Sir Sidney Poitier Has Died At 94

We’re just a minute into 2022 and we’ve already lost a pioneering legend. THEE Sir Sidney Poitier (and yes, you must say his name in a deep, regal voice), Oscar-winning actor, icon, and activist has died. He was 94.

The news of Sir Sidney’s death was announced by Fred Mitchell, the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Bahamas. People says that he died last night.

BREAKING: Beloved Bahamian actor and former ambassador Sir Sidney Poitier has died. He was 94. A Broadway play about the trailblazing career of the visionary actor was announced last month. Sir Sidney's death was confirmed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell. pic.twitter.com/WVJFlog3tC

— Eyewitness News Bahamas (@ewnewsbahamas) January 7, 2022

Sidney Poitier grew up in the Bahamas but was unexpectedly born on February 20 1927 in Miami, FL while his parents, Evelyn and Reginald Poitier, were on a trip. He was born two months premature and doctors weren’t sure he would survive. But he did and he LIVED! When Sidney was 15, he moved in with his brother’s family in Miami, and a year later, he moved to NYC where he worked as a dishwasher. During World War II in 1943, when he was just 16, he lied about his age so he could enlist in the Army. Sidney worked with psychiatric patients at the Veteran’s Administration hospital in Northport, New York. After leaving the Army, he auditioned for the American Negro Theater and got in, but apparently, audiences didn’t love him because he was tone-deaf and couldn’t sing. But Sir Sidney kept on and worked at refining his acting skills. It paid off and he made his Broadway debut in a 1946 production of Lysistrata.

Sidney made his film debut in 1950 in No Way Out, playing a doctor treating a racist. That led to Sir Sidney starring in Cry, The Beloved Country, Blackboard Jungle, and The Defiant Ones, opposite Tony Curtis. In 1958, Sir Sidney Poitier got a Best Actor Oscar nomination for The Defiant Ones, making him the first Black actor to do so. He didn’t win the Oscar that time but he did win a British Academy Film Award for his performance.

Sir Sidney went back to Broadway in 1959 when he starred as Walter Lee Younger, opposite Ruby Dee, in the first-ever production of Lorraine Hansberry’s groundbreaking play A Raisin In The Sun. A couple of years later, he starred in the film version of A Raisin In The Sun. He also starred, alongside Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis Jr., Pearl Bailey, and Diahann Carroll in the film adaptation of Porgy and Bess in 1959. Sidney and Diahann were also together for almost 10 years before splitting in 1968.

The 1960s were a huge time in Sir Sidney Poitier’s career. He made history in 1963 as the first Black actor to win a Best Actor Oscar when he won for Lillies of the Field. And in 1967, he ruled cinema by starring in To Sir, With Love, In The Heat Of The Night, and Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner. Countless screens have probably been destroyed from people throwing Oscars at it while watching Sidney Poitier give this monologue:

Sidney Poitier delivered many iconic performances, but some will say that his most iconic character is Detective Virgil Tibbs from In The Heat Of The Night:

He played Virgil Tibbs in two more movies: 1970’s They Call Me Mr. Tibbs! and 1971’s The Organization.

Sidney chose roles that broke down stereotypes, but when he was criticized for playing Black characters who were “too perfect,” he decided to get into politics and directing. via BBC:

But Poitier faced criticism from some black civil-rights activists who complained his characters were just too good to be true.

It helped to persuade him to move away from acting roles. He involved himself in the campaign for Bahamian independence, achieved in 1973, and began a new career as a director.

After starting a production company with other movie stars like Barbra Streisand, Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, and Dustin Hoffman, Sidney made his directorial debut with 1972’s Buck and the Preacher, which he also starred in. He also directed Uptown Saturday Night (1974), Let’s Do It Again (1975), A Piece of the Action (1977), Stir Crazy (1980), Hanky Panky (1982), and Ghost Dad (1990). After starring in 1992’s Sneakers, he made his final movie appearance in 1997’s The Jackal. And his last acting role was in the 2001 TV movie The Last Brickmaker in America.

Sir Sidney Poitier was also the ambassador of the Bahamas to Japan from 1997 to 2007.

Sidney was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1974 and was given an honorary Oscar in 2002. And he really did it all because he also wrote three memoirs and a novel.

He is survived by his wife of over 45 years, Joanna Shimkus, his six daughters (Beverly, Pamela, Sherri, Gina, Anika, and Sydney), eight grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Rest in peace, Sir Sidney Poitier, the true definition of a legend.

Pic: Getty