Sidney Poitier

Biography

Sidney Poitier KBE (February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was a Bahamian and American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he became the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, for Lilies of the Field. Other accolades include two competitive Golden Globe Awards, a competitive British Academy of Film and Television Arts award (BAFTA), and a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. Major films featuring Poitier in a starring role include Blackboard Jungle (1955), The Defiant Ones (1958), To Sir, with Love (1967), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), In the Heat of the Night (1967), Sneakers (1992), and The Jackal (1997). Later in his career, he turned to directing with features such as Buck and the Preacher (1972), Uptown Saturday Night (1974), Stir Crazy (1980), and Ghost Dad (1990). At the time of his death, Poitier was one of the last major stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.

Known For

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

The Mike Douglas Show

The Mike Douglas Show

Golden Globe Awards

Golden Globe Awards

Tony Awards

The Philco Television Playhouse

The Philco Television Playhouse

All Movies (83)

• The Resurrection of Christ2026
• Remembering Gene Wilder2024 · as Self (archive photos)
• Reinventing Elvis: The 68' Comeback2023 · as Self (archive footage)
• Sidney Poitier - The Man Who Changed Hollywood2023 · as Self (archive footage)
• A Star Without a Star: The Untold Juanita Moore Story2022 · as Self
• Sidney2022 · as Self
• Poitier's Walter Lee2018 · as Self (archive footage)
• Mr. SOUL!2018 · as Self (archive footage)
• Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes / Feeling Heart2017 · as Self
• The Madding Crowd2017 · as Self (archive footage)
• Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley2013 · as Self
• Martin Luther King and the March on Washington2013 · as Self
• Sing Your Song2012 · as Self
• Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project2007 · as Self
• Hollywood Legenden2004 · as Self
• The Making of ‘Sneakers’2003 · as Self
• Quincy Jones: In the Pocket2001 · as Self
• The Last Brickmaker in America2001 · as Henry Cobb
• Richard Widmark: Strength of Characters2000 · as Self
• Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light2000
• The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn1999 · as Noah Dearborn
• Free of Eden1999 · as Will Cleamons
• David and Lisa1998 · as Dr. Jack Miller
• Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist1998 · as Reverend Msimangu (archive footage)
• The Jackal1997 · as Carter Preston
• Mandela and de Klerk1997 · as Nelson Mandela
• Afro Promo1997 · as Self (archive footage)
• To Sir, with Love II1996 · as Mark Thackeray
• Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick1995 · as Self
• Sneakers1992 · as Crease
• Separate But Equal1991 · as Thurgood Marshall
• Little Nikita1988 · as Roy Parmenter
• Shoot to Kill1988 · as Warren Stantin
• Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night1988 · as Self - Audience Member
• The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn1986 · as Self
• Night of 100 Stars II1985 · as Self
• I Love Quincy1984 · as Self
• Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist1979 · as Narrator (voice)
• A Piece of the Action1977 · as Manny Durrell
• Let's Do It Again1975 · as Clyde Williams
• The Wilby Conspiracy1975 · as Shack Twala
• Uptown Saturday Night1974 · as Steve Jackson
• A Warm December1973 · as Dr. Matt Younger
• Nationtime1972 · as Self - Narrator
• Buck and the Preacher1972 · as Buck
• The Organization1971 · as Virgil Tibbs
• Brother John1971 · as John Kane
• They Call Me Mister Tibbs!1970 · as Virgil Tibbs
• King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis1970 · as Self (archive footage)
• The Lost Man1969 · as Jason Higgs
• Three Young Americans in Search of Survival1969 · as Himself
• For Love of Ivy1968 · as Jack Parks
• Guess Who's Coming to Dinner1967 · as John Prentice
• In the Heat of the Night1967 · as Virgil Tibbs
• To Sir, with Love1967 · as Mark Thackeray
• Duel at Diablo1966 · as Toller
• The Strolling '20s1966 · as Self
• The Slender Thread1965 · as Alan Newell
• A Patch of Blue1965 · as Gordon Ralfe
• The Bedford Incident1965 · as Ben Munceford
• The Greatest Story Ever Told1965 · as Simon of Cyrene
• A Cinderella Named Elizabeth1965 · as Self
• The Long Ships1964 · as Aly Mansuh
• Lilies of the Field1963 · as Homer Smith
• Pressure Point1962 · as Doctor
• Paris Blues1961 · as Eddie Cook
• A Raisin in the Sun1961 · as Walter Lee Younger
• All the Young Men1960 · as Sgt. Eddie Towler
• Virgin Island1959 · as Marcus
• Porgy and Bess1959 · as Porgy
• The Defiant Ones1958 · as Noah Cullen
• The Mark of the Hawk1957 · as Obam
• Band of Angels1957 · as Rau-Ru
• Something of Value1957 · as Kimani Wa Karanja
• Edge of the City1957 · as Tommy Tyler
• Good-bye, My Lady1956 · as Gates Watson
• A Man Is Ten Feet Tall1955 · as Tommy Tyler
• Blackboard Jungle1955 · as Gregory W. Miller
• Go Man Go1954 · as Inman Jackson
• The Red Ball Express1952 · as Robertson
• Cry, the Beloved Country1951 · as Reverend Msimangu
• No Way Out1950 · as Luther Brooks
• Sepia Cinderella1947 · as Nightclub Extra (uncredited)

All TV Shows (23)

• Hollywood Black2024 · as Self (archive footage)
• Children of the Dust1995 · as Gypsy Smith
• Separate but Equal1991 · as Thurgood Marshall
• The Kennedy Center Honors1978 · as Self
• The American Film Institute Salute to ...1973 · as Self
• Film '721971 · as Self
• The Dick Cavett Show1968 · as Self - Guest
• Omnibus1967
• ABC Stage 671966 · as Self - Host
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson1962 · as Self
• The Merv Griffin Show1962 · as Self
• The Mike Douglas Show1961 · as Self
• The Mike Douglas Show1961 · as Self - Taped Tribute
• Tonight Starring Jack Paar1957 · as Self
• Tony Awards1956 · as Self - Presenter
• Cinépanorama1956 · as Self
• Kraft Television Theatre1953
• The Oscars1953 · as Self
• Omnibus1952
• The Philco Television Playhouse1948
• The Philco Television Playhouse1948 · as Tommy Tyler
• Golden Globe Awards1944 · as Self - Nominee
• Golden Globe Awards1944 · as Self - Presenter