Sidney Poitier

Name: Sidney Poitier
Date of Birth: February 20, 1927
Place of Birth: Miami, Florida, USA

Mini-bio: A native of Cat Island, The Bahamas, (though born in Miami during a mainland visit by his parents), Poitier grew up in poverty as the son of a dirt farmer. He had little formal education and at the ag...( read more)e of 15 was sent to Miami to live with his brother, in order to forestall a growing tendency toward delinquency. In the U.S., Poitier first experienced the racial chasm that divides the country, a great shock to a boy coming from a society with a black majority. A determination to find and create opportunities for blacks was born in him because of the poor treatment he received on the streets of Miami. At 18, he went to New York, did menial jobs and slept in a bus terminal toilet. A brief stint in the Army as a worker at a veteran's hospital was followed by more menial jobs in Harlem. An impulsive audition at the American Negro Theatre was rejected so forcefully that Poitier dedicated the next six months to overcoming his accent and performance ineptness. On his second try, he was accepted. He was spotted in a rehearsal and given a bit part in a Broadway production of "Lysistrata," for which he got excellent reviews. By the end of 1949, he was having to choose between leading roles on stage and an offer to work for Darryl F. Zanuck in the film No Way Out (1950). Poitier's performance as a doctor treating a white bigot got him plenty of notice and led to more roles, each considerably more interesting and prominent than most black actors of the time were getting. Nevertheless, the roles were still less interesting and prominent than those white actors routinely obtained. But seven years later, after turning down several projects he considered demeaning, Poitier got a number of roles that catapulted him into a category rarely if ever achieved by a black man of that time, that of starring leading man. One of the films, The Defiant Ones (1958), gave Poitier his first Academy Award nomination as Best Actor. Five years later, he won the Oscar for Lilies of the Field (1963), the first black to win for a leading role. Poitier maintained activity on stage, on screen, and in the burgeoning Civil Rights movement. His roles in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) and To Sir, with Love (1967) were for their time landmarks in the breaking down of social barriers between blacks and whites, and Poitier's talent, conscience, integrity, and inherent likability placed him on equal footing with the white stars of the day. He took on directing and producing chores in the Seventies, achieving success in both arenas. Although he has reduced the frequency of his roles in recent years, he remains one of the most respected and beloved figures in American cinema of the twentieth century.

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Sidney Poitier mini-bio: A native of Cat Island, The Bahamas, (though born in Miami during a mainland visit by his parents), Poitier grew up in poverty as the son of a dirt farmer. He had little formal education and at the age of 15 was sent to Miami to live with his brother, in order to forestall a growing tendency toward delinquency. In the U.S., Poitier first experienced the racial chasm that divides the country, a great shock to a boy coming from a society with a black majority. A determination to find and create opportunities for blacks was born in him because of the poor treatment he received on the streets of Miami. At 18, he went to New York, did menial jobs and slept in a bus terminal toilet. A brief stint in the Army as a worker at a veteran's hospital was followed by more menial jobs in Harlem. An impulsive audition at the American Negro Theatre was rejected so forcefully that Poitier dedicated the next six months to overcoming his accent and performance ineptness. On his second try, he was accepted. He was spotted in a rehearsal and given a bit part in a Broadway production of "Lysistrata," for which he got excellent reviews. By the end of 1949, he was having to choose between leading roles on stage and an offer to work for Darryl F. Zanuck in the film No Way Out (1950). Poitier's performance as a doctor treating a white bigot got him plenty of notice and led to more roles, each considerably more interesting and prominent than most black actors of the time were getting. Nevertheless, the roles were still less interesting and prominent than those white actors routinely obtained. But seven years later, after turning down several projects he considered demeaning, Poitier got a number of roles that catapulted him into a category rarely if ever achieved by a black man of that time, that of starring leading man. One of the films, The Defiant Ones (1958), gave Poitier his first Academy Award nomination as Best Actor. Five years later, he won the Oscar for Lilies of the Field (1963), the first black to win for a leading role. Poitier maintained activity on stage, on screen, and in the burgeoning Civil Rights movement. His roles in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) and To Sir, with Love (1967) were for their time landmarks in the breaking down of social barriers between blacks and whites, and Poitier's talent, conscience, integrity, and inherent likability placed him on equal footing with the white stars of the day. He took on directing and producing chores in the Seventies, achieving success in both arenas. Although he has reduced the frequency of his roles in recent years, he remains one of the most respected and beloved figures in American cinema of the twentieth century.

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Last update: Aug 12 2008, 11:10 PM EDT by ed (content history | content tools) (help)

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tmoney007nc

I loved his performance in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" An inspirational actor and a damn fine human being.

posted 676 days ago
hotgirllia

sidney poitier was never born in miami im related t him he forgot us black people in the Bahamas wat about the people who wants to be actors in the bahamas we cant do that why cant we lets see were black some people are racist and we live in the carribean im 10 years old my name is Alyah Potier and m from the bahamas

posted 690 days ago
chicolisa

Check out the March 2008 issue of Traditional Home magazine. It has a profile of Sidney and his wife Joanna in their Beverly Hills Home

posted 697 days ago
DEMOCRATZdotORG

Get as many people to make these 3 phone calls.

Call GOP contributor and war contractor General Electric
Corporation at 800 386 1215 or 203 373 2211 and tell the
person who answers, that you want the GE CEO Jeffrey
Immelt to get Bush to end the war in Iraq and then Bush
resign with Cheney and until that happens you will not buy
any GE products and that you will tell your friends about
this.

Call GOP contributor Rite Aid Corporation at 800-325-3737
and tell the person to get the CEO to get the congress to
enact HR 676 Single payer universal health care and repeal
Medicare Part D and place the drug benefit in Medicare
Part B covering 80% of drugs with no extra premiums, no
extra deductibles, no means tests, no coverage gaps, and
remove the means test for Medicare Part B and until that
happens, you won't buy ANYTHING from Rite Aid
Pharmacies and that you will tell your friends about this.

Call GOP contributor Wendy's restaurants at 614 764-3553
and Tell the person in public relations that you want their
CEO to get the congress to help enact a $10/HR MIN.
WAGE into law and until this happens you will not go to a
Wendy's Restaurant and that you will tell your friends
about this.

I set up a progressives forum for progressives and liberals
only. Get as many progressives and liberals to join as you
can.

http://progressives.aceboard.com

I do not seek donations. You can use the board for free.

posted 711 days ago
bamatexgirl

personification of cool. this guy can do no wrong. well some of his comedies were well.....anyway the consumate actor. i feel him and i believe him.

posted 831 days ago
sgnirehtfodrol411

I loved his Autobiography "The Measure Of A Man" it was so inspiring... No Wonder it was listed in Oprah's Book Club!!!!

posted 958 days ago
abbiebrinson

LOVE SIDNEY ESPECIALLY AS DETECTIVE VIRGIL TIBBS

posted 977 days ago
HoneyBronze

I love this man's movies that he directed, acting, and will always be an icon. Happy 80th Sidney!!!

posted 986 days ago
ashleyannl

He's a really awsome actor, and he play Mr. Tibbs in the Heat of the Night

posted 1039 days ago

More Top Actors

Sidney Poitier Movies

Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project (Unrated, 2008)
Ali Rap (Unrated, 2006)
The Last Brickmaker in America (Unrated, 2001)
Simple Life of Noah Dearborn (PG, 1999)
David & Lisa (Unrated, 1998)
Paris Blues (Unrated, 1998)
The Jackal (R, 1997)
Mandela and De Klerk (PG-13, 1997)
To Sir, with Love 2 (Unrated, 1996)
A Good Day To Die (Children of the Dust) (R, 1995)

View All Sidney Poitier Movies

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Sidney Poitier Trivia

Who was the first black male actor to win an Oscar? Answer »
In what movie (that, incidentally, I was an extra in) do these actors all star in simultaneously: Bruce Willis, Sidney Poitier, and Richard Gere? Answer »
Name the actor who has appeared in The Blackboard Jungle, Buck and the Preacher, Defiant Ones, Guess Who Is Coming To Dinner, The Heat of the Night, and To Sir, With Love. Answer »
One of the many fools here said that Halle Berry was the first black person ever to win an Oscar of any kind. WRONG! Sindey Poitier won and Oscar in 1964, but for Supporting Actor. So, is it Sidney or Halle? Answer »

More Sidney Poitier Trivia