Sidney Poitier
Sign in to saveBahamian and American actor and diplomat (1927–2022)
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Sidney Poitier was a groundbreaking Bahamian and American actor and diplomat who lived from 1927 to 2022. He matters because he was a pioneering figure in film and international relations during a transformative period in history.
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Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1927
- Died
- 2022-01-06
- Works
- 17
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- The measure of a man
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Film & TV
Acting · Miami, Florida, USA
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…
Known for
- The Resurrection of Christ2026
- Hollywood Black — Self (archive footage)2024
- Sidney Poitier - The Man Who Changed Hollywood — Self (archive footage)2023
- Reinventing Elvis: The 68' Comeback — Self (archive footage)2023
- Sidney — Self2022
Article
Sidney Poitier (/ˈpwɑːtjeɪ/ PWAH-tyay; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was a Bahamian-American actor, film director, activist, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. Among his other accolades are two competitive Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA Award and a Grammy Award, in addition to nominations for two Emmy Awards and a Tony Award. In 1999, he was ranked number 22 among the "American Film Institute's 100 Stars". Poitier was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Poitier's family lived in the Bahamas, then still a Crown colony, but he was born in Miami, Florida, while they were visiting, which granted him U.S. citizenship. He grew up in the Bahamas, but moved back to Miami at age 15, and to New York City when he was 16. He joined the American Negro Theatre, gaining his breakthrough film role as a high school student in the film Blackboard Jungle (1955). Poitier gained fame for his leading roles in films such as The Defiant Ones (1958), for which he won the Silver Bear for Best Actor and became the first African American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. In 1964, he won the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Actor for Lilies of the Field (1963).
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1927 births2022 deaths20th-century African-American male actors20th-century American male actors20th-century American male writers20th-century American non-fiction writers20th-century Bahamian people21st-century African-American male actors21st-century American male actors21st-century American male writers21st-century American non-fiction writers