Sidney Poitier Overview:

Legendary actor, Sidney Poitier, was born Sidney L. Poitier on Feb 20, 1927 in Miami, FL. Poitier died at the age of 94 on Jan 6, 2022 in Los Angeles, CA .

MINI BIO:

Imposingly good-looking black American actor - the first to attract international audiences as a leading man. Although he broke down few actual barriers, he brought dignity to the portrayal of the black man on screen and, more important, played several roles that might have easily been portrayed by a white man. As an actor, most interesting when being less than saintly.

(Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Film Stars).

HONORS and AWARDS:

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Sidney Poitier was nominated for two Academy Awards, winning one for Best Actor for Lilies of the Field (as Homer Smith) in 1963. He also won one Honorary Award in 2001 in recognition of his remarkable accomplishments as an artist and as a human being .

Academy Awards

YearAwardFilm nameRoleResult
1958Best ActorThe Defiant Ones (1958)Noah CullenNominated
1963Best ActorLilies of the Field (1963)Homer SmithWon

Academy Awards (Honorary Oscars)

YearAwardDescription
2001Honorary Awardin recognition of his remarkable accomplishments as an artist and as a human being

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He was honored with one star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the category of Motion Pictures. Sidney Poitier's handprints and footprints were 'set in stone' at Grauman's Chinese Theater during imprint ceremony #134 on Jun 23, 1967.

Sidney Poitier BlogHub Articles:

Sidney Poitier stars in “To Sir, With Love”

By Stephen Reginald on Mar 11, 2024 From Classic Movie Man

Sidney Poitier stars in “To Sir, With Love” To Sir, With Love (1967) is a British drama directed by James Clavell who also wrote the screenplay based on the autobiographical novel (1959) by the same name by E. R. Braithwaite. Sidney Poitier stars as a teacher in an inner-city school... Read full article


Sidney Poitier: For Love of Ivy, Lost Man, Brother John

By 4 Star Film Fan on Feb 10, 2022 From 4 Star Films

In honor of the inimitable Sidney Poitier, I spent some time revisiting a bevy of his finest films and also some underrated ones that were new to me. Because he was a prominent archetype for a black movie star, when he was often the only one, it’s fascinating to see the roles he chose at diffe... Read full article


The Slender Thread (1965) Connecting Sidney Poitier and Anne Bancroft

By 4 Star Film Fan on Feb 8, 2022 From 4 Star Films

The Slender Thread feels a bit reminiscent of one of those self-contained film noir from a previous decade like 14 Hours or Dial 1119. It’s not a very ambitious scale, still, within its confines, it’s a rather enjoyable film. But, of course, the main attractions are Sidney Poitier and An... Read full article


The Defiant Ones (1958): Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier

By 4 Star Film Fan on Feb 5, 2022 From 4 Star Films

I can’t have made this up myself, but The Defiant Ones is a testament to the pithy axiom that proximity breeds empathy. Stanley Kramer has very clear intent when he builds the premise of his story out of a white and black prisoner, in the era of Jim Crow, who are chained together for the major... Read full article


To Sir, With Love (1967): Sidney Poitier As a Mentor

By 4 Star Film Fan on Feb 3, 2022 From 4 Star Films

In the 1950s Blackboard Jungle was one of the early pivotal roles for Sidney Poitier where he plays a disaffected youth who is ultimately mentored and encouraged by his teacher: Glenn Ford. Thus, it seems fitting, at the height of his own powers in 1967, Poitier left the student behind and graduated... Read full article


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Sidney Poitier Quotes:

Homer Smith: Gringo? I don't know if that's a step up or a step down from some other things I've been called.


[Gordon is shopping with Selina]
Gordon Ralfe: I almost forgot. I'm out of detergent. Now this is where I really need your help. There's Swish...
Selina D'Arcy: [Quoting advertising slogans] "Keeps your hands soft as velvet."
Gordon Ralfe: Good. Whizz...
Selina D'Arcy: "Retains your girlish skin."
Gordon Ralfe: Marvelous. Jiffy...
Selina D'Arcy: "Jiffy makes you feel like a princess."
Gordon Ralfe: Froth...
Selina D'Arcy: Froth? I never heard that one.
Gordon Ralfe: Froth is just for washing dishes, but that's the one we need.


John: You listen to me. You say you don't want to tell me how to live my life. So what do you think you've been doing? You tell me what rights I've got or haven't got, and what I owe to you for what you've done for me. Let me tell you something. I owe you nothing! If you carried that bag a million miles, you did what you're supposed to do! Because you brought me into this world. And from that day you owed me everything you could ever do for me like I will owe my son if I ever have another. But you don't own me! You can't tell me when or where I'm out of line, or try to get me to live my life according to your rules. You don't even know what I am, Dad, you don't know who I am. You don't know how I feel, what I think. And if I tried to explain it the rest of your life you will never understand. You are 30 years older than I am. You and your whole lousy generation believes the way it was for you is the way it's got to be. And not until your whole generation has lain down and died will the dead weight of you be off our backs! You understand, you've got to get off my back! Dad... Dad, you're my father. I'm your son. I love you. I always have and I always will. But you think of yourself as a colored man. I think of myself as a man. Now, I've got a decision to make, hm? And I've got to make it alone, and I gotta make it in a hurry. So would you go out there and see after my mother?


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Best Actor Oscar 1963






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Grauman's Imprints

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Sidney Poitier on the
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Sidney Poitier Facts
Has four grandchildren and two great-granddaughters [2008].

On August 12, 2009, Sidney Poitier was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States of America's highest civilian honor, by President Barack Obama.

Poitier was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1974. He is thus entitled to be known as Sir Sidney Poitier, but does not himself use this title.

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