Sidney Poitier dies at 94

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Sidney Poitier died at the age of 94.

The Hollywood star is best known for films including Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night and Lilies of the Field, in which he became the first black and Bahamian man to win a Best Actor Oscar.

The news was announced by Bahamian Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell, drawing praise from the entertainment world.

Bahamian-American star Poitier automatically obtained US citizenship after he was unexpectedly born in Miami while visiting his parents in February 1927.

He grew up in the Bahamas but moved to America when he was 15, and served in World War II as a teenager after lying about his age.

After leaving the army, he worked as a dishwasher until he secured a place at the American Dramatic Black School of Drama.

Poitier scored his first major role in Blackboard Jungle in 1955, and his first experience in award recognition came with The Defiant Ones (1958), for which he was nominated for Best Actor alongside co-star Tony Curtis.

Six years later, he historically won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in Lilies of the Field.

Denzel Washington praised Poitier when he became the second black man to win Best Actor at the 2001 Film Training Day, saying, “I’ll always chase you, Sydney. I’ll always follow in your footsteps. There’s nothing better for me to do, sir.”

At the same ceremony, Poitier was awarded an Honorary Academy Award for his contribution to American cinema. As of 2012, following the death of Ernest Borgnine, Poitier is the oldest Best Actor award winner in history.

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Participation

In an interview published Thursday, Washington told Variety that he would have loved to have starred in a movie with Poitier, who retired from acting in 2001.

“God rest his soul – he’s still here, but yes, I missed that opportunity,” the actor said.

Sidney Poitier became the first black man to win the Best Actor Oscar in 1964

(Getty Images)

In 1967, Poitier starred in three films that dealt with the issue of race relations: To the Master, With Love, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and In the Heat of the Night, directed by Norman Joyson.

In the latter, he played Virgil Tepes, a black police detective from Philadelphia, who is involved in a murder investigation in a small Mississippi town. It became so well known for Poitiers’ line of dialogue, “They Call Me Mr. Tepes,” that a sequel named after the quote (a stylized They Call Me Mr. Tepes!) arrived in 1970.

Sidney Poitier as Mr. Virgil Tibbs in the 1967 film In the Heat of the Night

(Merish/United Artists/Kopal/Shutterstock)

In the 1980s, he directed several films, but achieved the greatest success with the comedies Richard Pryor and Jane Wilder’s Stir Crazy (1980).

His other film credits include Porgy and Bess (1959), Paris Blues (1961), A Patch of Blue (1965), Sneakers (1992), and The Jackal (1997).

The actor also worked as a diplomat. In 1997, he was appointed Ambassador of the Bahamas to Japan. He remained in the position until 2007.

Poitier was married twice, the first time to Juanita Hardy, from 1960 to 1965. After a nine-year affair with actor and singer Diahan Carroll, Poitier married Canadian actress Joanna Chemkus in 1976. They remained together for the remainder of his life.

Poitiers have six children, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Sidney Poitier and Catherine Hutton in the 1967 movie “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”

(Colombia/Cobal/Shutterstock)

He last appeared at the Academy Awards in 2014 to present Best Director alongside Angelina Jolie. He was greeted warmly by those present, with Julie telling him, “We owe it to you.”

“Keep up the great work,” the enigmatic Poitier told the crowd.

Westworld and No Time to Die actor Jeffrey Wright paid tribute to Poitier, writing on Twitter: “Sidney Poitier. What an outstanding actor. one of a kind. What a beautiful, generous, warm, truly regal man. RIP, sir. with my love.”

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