long journey to this moment" -- but his achievement would not be matched until 38 years later, when Denzel Washington won for his leading role in "Training Day."

Poitier, who died Thursday night at his home in Los Angeles, achieved mainstream popularity with a series of groundbreaking roles at a time of great racial tension in America in the 1950s and 1960s.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/hollywood/news-tom-holland-pitched-a-007-idea-to-james-bond-makers-but-looks-like-it-wasnt-taken-up-443019" hreflang="en">Tom Holland pitched a 007 idea to James Bond makers but looks like it wasn't taken up</a>

He balanced success with a sense of duty to choose projects that tackled bigotry and stereotypes, including his 1967 classics 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner'&nbsp;and 'In the Heat of the Night.'

Poitier was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2002 for his "extraordinary performances" on the silver screen and his "dignity, style and intelligence" off of it.

"I accept this award in the name of all the African American actors and actresses who went before me in the difficult years and on whose shoulders I was privileged to stand to see where I might go," Poitier said.

&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/plant-animal-species-named-after-celebs-from-beyonce-horsefly-to-dicaprio-tree-442961">Plant-animal species named after celebs: From Beyonce horsefly to DiCaprio tree</a>

Poitier also praised the "visionary choices of a handful of American" producers, directors and studio bosses who were not afraid to stand up for the cause of equality, despite the difficulties such a stance may have caused them.

- 'I'll always be chasing you, Sidney' -

By coincidence, Poitier received his 2002 honorary Oscar the same night Washington won for best actor, which was also the night Halle Berry become the first -- and only -- African American best actress winner.

In his acceptance speech, Washington paid a heartfelt tribute to Poitier, telling him: "I'll always be following in your footsteps."

In a statement to AFP following news of his death, Washington said "it was a privilege to call Sidney Poitier my friend. He was a gentle man and opened doors for all of us that had been closed for years."

Viola Davis, herself an Oscar-winning actress, shared a similar note of admiration for Poitier's barrier-breaking life, saying his "dignity, normalcy, strength, excellence and sheer electricity... showed us that we, as Black folks, mattered!!!"

- Discrimination -

Born in the southern US state of Florida in 1927 where his tomato farmer father was selling his produce, young Sidney and his family moved back to the Bahamas, where he grew up in poverty.&nbsp;

A dual national of the Bahamas and United States, he got his first taste of the cinema on as a youth his Caribbean island before dropping out of school at the age of 13 and returning to Miami when he was 15 to join his brother Cyril.

It was there that the impressionable young man experienced his first taste of racial discrimination, an experience that left an indelible mark on him.

Poitier soon relocated to New York where he worked as a dishwasher and busboy, reportedly sleeping in bus station pay toilets as he tried to scratch out a meager existence in the tough city.

During World War II, Poitier joined the US Army as a physiotherapist until 1945, when he returned to New York, his heart set on becoming an actor.

Poitier worked to lose his Caribbean lilt and adopt an American accent, which earned him his first stage acting job as an understudy to singing star Harry Belafonte in 1945's 'Days of Our Youth,'&nbsp;before making his Broadway debut in an all-Black production of 'Lysistrata.'

-&nbsp;Racial harmony -

In 1950, the thriving young actor starred in his first film, 'No Way Out,'&nbsp;quickly followed by classics such as 'Blackboard Jungle'&nbsp;and 'Edge of the City.'

From 1957's 'Something of Value'&nbsp;-- which portrayed Kenya's anti-colonial Mau Mau uprising -- his choices turned more consistently to themes of racial harmony, as seen in Chicago-set 'A Raisin in the Sun'&nbsp;(1961) and Mississippi murder mystery 'In the Heat of the Night'&nbsp;(1967).

Through the late 1970s and 1980s, Poitier moved behind the camera to direct, casting Black actors in traditionally white roles, before switching to light-hearted comedies featuring Gene Wilder ('Stir Crazy') and Bill Cosby ('Ghost Dad').

Poitier took a decade-long acting hiatus before returning in the 1988 cop thriller 'Shoot to Kill,' but rarely graced the big screen after that.

On television, he portrayed icons of history such as South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela, and the first Black justice on the US Supreme Court, Thurgood Marshall.

And in 1997, he took up a ceremonial post as Bahamian ambassador to Japan. He was awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the country's highest civilian honor -- by Barack Obama in 2009.

Poitier was married to his second wife Joanna since 1976, and had six children as well as numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Sidney Poitier, who has died at age 94, was a pioneering Black movie star who opened doors for racial minorities in film decades before the #OscarsSoWhite and Black Lives Matter movements.

Sidney Poitier, who has died at age 94, was a pioneering Black movie star who opened doors for racial minorities in film decades before the #OscarsSoWhite and Black Lives Matter movements. The trailblazing thespian became the first male Black star nominated for an Academy Award with 1958's 'The Defiant Ones' and, six years later, was the first to win the best actor Oscar for his performance in 'Lilies of the Field.' Collecting his historic award, Poitier told the glamorous audience of mainly white contemporaries it had been "a long journey to this moment" -- but his achievement would not be matched until 38 years later, when Denzel Washington won for his leading role in "Training Day." Poitier, who died Thursday night at his home in Los Angeles, achieved mainstream popularity with a series of groundbreaking roles at a time of great racial tension in America in the 1950s and 1960s. Tom Holland pitched a 007 idea to James Bond makers but looks like it wasn't taken up He balanced success with a sense of duty to choose projects that tackled bigotry and stereotypes, including his 1967 classics 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' and 'In the Heat of the Night.' Poitier was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2002 for his "extraordinary performances" on the silver screen and his "dignity, style and intelligence" off of it. "I accept this award in the name of all the African American actors and actresses who went before me in the difficult years and on whose shoulders I was privileged to stand to see where I might go," Poitier said. Plant-animal species named after celebs: From Beyonce horsefly to DiCaprio tree Poitier also praised the "visionary choices of a handful of American" producers, directors and studio bosses who were not afraid to stand up for the cause of equality, despite the difficulties such a stance may have caused them. - 'I'll always be chasing you, Sidney' - By coincidence, Poitier received his 2002 honorary Oscar the same night Washington won for best actor, which was also the night Halle Berry become the first -- and only -- African American best actress winner. In his acceptance speech, Washington paid a heartfelt tribute to Poitier, telling him: "I'll always be following in your footsteps." In a statement to AFP following news of his death, Washington said "it was a privilege to call Sidney Poitier my friend. He was a gentle man and opened doors for all of us that had been closed for years." Viola Davis, herself an Oscar-winning actress, shared a similar note of admiration for Poitier's barrier-breaking life, saying his "dignity, normalcy, strength, excellence and sheer electricity... showed us that we, as Black folks, mattered!!!" - Discrimination - Born in the southern US state of Florida in 1927 where his tomato farmer father was selling his produce, young Sidney and his family moved back to the Bahamas, where he grew up in poverty. A dual national of the Bahamas and United States, he got his first taste of the cinema on as a youth his Caribbean island before dropping out of school at the age of 13 and returning to Miami when he was 15 to join his brother Cyril. It was there that the impressionable young man experienced his first taste of racial discrimination, an experience that left an indelible mark on him. Poitier soon relocated to New York where he worked as a dishwasher and busboy, reportedly sleeping in bus station pay toilets as he tried to scratch out a meager existence in the tough city. During World War II, Poitier joined the US Army as a physiotherapist until 1945, when he returned to New York, his heart set on becoming an actor. Poitier worked to lose his Caribbean lilt and adopt an American accent, which earned him his first stage acting job as an understudy to singing star Harry Belafonte in 1945's 'Days of Our Youth,' before making his Broadway debut in an all-Black production of 'Lysistrata.' - Racial harmony - In 1950, the thriving young actor starred in his first film, 'No Way Out,' quickly followed by classics such as 'Blackboard Jungle' and 'Edge of the City.' From 1957's 'Something of Value' -- which portrayed Kenya's anti-colonial Mau Mau uprising -- his choices turned more consistently to themes of racial harmony, as seen in Chicago-set 'A Raisin in the Sun' (1961) and Mississippi murder mystery 'In the Heat of the Night' (1967). Through the late 1970s and 1980s, Poitier moved behind the camera to direct, casting Black actors in traditionally white roles, before switching to light-hearted comedies featuring Gene Wilder ('Stir Crazy') and Bill Cosby ('Ghost Dad'). Poitier took a decade-long acting hiatus before returning in the 1988 cop thriller 'Shoot to Kill,' but rarely graced the big screen after that. On television, he portrayed icons of history such as South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela, and the first Black justice on the US Supreme Court, Thurgood Marshall. And in 1997, he took up a ceremonial post as Bahamian ambassador to Japan. He was awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the country's highest civilian honor -- by Barack Obama in 2009. Poitier was married to his second wife Joanna since 1976, and had six children as well as numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Remembering Sidney Poitier: Trailblazing Black film star and activist

Sidney Poitier, Hollywood's first big Black movie star, has died at the age of 94. He rose to national fame with a series of revolutionary roles in the 1950s and 1960s.

Poitier's death was confirmed by Eugene Torchon-Newry, acting director general of the Bahamas Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Poitier, who held dual US and Bahamian nationality, was "an icon, a hero, a mentor, a fighter, a national treasure," Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper said on his official Facebook page. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/hollywood/news-jodie-turner-smith-says-hollywood-must-move-beyond-tokenism-for-black-people-397747">Also read | Jodie Turner-Smith says Hollywood must move beyond tokenism for Black people</a>

Poitier rose to the pinnacle of his profession despite coming from a poor family in the Bahamas and softening his heavy island accent at a time when important opportunities for Black performers were scarce.

He won an Academy Award for "Lilies of the Field" in 1963. "He starred as an itinerant labourer who assists a group of white nuns in the construction of a chapel in the film.&nbsp;

As Americans grappled with the societal upheavals produced by the civil rights movement, several of his best-known films examined racial tensions.

In 1967 alone, he played a Philadelphia cop facing discrimination in small-town Mississippi in "In the Heat of the Night" and a doctor in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" who wins over his white fiancée's suspicious parents.

His characters, despite being filled with repressed rage, responded to injustice with quiet resolve.&nbsp;

One of his most well-known films is 'To Sir, with Love,' a British drama in which Poitier plays a teacher at a London inner-city school who transforms the lives of his rowdy children.

Poitier received critical acclaim for his performance as a black man who falls in love with a blind white adolescent in the 1965 drama "A Patch of Blue."

A Raisin in the Sun (1961), The Defiant Ones (1958), and Edge of the City (1960) are among his other notable works from 1957.

(With inputs from agencies)

Sidney Poitier, Hollywood's first big Black movie star, has died at the age of 94. He rose to national fame with a series of revolutionary roles in the 1950s and 1960s.

Sidney Poitier, Hollywood's first big Black movie star, has died at the age of 94. He rose to national fame with a series of revolutionary roles in the 1950s and 1960s. Poitier's death was confirmed by Eugene Torchon-Newry, acting director general of the Bahamas Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Poitier, who held dual US and Bahamian nationality, was "an icon, a hero, a mentor, a fighter, a national treasure," Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper said on his official Facebook page. Also read | Jodie Turner-Smith says Hollywood must move beyond tokenism for Black people Poitier rose to the pinnacle of his profession despite coming from a poor family in the Bahamas and softening his heavy island accent at a time when important opportunities for Black performers were scarce. He won an Academy Award for "Lilies of the Field" in 1963. "He starred as an itinerant labourer who assists a group of white nuns in the construction of a chapel in the film. As Americans grappled with the societal upheavals produced by the civil rights movement, several of his best-known films examined racial tensions. In 1967 alone, he played a Philadelphia cop facing discrimination in small-town Mississippi in "In the Heat of the Night" and a doctor in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" who wins over his white fiancée's suspicious parents. His characters, despite being filled with repressed rage, responded to injustice with quiet resolve. One of his most well-known films is 'To Sir, with Love,' a British drama in which Poitier plays a teacher at a London inner-city school who transforms the lives of his rowdy children. Poitier received critical acclaim for his performance as a black man who falls in love with a blind white adolescent in the 1965 drama "A Patch of Blue." A Raisin in the Sun (1961), The Defiant Ones (1958), and Edge of the City (1960) are among his other notable works from 1957. (With inputs from agencies)

Sidney Poitier, first black actor to win best actor Oscar, dies aged 94

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