Sidney Poitier has died on the age of 94.
His demise was first reported in Bahamas information retailers as confirmed by Bahamian Minister of Overseas Affairs Fred Mitchell.
The beloved actor, who was recognized for starring in movies together with Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and To Sir, With Love, died on Thursday night time.
Poitier was the primary Black man to win an Oscar for finest actor, which he acquired for Lilies of the Discipline in 1964.
Deputy Prime Minister of the Bahamas Chester Cooper issued a press release on his Fb web page, the place he praised the late Bahmaian-American actor as ‘an icon, a hero, a mentor, a fighter, a nationwide treasure’.
He added: ‘I used to be conflicted with nice unhappiness and a way of celebration after I discovered of the passing of Sir Sindey Poitier. Unhappiness that he would not be right here to inform him how a lot he means to us, however celebration that he did a lot to point out the world that these from the humblest beginnings can change the world and that we gave him his flowers whereas he was with us.
‘He will probably be missed sorely, however his is a legacy that may by no means be forgotten.’
Bond actor Jeffrey Wright praised the late actor on Twitter, writing: ‘Sidney Poitier. What a landmark actor. Certainly one of a form. What an exquisite, gracious, heat, genuinely regal man. RIP, Sir. With love.’
Hollywood star Whoopi Goldberg quoted the lyrics to the track To Sir With Love, which soundtracked Poitier’s 1967 movie.
She stated: ‘Should you needed the sky i might write throughout the sky in letters that might soar a thousand ft excessive.. To Sir… with Love. Sir Sidney Poitier R.I.P. He confirmed us how you can attain for the celebrities.’
Actor and producer Joseph Gordon-Levitt tweeted in tribute: ‘Sidney Poitier. An absolute legend. One of many greats.’
Broadcaster Piers Morgan commented: ‘RIP Sidney Poitier, 94. When he answered an advert for actors, as an illiterate younger man, the theatre proprietor sneered: ‘Go be a dishwasher.’ Sidney already was a dishwasher. Stung by the jibe, he vowed to show him flawed. He turned the primary black man to win the Greatest Actor Oscar.’
One of many final surviving stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Poitier additionally clocked up one other Oscar nomination for The Defiant Ones in 1958, in addition to being offered with an honorary award in 2001.
He was additionally the recipient of a Bafta fellowship in 2016, in addition to a aggressive win from six nominations throughout his profession.
Born in Miami, Florida in 1927 whereas his Bahamian farmer mother and father had been visiting, Poitier was the youngest of seven kids.
After working as a dishwasher and a few restricted success with stage work, his breakout function as an actor got here within the 1950 movie No Approach Out.
He then achieved fame with 1955’s Blackboard Jungle, the place he performed the instructor of a tough highschool class.
One of many actor’s most well-known, and oft-quoted roles, got here with 1967’s In The Warmth of the Evening, during which Poitier performed Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia police detective who investigates a homicide in a small city in Mississippi.
Two sequels adopted, one in all which took as its title Poitier’s well-known line ‘They name me Mister Tibbs’.
Poitier was married twice, first to Juanita Hardy from 1950 till 1965, with whom he had 4 daughters, and second to Canadian former actress Joanna Shimkus from 1976 till his demise.
That they had two daughters collectively.
He additionally had a nine-year affair with actress Diahann Carroll from 1959.
Poitier is survived by 5 of his six daughters, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Post a Comment