Sidney Poitier
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- February 20, 1927
- Died
- January 6, 2022
- Birthplace
- Miami, Florida, USA
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.
Filmography
A Star Without a Star: The Untold Juanita Moore Story 2025
as Self
Remembering Gene Wilder 2024
as Self (archive photos)
Reinventing Elvis: The 68' Comeback 2023
as Self (archive footage)
Paul Newman: The Restless 2023
as Self (archive footage)
Sidney Poitier - The Man Who Changed Hollywood 2023
as Self (archive footage)
Sidney 2022
as Self
Poitier's Walter Lee 2018
as Self (archive footage)
Mr. SOUL! 2018
as Self (archive footage)
Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes / Feeling Heart 2017
as Self
The Madding Crowd 2017
as Self (archive footage)
Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley 2013
as Self
Martin Luther King and the March on Washington 2013
as Self
Sing Your Song 2012
as Self
Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project 2007
as Self
- Hollywood Legenden
Hollywood Legenden 2004
as Self
The Making of ‘Sneakers’ 2003
as Self
Quincy Jones: In the Pocket 2001
as Self
The Last Brickmaker in America 2001
as Henry Cobb
Richard Widmark: Strength of Characters 2000
as Self
Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light 2000
Actor
The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn 1999
as Noah Dearborn
Free of Eden 1999
as Will Cleamons
David and Lisa 1998
as Dr. Jack Miller
Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist 1998
as Reverend Msimangu (archive footage)
The Jackal 1997
as Carter Preston
Mandela and de Klerk 1997
as Nelson Mandela
Afro Promo 1997
as Self (archive footage)
To Sir, with Love II 1996
as Mark Thackeray
Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick 1995
as Self
A Century of Cinema 1994
as Self
Sneakers 1992
as Crease
Separate but Equal 1991
as Thurgood Marshall
Ghost Dad 1990
Director
Little Nikita 1988
as Roy Parmenter
Shoot to Kill 1988
as Warren Stantin
Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night 1988
as Self - Audience Member
The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn 1986
as Self
Night of 100 Stars II 1985
as Self
Fast Forward 1985
Director
I Love Quincy 1984
as Self
Hanky Panky 1982
Director
Stir Crazy 1980
Director
Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist 1979
as Narrator (voice)
A Piece of the Action 1977
as Manny Durrell, Director
Let's Do It Again 1975
as Clyde Williams, Director
The Wilby Conspiracy 1975
as Shack Twala
Uptown Saturday Night 1974
as Steve Jackson, Director
A Warm December 1973
as Dr. Matt Younger, Director
Nationtime: Gary 1972
as Self - Narrator
Buck and the Preacher 1972
as Buck, Producer, Director
The Organization 1971
as Virgil Tibbs
Brother John 1971
as John Kane
They Call Me Mister Tibbs! 1970
as Virgil Tibbs
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis 1970
as Self (archive footage)
The Lost Man 1969
as Jason Higgs
- Three Young Americans in Search of Survival
Three Young Americans in Search of Survival 1969
as Himself
For Love of Ivy 1968
as Jack Parks, Original Story
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner 1967
as John Prentice
In the Heat of the Night 1967
as Det. Virgil Tibbs
To Sir, with Love 1967
as Mark Thackeray
Duel at Diablo 1966
as Toller
The Strolling '20s 1966
as Self
The Slender Thread 1965
as Alan Newell
A Patch of Blue 1965
as Gordon Ralfe
The Bedford Incident 1965
as Ben Munceford
The Greatest Story Ever Told 1965
as Simon of Cyrene
A Cinderella Named Elizabeth 1965
as Self
The Long Ships 1964
as Aly Mansuh
Lilies of the Field 1963
as Homer Smith
Pressure Point 1962
as Doctor
Paris Blues 1961
as Eddie Cook
A Raisin in the Sun 1961
as Walter Lee Younger
All the Young Men 1960
as Sgt. Eddie Towler
Virgin Island 1959
as Marcus
Porgy and Bess 1959
as Porgy
The Defiant Ones 1958
as Noah Cullen
The Mark of the Hawk 1957
as Obam
Band of Angels 1957
as Rau-Ru
Something of Value 1957
as Kimani Wa Karanja
Edge of the City 1957
as Tommy Tyler
Good-bye, My Lady 1956
as Gates Watson
A Man Is Ten Feet Tall 1955
as Tommy Tyler
Blackboard Jungle 1955
as Gregory W. Miller
Go Man Go 1954
as Inman Jackson
The Red Ball Express 1952
as Robertson
Cry, the Beloved Country 1951
as Reverend Msimangu
No Way Out 1950
as Luther Brooks
Sepia Cinderella 1947
as Nightclub Extra (uncredited)
Credits from TMDB.