February 6, 2007. Copyright 2007, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Sidney Poitier, who defied racial stereotyping to achieve Hollywood success, turns 80
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, February 6, Graphic News:  The legendary dignity and poise of actor Sidney Poitier may seem a world away from the excesses of many of todayÕs Hollywood stars, but it was he who paved the way for many of them by becoming the first ever black actor to win leading film roles and performing these with integrity and intelligence. He turns 80 on February 20.

That Poitier has remained an iconic figure in the film industry is probably down to the fact that the actor is reputedly as much of a Òman of characterÓ as the honourable individuals he portrayed in films such as No Way Out and Guess WhoÕs Coming to Dinner?His early life, however, could not have been more inauspicious. 

Poitier was born prematurely on the high seas in 1927 as his parents travelled to Florida to sell produce from their farm on Cat Island in the Bahamas. Poitier, whose birthplace was registered as Miami, was not expected to survive.

As a teenager Poitier was so restless and wayward that his parents sent him to live with an older brother in Miami to keep him out of trouble. After arriving in the U.S. he stumbled through several menial jobs before being accepted by the American Negro Theatre with whom he won rave reviews for a small part in Lysistrata on Broadway.

His film breakthrough came in 1950 with a role as a novice black doctor treating a white bigot in the movie No Way Out. The film was a brave attempt by director Darryl F. Zanuck to challenge racial stereotypes at the time, but did not automatically guarantee a stream of roles for Poitier, who had lied about his age to get the part.

Poitier was conscious of the effect of his choices and was picky about the roles he accepted. He initially turned down the role of Porgy in the 1959 film Porgy and Bess because he believed the Òmaterial was not complimentary to black peopleÓ, but relented after deciding that his career success would help others to break the mould.

Once cast, however, Poitier was impossible to ignore. He was the first African-American to be nominated for a competitive Academy Award for his role in The Defiant Ones, and five years later became the first black male actor to win the Oscar for Best Actor for Lilies of the Field, in which he played a builder who helps a group of nuns to run a farm. Accepting his award, he said: ÒIt has been a long journey to this moment.Ó

In Guess WhoÕs Coming to Dinner?, PoitierÕs portrayal of an intelligent likeable doctor whose plans to marry his white girlfriend unsettle her parents (Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy), highlighted uncomfortable truths about the society of the time, and cemented his status as a leading man with unparalleled presence. 

The role was classic Poitier whose best roles radiate such strength of character that others shrink beside him. Another such was fearless detective Virgil Tibbs, who refused to be diminished by the narrow-mindedness that surrounds him, in In The Heat of the Night. 

Poitier later turned his hand to acting and producing movies, and won several awards, including a second Oscar, for his lifetime contribution to the industry. His last major film role was in 1997Õs The Jackal. Throughout his career he has continued to speak out on civil rights, and to inspire younger generations of actors and filmgoers.

He has four children from his first marriage, and two from a second marriage to Joanna Shimkus. His fifth daughter is actress Sydney Tamiia Poitier.
/ENDS