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Sidney Poitier

File:Sidney_Poitier_1968.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Sidney Poitier

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Also known as Sir Sidney Poitier, Sidney L. Poitier

Bahamian and American actor and diplomat (1927–2022)

OverviewAI-generated

Sidney Poitier was a male film actor, film director, diplomat, and autobiographer born in Miami, Florida, on February 20, 1927. He held citizenship in the United States and The Bahamas. His professional career began in 1943, and he served in the United States Army during World War II. Poitier was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and spoke English.

He received the Academy Award for Best Actor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Henrietta Award, and was named a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He was also nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play and two Golden Globe Awards. Poitier was married to Joanna Shimkus and had a child named Sydney Tamiia Poitier. He died on January 6, 2022.

Synthesized by Vinony from 41 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, TMDb, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born
1927
Works
17

Top works

  • The measure of a man
  • This Life
  • Life Beyond Measure
  • This Life
  • Sidney Poitier

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

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
  • A Star Without a Star: The Untold Juanita Moore Story — Self2022
  • Poitier's Walter Lee — Self (archive footage)2018
  • Mr. SOUL! — Self (archive footage)2018
  • Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes / Feeling Heart — Self2017
  • The Madding Crowd — Self (archive footage)2017

via TMDB

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Gender
Male
Origin
United States
Active from
1927
Active to
2022

Discography

Discogs

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
510
Total plays
2,978

Similar artists

Jules de CorteMaarten van RoozendaalAubrey DebaucheryFats Waller & His RhythmAlison Krauss & Gillian Welch

<a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Sidney+Poitier">Read more on Last.fm</a>

via Last.fm · Sidney Poitier

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Sidney
Gender
male
Citizenship
The Bahamas
Place of birth
Miami
Place of death
Los Angeles
Child
Sydney Tamiia Poitier
Occupation
activist
Languages spoken
English language
Native language
English language
Religion
deism
Conflict
World War II
Military branch
United States Army
Image
Sidney Poitier 1968.jpg
Height
1.89
Number of children
6
Work location
The Bahamas
Show 13 more facts
Commons category
Sidney Poitier
date of birth
1927-02-20
member of
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
nominated for
Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording
ethnic group
African Americans
name in native language
Sidney Poitier
start of work period
1943-00-00
related category
Category:Films directed by Sidney Poitier
writing language
English language
date of death
2022-01-06
end of work period
2001-00-00
honorific prefix
Sir
unmarried partner
Diahann Carroll
Sources (15)

via Wikidata · CC0

~28 min read

Encyclopedic overview

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).

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Sidney Poitier” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (8)

Available in 92 languages

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via Wikidata sitelinks · CC0