Sidney Poitier
Acting
Born: February 20, 1927 · Miami, Florida, USA
Died: January 6, 2022 (aged 94)
Highest Rated
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 Jackal
1997
In the Heat of the Night
1967
Sneakers
1992
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
1967
Stir Crazy
1980
To Sir, with Love
1967
The Defiant Ones
1958
Shoot to Kill
1988
Lilies of the Field
1963
Ghost Dad
1990
The Greatest Story Ever Told
1965
Blackboard Jungle
1955
Photos (8)
Movies (55)
Sneakers
Crease
The Jackal
Carter Preston
In the Heat of the Night
Virgil Tibbs
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
John Prentice
The Greatest Story Ever Told
Simon of Cyrene
To Sir, with Love
Mark Thackeray
Shoot to Kill
Warren Stantin
Paris Blues
Eddie Cook
The Organization
Virgil Tibbs
They Call Me Mister Tibbs!
Virgil Tibbs
The Defiant Ones
Noah Cullen
Little Nikita
Roy Parmenter
The Bedford Incident
Ben Munceford
A Patch of Blue
Gordon Ralfe
Duel at Diablo
Toller
The Long Ships
Aly Mansuh
A Raisin in the Sun
Walter Lee Younger
The Red Ball Express
Robertson
The Wilby Conspiracy
Shack Twala
Buck and the Preacher
Buck
Lilies of the Field
Homer Smith
Edge of the City
Tommy Tyler
Blackboard Jungle
Gregory W. Miller
No Way Out
Luther Brooks
To Sir, with Love II
Mark Thackeray
Porgy and Bess
Porgy
The Resurrection of Christ
2026
Uptown Saturday Night
Steve Jackson
A Piece of the Action
Manny Durrell
Band of Angels
Rau-Ru
Let's Do It Again
Clyde Williams
The Slender Thread
Alan Newell
David and Lisa
Dr. Jack Miller
The Lost Man
Jason Higgs
Something of Value
Kimani Wa Karanja
Sepia Cinderella
Nightclub Extra (uncredited)
The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn
Noah Dearborn
For Love of Ivy
Jack Parks
A Warm December
Dr. Matt Younger
Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist
Reverend Msimangu (archive footage)
Pressure Point
Doctor
Free of Eden
Will Cleamons
Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light
2000
Good-bye, My Lady
Gates Watson
Brother John
John Kane
Separate but Equal
Thurgood Marshall
The Last Brickmaker in America
Henry Cobb
All the Young Men
Sgt. Eddie Towler
The Mark of the Hawk
Obam
Mandela and de Klerk
Nelson Mandela
Go Man Go
Inman Jackson
Cry, the Beloved Country
Reverend Msimangu
Virgin Island
Marcus
Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist
Narrator (voice)
A Man Is Ten Feet Tall
Tommy Tyler
TV Shows (6)
Self / Appearances (41)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self · 1 eps
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee · 1 eps
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter · 1 eps
The Mike Douglas Show
Self · 1 eps
The Mike Douglas Show
Self - Taped Tribute · 1 eps
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter · 1 eps
The Merv Griffin Show
Self · 2 eps
The Oscars
Self · 7 eps
The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest · 1 eps
The Kennedy Center Honors
Self · 2 eps
Cinépanorama
Self · 1 eps
ABC Stage 67
Self - Host · 1 eps
Hollywood Black
Self (archive footage) · 4 eps
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Self · 1 eps
Sidney
Self
Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night
Self - Audience Member
Nationtime: Gary
Self - Narrator
Remembering Gene Wilder
Self (archive photos)
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
Self (archive footage)
Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project
Self
Paul Newman: The Restless
Self
Night of 100 Stars II
Self
Mr. SOUL!
Self (archive footage)
Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick
Self
Sidney Poitier - The Man Who Changed Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
The Making of ‘Sneakers’
Self
Sing Your Song
Self
The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
Self
I Love Quincy
Self
Reinventing Elvis: The 68' Comeback
Self (archive footage)
Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes / Feeling Heart
Self
Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley
Self
Richard Widmark: Strength of Characters
Self
Afro Promo
Self (archive footage)
The Strolling '20s
Self
Martin Luther King and the March on Washington
Self
Quincy Jones: In the Pocket
Self
The Madding Crowd
Self (archive footage)
A Star Without a Star: The Untold Juanita Moore Story
Self
A Cinderella Named Elizabeth
Self
Poitier's Walter Lee
Self (archive footage)
Directing (9)
Stir Crazy
Director
Ghost Dad
Director
Buck and the Preacher
Director
Hanky Panky
Director
Uptown Saturday Night
Director
A Piece of the Action
Director
Let's Do It Again
Director
A Warm December
Director
Fast Forward
Director