In ‘Lilies of the Field,’ Sidney Poitier broke boundaries by becoming the first African-American male to win an Academy Award for his role in the iconic film
Just like there would be no Chadwick Boseman without Denzel Washington, there would be no Denzel Washington without Sidney Poitier. The pioneering actor died on Thursday evening at the age of 94.
Poitier, from the Bahamas was a premature child, born two months early to farmers Evelyn and Reginald Poitier. After living in Nassau, he eventually moved to Florida at 15 to live with his brother. Years later, he moved to Harlem and worked odd jobs — most notably as a dish washer.
Poitier joined the American Negro Theater, according to People. He eventually landed on Broadway, with a major role in Lysistrata, said to have started his stage career.
Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s No Way Out, saw Poitier in a role that led him to stand against discrimination and bigotry. In 1959, the year he starred in A Raisin in the Sun on Broadway, Poitier picked up his first Best Actor Oscar nod for his role in The Defiant Ones, opposite Tony Curtis.
One of his most star-studded appearances included his lead role in Porgy and Bess, which also featured Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis Jr., Pearl Bailey, Diahann Carroll and Brock Peters.
To Sir With Love, In the Heat of the Night and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner were all released in 1967 to great success.
Poitier’s legacy is most profound in his choices. He wasn’t an actor who took what was given — even during a time when the aforementioned, was to be expected of Black talent in Hollywood. His willingness to select roles that portrayed Black men in positive and steadfast roles, spoke to his own agenda and how he was willing to leverage it as a form of protest and early Black power.
Together with Harry Belafonte, Poitier used his platform to bring more visibility to the Civil Right’s Movement, often participating in marches — most notably the march on Washington and later, the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Major honors included: a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1974, an AFI Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992, a Kennedy Center Honors in 1995, and an honorary Oscar in 2002. He also directed several films, wrote and published autobiographies and a novel.
Poitier has five living daughters: Beverly, Pamela, Sherri, Anika and Sydney. Another daughter, Gina Poitier died in 2018.