SIDNEY POITIER, ACTING TRAILBLAZER AND ICON, DEAD AT 94
Jan 07, 2022
By Bob Komsic
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Sidney Poitier, the groundbreaking actor and whose long-lasting inspiration changed the way Black people were portrayed on screen, has died.
He was 94.
The son of Bahamian tomato farmers, Poitier became the first Black actor to win an Academy Award for best lead performance for 1963’s ”Lilies of the Field.”
He peaked four years later with ”Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” ”To Sir, With Love” and ”In the Heat of the Night,” leading theatre owners to name him top star in 1967 – another first for a Black actor.
Poitier received numerous honorary prizes including a lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute and a special Oscar in 2002, on the same night best acting awards were presented to Denzel Washington for ”Training Day” and Halle Barry for ”Monster’s Ball.”
He was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.