Sidney poitier when was he born

His first production, Days of Our Youth, led to nearly 10 more with the company, a national tour of Anna Lucasta in and, two years later at 22, his first film-- No Way Out. Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, it launched the career that, in the words of his good friend Harry Belafonte, "put the Cinema and millions of people in the world in touch with a truth about who we are.

A truth that could have for a longer time eluded us had it not been for him and the choices he made. Men who know that there are bridges to build, doors to open.

At the peak of his career in front of the camera, Poitier decided to direct as well. Its first release was A Warm December, directed by Poitier. Uptown Saturday Night was the first of several box office comedy hits helmed by Poitier and featuring largely black casts.

In , shortly after ending a decade-long hiatus from acting, Poitier returned to television for the first time in 35 years to portray supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in the my Award-winning miniseries directed by George Stevens, Jr. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the British Empire in , which entitles him to use the title "sir," though he chooses not to do so. We strive for accuracy and fairness.

If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. Laurence Olivier was one of the most acclaimed actors of the 20th century, known for his roles in numerous Shakespeare productions on stage and screen, as well as memorable turns in more modern classics.

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In , he became the youngest captain of a National Hockey League team. Halle Berry became the first African American woman to win the Academy Award for best actress following her performance in 'Monster's Ball.

Actor, singer and activist Harry Belafonte has achieved lasting fame for such songs as "The Banana Boat Song Day-O ," as well as for his film and humanitarian work. Maya Angelou was a civil rights activist, poet and award-winning author known for her acclaimed memoir, 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,' and her numerous poetry and essay collections.

Olivia Rodrigo —. By the end of , he was having to choose between leading roles on stage and an offer to work for Darryl F. Zanuck in the film No Way Out His performance as a doctor treating a white bigot got him plenty of notice and led to more roles. Nevertheless, the roles were still less interesting and prominent than those white actors routinely obtained. But seven years later, after turning down several projects he considered demeaning, Poitier got a number of roles that catapulted him into a category rarely if ever achieved by an African American man of that time, that of leading man.

Five years later, he won the Oscar for Lilies of the Field , the first African American to win for a leading role. He remained active on stage and screen as well as in the burgeoning Civil Rights movement. His roles in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and To Sir, with Love were landmarks in helping to break down some social barriers between blacks and whites. Poitier's talent, conscience, integrity, and inherent likability placed him on equal footing with the white stars of the day.

He took on directing and producing chores in the s, achieving success in both arenas. Sign In. Edit Sidney Poitier. Showing all 63 items. When he came to New York from the Caribbean to become an actor, he was so impoverished at first that he slept in the bus station.

Mankiewicz and told him he was 27, when actually only 22 years old. Stanley Kramer approached him about co-starring in The Defiant Ones , which made him a bigger star, but admitted that if he did not take the role of "Porgy" in Porgy and Bess for Samuel Goldwyn it might kill his chances to get the role in The Defiant Ones as Goldwyn had that much clout in Hollywood.

He was awarded an honorary knighthood of the Order of the British Empire in As an honorary knight, he is not entitled to call himself or to be known as "Sir Sidney Poitier" but he may use the postnomials KBE or K. His Stir Crazy was the highest grossing film directed by a black filmmaker until Scary Movie , directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans almost 20 years later.

While trying to sing with some fellow actors in Off-Broadway theatre he found he was tone deaf. Younger brother of Cyril Poitier. Poitier made his film debut in the feature No Way Out, playing a doctor tormented by the racist one who is prejudiced against other races brother of a man whose life he could not save. Tony Curtis — play prison escapees who are chained together; their struggle helps them look past their differences and learn to respect each other. In the s Poitier began to make his mark on American popular culture.

After appearing in the film version of Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun, in a role he had developed on the stage, Poitier took the part of an American serviceman in Germany in Lilies of the Field In Poitier appeared in three hit movies. In To Sir, With Love he played a schoolteacher, while in In the Heat of the Night he played Virgil Tibbs, a black detective from the North who helps solve a murder in a southern town and wins the respect of the prejudiced police chief there.

The film was Hollywood's first love story between members of different races that did not end tragically. Reflecting on the feelings of filmmakers during this period, Poitier remarked to Susan Ellicott of the London Times, "I suited their need.

I was clearly intelligent. I was a pretty good actor. I believed in brotherhood, in a free society. I hated racism, segregation [separation based on race]. And I was a symbol against those things. Of course, Poitier was more than a symbol. David J. Martin Luther King, Jr. After an argument with the film's director, Poitier took over; though he and Belafonte urged Columbia to hire another director, a studio official saw footage Poitier had shot and encouraged him to finish the film himself.

They also worked together on the comedy Ghost Dad , which was a disaster. Poitier also directed the hit comedy Stir Crazy , as well as several other features.