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