Sidney Poitier-elegant, profoundly influential and trailblazing actor and filmmaker Sir Sidney Poitier has passed away at the age of 94.
I think I've been in love with Sidney Poitier since I saw him in To Sir, With Love. He won me over like his awe-struck students, with his beautiful gentle manner. After that I was drawn in by his keen ability to portray a depth of character in all of his roles. He's got a way about him, a kind of magnetic pull. Maybe it's his bright smile with a light that shines within. Maybe it's the intensity he brings to the screen, because he does not go half way with his emotional fortitude. Sidney Poitier is a legend because he mastered the utterance of genuine skill with a singular essence of dignity, composure and grace.
"I felt very much as if I were representing 15, 18 million people with every move I made"
Sidney will be remembered for his riviting performance in the tense, racially charged No Way Out 1950, in the film noir Edge of the City 1957 and combustible dramas The Defiant Ones 1958 and Pressure Point 1962 not to mention his portrayal of Gordon Ralfe in the heartwrenching A Patch of Blue 1965.
Poitier was the first Black actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1964 for his performance in "˜Lilies of the Field.' He gave one hell of a startling performance as Virgil Tibbs In 1967’s In the Heat of the Night and as Mark Thackeray in To Sir, With Love 1967.
To Sidney, With Love, Joey