Sidney Poitier, Hollywood’s first main Black movie star who received mainstream recognition with a collection of groundbreaking roles within the Fifties and Sixties, has died aged 94.
Poitier, who held twin US and Bahamian nationality, was “an icon, a hero, a mentor, a fighter, a nationwide treasure,” Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper stated on his official Facebook web page.
The celebrated thespian turned the primary Black star nominated for an Academy Award with 1958’s The Defiant Ones” and, six years later, was the primary to win the perfect actor Oscar for his efficiency in Lilies of the Field.
Star Trek actor George Takei paid tribute to “a trailblazer who shall be mourned by so many for whom he opened the very doorways of Hollywood.”
At a time of racial pressure in America within the Fifties and Sixties, Poitier balanced success with a way of obligation to decide on initiatives that tackled bigotry and stereotypes, together with his 1967 classics Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and In the Heat of the Night.
From left: Sidney Poitier, Joey Drayton, Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy in ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.’
“I used to be conflicted with nice disappointment and a way of celebration after I discovered of the passing of Sir Sidney Poitier,” Cooper stated Friday.
“Sadness that he would now 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.
“He shall be missed sorely, however his is a legacy that can by no means be forgotten.”
Poitier was awarded an honourary Oscar in 2002 for his “extraordinary performances” on the silver display screen and his “dignity, fashion and intelligence” off of it.
2009 file picture of US President Barack Obama presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to ambassador and actor Sidney Poitier. – AFP
On tv, he portrayed icons of historical past resembling South Africa’s first black president Nelson Mandela and the primary Black justice on the US Supreme Court, Thurgood Marshall.
And in 1997, he took up a ceremonial submit as Bahamian ambassador to Japan.
He was awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom – the nation’s highest civilian honor – by Barack Obama in 2009.
Poitier was married to his second spouse Joanna since 1976, and had six youngsters in addition to quite a few grandchildren and great-grandchildren. – AFP
