Sidney Poitier death news updates – Actor’s cause of death revealed after Oscar winner passed away at 94
LILIES of the Field actor Sidney Poitier, the first black man to win a Best Actor Oscar, has passed away at 94.
Poitier was a Bahamian-American actor who appeared in more than 50 films, was an Oscar winner and a great trailblazer in Hollywood.
The Acadamy Award winner's death was confirmed by Bahamas Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell, via .
Clint Watson, who is the press secretary for the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, relayed to that Poitier died of “natural causes."
Watson also told the outlet that Poitier had been “ailing for a while.”
In response to Poitier's death, Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper said he was "conflicted with great sadness and a sense of celebration when I learned of the passing of Sir Sidney Poitier
"Sadness that he would no longer be here to tell him how much he means to us, but celebration that he did so much to show the world that those from the humblest beginnings can change the world and that we gave him his flowers while he was with us," Cooper told the .
Read our Sidney Poitier live blog for the very latest news and updates...
Poitier struggles in Hollywood
As the lone Black leading man in 1960s Hollywood, he came under tremendous scrutiny.
His films struggled for distribution in the South, and his choice of roles was limited to what white-run studios would produce.
He was too often hailed as a noble symbol of his race and endured criticism from some black people who said he had betrayed them by taking sanitized roles and pandering to white people.
“It’s been an enormous responsibility,” Poitier .
“And I accepted it, and I lived in a way that showed how I respected that responsibility. I had to. In order for others to come behind me, there were certain things I had to do.”
Sidney Poitier determined to rid accent
The actor spent six months dedicating himself to achieving theatrical success.
In that effort, Poitier was determined to rid of his Bahamian accent.
What was Poitier’s cause of death?
The Academy Award winner’s death was confirmed by Bahamas Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell, via on Friday, January 7.
He was 94 at the time of his passing.
A cause of death was not disclosed on the announcement of his death.
Refused clichéd roles
Poitier set a precedent for himself and many who came after him by persistently refusing to take clichéd roles that were given to him as a Black actor.
His performance in films like The Blackboard Jungle (1955) had established him as America’s first famous Black cinema star by the time he was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for The Defiant Ones (1958).
Whoopi’s tribute
Whoopi Goldberg shared a tribute to Poitier on Friday.
She said: “If you wanted the sky i would write across the sky in letters that would soar a thousand feet high..
“To Sir… with Love Sir Sidney Poitier R.I.P. He showed us how to reach for the stars”
When did Poitier retire?
By 2000, Poitier had retired from acting and began to write a memoir.
He penned several autobiographies in his lifetime, including This Life, which detailed his childhood and his troubled romantic life, The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography, and Life Beyond Measure: Letters to My Great-Granddaughter.
Ambassador Pointier
In April 1997, Poitier was appointed ambassador of the Bahamas to , a position he held until 2007.
From 2002 to 2007, he was concurrently the ambassador of the Bahamas to The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Mariah’s tribute
The pop diva honored Sidney Poitier on Friday on Instagram
“A true King. Beyond his unparalleled talent and devotion to change the world, to me, he was also a celestial, pure soul who took the time to care, talk, help and heal others so selflessly,” Carey wrote of Poitier.
“I am blessed with the memories of our conversations that will be forever emblazoned in my mind. Condolences and love to the Poitier family. Rest in Power and Peace Sir Sydney Poitier.”
What was Sidney Poitier most known for?
The actor was most known for his roles in films such as Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night, and Lilies of the Field, for which he won the Best Actor Oscar.
Poitier was a Bahamian-American actor who was an Oscar winner and a great trailblazer in Hollywood, having appeared in more than 50 films.
Poitier’s family statement
“There are no words to convey the deep sense of loss and sadness we are feeling right now. We are so grateful he was able to spend his last day surrounded by his family and friends,” the actor’s family said in a joint statement.
“To us Sidney Poitier was not only a brilliant actor, activist, and a man of incredible grace and moral fortitude, he was also a devoted and loving husband, a supportive and adoring father, and a man who always put family first. He is our guiding light who lit up our lives with infinite love and wonder. His smile was healing, his hugs the warmest refuge, and his laughter was infectious.”
“We could always turn to him for wisdom and solace and his absence feels like a giant hole in our family and our hearts. Although he is no longer here with us in this realm, his beautiful soul will continue to guide and inspire us. He will live on in us, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren—in every belly laugh, every curious inquiry, every act of compassion and kindness. His legacy will live on in the world, continuing to inspire not only with his incredible body of work, but even more so with his humanity.”
What movies was Poitier in?
Sidney Poitier starred in the films To Sir With Love, In the Heat of the Night, and Look Who’s Coming to Dinner.
Poitier also starred in Shoot to Kill, Stir Crazy, A Raisin in the Sun, and A Patch of Blue.
Sidney Poitier was the first black actor to win the Academy Award for Best Leading Actor.
He won the Best Leading Actor Oscar at the 36th Academy Awards for the 1963 film, Lilies of the Field.
When did Sidney Poitier start acting?
Sidney Poitier grew up in the Bahamas but moved to the US when he was 15, and got his start in Hollywood during the 1950s.
Race and social justice would become central themes in much of his work throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s.
‘The lone guy in town’
Debates about diversity in Hollywood inevitably turn to the story of Poitier. With his handsome, flawless face; intense stare and disciplined style, he was for years not just the most popular Black movie star, but the only one.
“I made films when the only other Black on the lot was the shoeshine boy,” Poitier recalled in a 1988 Newsweek interview. “I was kind of the lone guy in town.”
What was Sidney Poitier’s breakthrough film?
Sidney Poitier‘s breakthrough role was Blackboard Jungle in 1955, it was the first of many in his prolific career.
Poitier also starred in Shoot to Kill, Stir Crazy, A Raisin in the Sun, and A Patch of Blue.
Where was Sidney Poitier from?
The actor was unexpectedly born two months premature in Miami, while his parents were visiting.
His family lived in the Bahamas, and visited Miami to sell produce.
At the time Poitier was born, the Bahamas was still a British colony, and his birth in Miami automatically granted him US citizenship.
Pointier’s awards
Poitier received numerous honorary prizes, including a lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute and a special Academy Award in 2002, on the same night that Black performers won both best acting awards, Washington for “Training Day” and Halle Berry for “Monster’s Ball.”
“I’ll always be chasing you, Sidney,” Washington, who had earlier presented the honorary award to Poitier, said during his acceptance speech. “I’ll always be following in your footsteps. There’s nothing I would rather do, sir, nothing I would rather do.”
What was Poitier’s net worth?
Sidney Poitier is widely regarded as one of the great legends of Hollywood.
He gained mainstream popularity in the 1950s due to his growing number of motion picture acting roles.
According to , Sidney Poitier built a net worth of $20 million.
Tyler Perry's statement
Actor and director Tyler Perry spoke of Poitier after his passing.
He said: “The grace and class that this man has shown throughout his entire life, the example he set for me, not only as a Black man but as a human being will never be forgotten. ... All I can say is thank you for your life, thank you for your example, and thank you for your incredible gift. But most of all, thank you for being willing to share YOU to make us all better.”
Poitier's roles
The actor was the escaped Black convict who befriends a racist white prisoner (Tony Curtis) in “The Defiant Ones.”
He was the courtly office worker who falls in love with a blind white girl in “A Patch of Blue.”
He was the handyman in “Lilies of the Field” who builds a church for a group of nuns.
In one of the great roles of stage or screen, he was the ambitious young man whose dreams clashed with those of other family members in Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun.”
In his own words
“Almost all the job opportunities were reflective of the stereotypical perception of Blacks that had infected the whole consciousness of the country,” Poitier told The Associated Press.
“I came with an inability to do those things. It just wasn’t in me. I had chosen to use my work as a reflection of my values.”
Poitier broke from stereotypes
Poitier made Hollywood history, by breaking from the stereotypes of bug-eyed entertainers, and American history, by appearing in films during the 1950s and 1960s that paralleled the growth of the civil rights movement.
As segregation laws were challenged and fell, Poitier was the performer to whom a cautious Hollywood turned for stories of progress, a bridge to the growing candor and variety of Black filmmaking today.
Sidney Poitier also directed
In the span of his film career, Sidney Poitier also took on the director’s seat for a number of motion pictures.
Poitier’s directorial debut was the 1972 Western film, Buck and the Preacher.
Besides directing the movie, he also starred in the cinematic outing with his good friend, Harry Belafonte.
Buck and the Preacher consisted of themes that included civil rights, a movement they were both passionate about.
Harry Belafonte’s statement
Poitier’s close friend and great contemporary Harry Belafonte issued a statement Friday, remembering their extraordinary times together.
“For over 80 years, Sidney and I laughed, cried and made as much mischief as we could,” he wrote. “He was truly my brother and partner in trying to make this world a little better. He certainly made mine a whole lot better.”
Harry Belafonte on Sidney Poitier
Belafonte said of his friendship with Poitier: “For over 80 years, Sidney and I laughed, cried and made as much mischief as we could.”
He continued in a statement regarding Poitier’s death: “He was truly my brother and partner in trying to make this world a little better. He certainly made mine a whole lot better.”
Sidney and Harry Belafonte
In 1946, Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte struck up a friendship while they both lived in New York and worked at The American Negro Theatre.
While taking on parts in stage production, Poitier was Belafonte’s understudy at one point.
Belafonte tweeted Poitier a happy birthday while replying to a about the two’s history.
The King of Calypso posted on Twitter: “Soul Brothers indeed! Happy birthday to my good friend, Sidney Poitier.”