
Sidney Poitier
Acting • Born 1927-02-20 – Died 2022-01-06
Biography
Sidney Poitier KBE (February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was a Bahamian and American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he became the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, for Lilies of the Field. Other accolades include two competitive Golden Globe Awards, a competitive British Academy of Film and Television Arts award (BAFTA), and a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. Major films featuring Poitier in a starring role include Blackboard Jungle (1955), The Defiant Ones (1958), To Sir, with Love (1967), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), In the Heat of the Night (1967), Sneakers (1992), and The Jackal (1997). Later in his career, he turned to directing with features such as Buck and the Preacher (1972), Uptown Saturday Night (1974), Stir Crazy (1980), and Ghost Dad (1990). At the time of his death, Poitier was one of the last major stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.
Filmography
100 credits
Duel at Diablo
Movie • 1966
Toller

Sneakers
Movie • 1992
Crease

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Movie • 1967
John Prentice

The Greatest Story Ever Told
Movie • 1965
Simon of Cyrene

Porgy and Bess
Movie • 1959
Porgy

In the Heat of the Night
Movie • 1967
Virgil Tibbs

Sidney Poitier - The Man Who Changed Hollywood
Movie • 2023
Self (archive footage)

The Jackal
Movie • 1997
Carter Preston

The Defiant Ones
Movie • 1958
Noah Cullen

The Wilby Conspiracy
Movie • 1975
Shack Twala

Shoot to Kill
Movie • 1988
Warren Stantin

Buck and the Preacher
Movie • 1972
Buck

Blackboard Jungle
Movie • 1955
Gregory W. Miller

To Sir, with Love
Movie • 1967
Mark Thackeray

A Patch of Blue
Movie • 1965
Gordon Ralfe

Paris Blues
Movie • 1961
Eddie Cook

Little Nikita
Movie • 1988
Roy Parmenter

Pressure Point
Movie • 1962
Doctor

Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night
Movie • 1988
Self - Audience Member

Hollywood Legenden
Movie • 2004
Self

They Call Me Mister Tibbs!
Movie • 1970
Virgil Tibbs

No Way Out
Movie • 1950
Luther Brooks

Edge of the City
Movie • 1957
Tommy Tyler

Uptown Saturday Night
Movie • 1974
Steve Jackson

Let's Do It Again
Movie • 1975
Clyde Williams

A Raisin in the Sun
Movie • 1961
Walter Lee Younger

A Piece of the Action
Movie • 1977
Manny Durrell

Band of Angels
Movie • 1957
Rau-Ru

Quincy Jones: In the Pocket
Movie • 2001
Self

The Long Ships
Movie • 1964
Aly Mansuh

Lilies of the Field
Movie • 1963
Homer Smith

The Bedford Incident
Movie • 1965
Ben Munceford

Something of Value
Movie • 1957
Kimani Wa Karanja

A Warm December
Movie • 1973
Dr. Matt Younger

The Slender Thread
Movie • 1965
Alan Newell

For Love of Ivy
Movie • 1968
Jack Parks

Sing Your Song
Movie • 2012
Self

The Mark of the Hawk
Movie • 1957
Obam

The Organization
Movie • 1971
Virgil Tibbs

The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn
Movie • 1999
Noah Dearborn

Martin Luther King and the March on Washington
Movie • 2013
Self

David and Lisa
Movie • 1998
Dr. Jack Miller

To Sir, with Love II
Movie • 1996
Mark Thackeray

Brother John
Movie • 1971
John Kane

Separate But Equal
Movie • 1991
Thurgood Marshall

A Cinderella Named Elizabeth
Movie • 1965
Self

All the Young Men
Movie • 1960
Sgt. Eddie Towler

Reinventing Elvis: The 68' Comeback
Movie • 2023
Self (archive footage)

Sidney
Movie • 2022
Self

The Last Brickmaker in America
Movie • 2001
Henry Cobb

The Red Ball Express
Movie • 1952
Robertson

The Lost Man
Movie • 1969
Jason Higgs

Free of Eden
Movie • 1999
Will Cleamons

Cry, the Beloved Country
Movie • 1951
Reverend Msimangu

Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley
Movie • 2013
Self

Richard Widmark: Strength of Characters
Movie • 2000
Self

I Love Quincy
Movie • 1984
Self

Mandela and de Klerk
Movie • 1997
Nelson Mandela

Virgin Island
Movie • 1959
Marcus

A Man Is Ten Feet Tall
Movie • 1955
Tommy Tyler

King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
Movie • 1970
Self (archive footage)

Good-bye, My Lady
Movie • 1956
Gates Watson

The Making of ‘Sneakers’
Movie • 2003
Self

Night of 100 Stars II
Movie • 1985
Self

Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist
Movie • 1998
Reverend Msimangu (archive footage)

Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick
Movie • 1995
Self

Afro Promo
Movie • 1997
Self (archive footage)

Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project
Movie • 2007
Self

The Strolling '20s
Movie • 1966
Self

Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes / Feeling Heart
Movie • 2017
Self

The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
Movie • 1986
Self

Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist
Movie • 1979
Narrator (voice)

Go Man Go
Movie • 1954
Inman Jackson

Poitier's Walter Lee
Movie • 2018
Self (archive footage)

Nationtime
Movie • 1972
Self - Narrator

The Madding Crowd
Movie • 2017
Self (archive footage)

Mr. SOUL!
Movie • 2018
Self (archive footage)

Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light
Movie • 2000

Three Young Americans in Search of Survival
Movie • 1969
Himself

Sepia Cinderella
Movie • 1947
Nightclub Extra (uncredited)

A Star Without a Star: The Untold Juanita Moore Story
Movie • 2022
Self

The Philco Television Playhouse
TV • 1948

The American Film Institute Salute to ...
TV • 1973
Self

The Oscars
TV • 1953
Self

The Kennedy Center Honors
TV • 1978
Self

Children of the Dust
TV • 1995
Gypsy Smith

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV • 1962
Self

Separate but Equal
TV • 1991
Thurgood Marshall

The Philco Television Playhouse
TV • 1948
Tommy Tyler

Cinépanorama
TV • 1956
Self

The Dick Cavett Show
TV • 1968
Self - Guest

Omnibus
TV • 1952

Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self - Nominee

Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self - Presenter

ABC Stage 67
TV • 1966
Self - Host

The Merv Griffin Show
TV • 1962
Self

The Mike Douglas Show
TV • 1961
Self

The Mike Douglas Show
TV • 1961
Self - Taped Tribute

Tonight Starring Jack Paar
TV • 1957
Self

Kraft Television Theatre
TV • 1953