Black History: Sidney Poitier
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On this day, February 20, 1927, actor, director, and Bahamian Sidney Poitier was born in Miami, Florida while his parents were on vacation in the city. Though he and his family moved back to the Bahamas shortly after his birth, Sidney’s father made him return to the United States as a teenager to live with Sidney’s brother. He then moved on to study theater at the American Negro Theater in New York City where he received acting lessons in exchange for his janitorial services. The deal proved beneficial for Poitier and he landed a role in Days of Our Youth as a fill-in for Harry Belafonte.
Sidney Poitier would go on to play a role in several of the American Negro Theater’s stage plays, including the acclaimed Lysistrata. He starred in numerous films, including No Way Out, Cry, the Beloved Country, Blackboard Jungle, and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. His most famous roles, however, were in the much loved and critically acclaimed Porgy and Bess, Lilies of the Field, and A Raisin in the Sun.
In 1963, Poitier won the Academy Award for best actor in Lilies of the Field, making him the first African American actor to win an Oscar. Over the course of his career, Sidney would win several awards and receive multiple honors. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama and the Chaplin Lifetime Achievement Award from the Film Society of Lincoln Center in 2011.
Amongst his lifelong career in theater, film and directing, Poitier was also “appointed a Knight Commander of the British Empire in 1974”, and served as the “non-resident Bahamian ambassador to Japan and to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization” (1).
Sidney Poitier has lived a remarkable life and has experienced success in an amazing career. He is Black excellence, Black royalty, and Black History.
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Source:
1) Biography: Sidney Poitier. (2015, May 21). Retrieved February 20, 2017, from http://www.biography.com/people/sidney-poitier-9443345#personal-life
2) Image 1: Goodykoontz, B. (2014, February 25). Oscar win proved Sidney Poitier was second to none. Retrieved February 20, 2017, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2014/02/25/black-history-month-poitier-oscar/5817735/
3) Image 2: Barson, M. (2017, January 20). Sidney Poitier. Retrieved February 20, 2017, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sidney-Poitier