- Born
- Died
- Birth nameSidney L. Poitier
- Height6′ 2¼″ (1.89 m)
- Sidney Poitier was a native of Cat Island, Bahamas, although born, two months prematurely, in Miami during a visit by his parents, Evelyn (Outten) and Reginald James Poitier. He grew up in poverty as the son of farmers, with his father also driving a cab in Nassau. Sidney 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., he experienced the racial chasm that divides the country, a great shock to a boy coming from a society with a majority of African descent.
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 veterans' 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 improving his performing skills. On his second try, he was accepted. Spotted in rehearsal by a casting agent, he won a bit part in the Broadway production of "Lysistrata", for which he earned good 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). His performance as a doctor treating a white bigot got him plenty of notice and led to more roles. 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 an African-American man of that time, that of leading man. One of these films, The Defiant Ones (1958), earned Poitier his first Academy Award nomination as Best Actor. Five years later, he won the Oscar for Lilies of the Field (1963), the first African American to win for a leading role.
He remained active on stage and screen as well as in the burgeoning Civil Rights movement. His roles in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) and To Sir, with Love (1967) were landmarks in helping to break down some social barriers between blacks and whites. 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 1970s, achieving success in both arenas.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Jim Beaver <jumble@jimprodigy.net>
- SpousesJoanna Shimkus(January 23, 1976 - January 6, 2022) (his death, 2 children)Juanita Poitier(April 29, 1950 - 1965) (divorced, 4 children)
- Children
- ParentsEvelyn PoitierReginald James Poitier
- RelativesCyril Poitier(Sibling)Guylaine Marie-Rose Gouraige(Grandchild)Gabrielle Maire-Therse Gouraige(Grandchild)Etienne Poitier Gouraige(Grandchild)Emmanuel Gouraige(Grandchild)Palona DiMonriva(Grandchild)March Poitier DiMonriva(Grandchild)
- First black actor to place autograph, hand, and footprints in the cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre (June 23, 1967).
- In the 1960s, for many of his films, he was paid in a way known as "dollar one participation" which basically means he begins collecting a cut of the film's gross from the first ticket sold.
- His performance as Detective Virgil Tibbs in In the Heat of the Night (1967) is ranked #19 on the American Film Institute's 100 Heroes & Villains.
- Speaks Russian fluently.
- Along with Gary Cooper, is the most represented actor on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time, with five of his films on the list. They are: A Raisin in the Sun (1961) at #65, The Defiant Ones (1958) at #55, Lilies of the Field (1963) at #46, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) at #35, and In the Heat of the Night (1967) at #21.
- We all suffer from the preoccupation that there exists ... in the loved one, perfection.
- I decided in my life that I would do nothing that did not reflect positively on my father's life.
- [on writer/director Richard Brooks] He was both intense and very feeling, very human. He had a wonderful, wonderful sense of other people. He was not particularly enamored of himself. He was the kind off guy who had a sense of fairness, and he employed that sense in his life, and in his work, so that some people were surprised at him, some people deeply loved him, and some people were just put off by him.
- [from Sidney Poitier's speech about Widmark at the D.W. Griffith Award for Lifetime Achievement] The generosity of spirit that lights his way will also warm your heart...
- [saluting film writers and directors, at the 2002 Academy Awards] They knew the odds that stood against them. Still those filmmakers persevered, speaking through their art to the best in all of us. And I benefited from their effort. The industry benefited from their effort. America benefited from their effort. And, in many ways, the world has also benefited from their effort.
- Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) - $200,000 and % of the gross profits
- In the Heat of the Night (1967) - $200,000 + 20% of the gross profits
- Porgy and Bess (1959) - $75,000
- No Way Out (1950) - $3,000
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