RIP: Sidney Poitier (1927-2022)

[Brian in Mesa]

Sidney Poitier, first Black man to win Best Actor Oscar, dies at 94​

Legendary actor Sidney Poitier dies at 94

In 1964, Sidney Poitier received an Academy Award for Best Actor for "Lilies of the Field."

www.king5.com

Sidney Poitier, the legendary actor who made history as the first Black man to win the Oscar for Best Actor, has died at the age of 94.

The Bahamian Minister of Foreign Affairs confirmed Poitier's death to several media outlets. The press secretary for the Prime Minister of the Bahamas confirmed to CNN that the actor died Thursday night. A family source also confirmed his death to NBC News.

Poitier starred in such films as "The Defiant Ones," which earned him his first Oscar nomination, "A Patch of Blue," "In the Heart of the Night" and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner."

In 1964, he received an Academy Award for Best Actor for "Lilies of the Field." In 2001, Poitier was also presented with an honorary Academy Award.

The noted actor was born in Miami and grew up in the Bahamas and the United States, according to his Academy Awards bio. In addition to his award-winning acting career, Poitier directed nine movies.

 

[carrrnuttt]

I see 2022 is already attempting to one up 2021.

Another icon gone. R.I.P.

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[Lefty]

Great actor and activist. A movie I really enjoyed that he was in was Sneakers.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Great actor and activist. A movie I really enjoyed that he was in was Sneakers.

Loved him in Sneakers and in Shoot To Kill, among many other roles.

 

[StreetTruckinTitan]

In his memory I played the song - To Sir, With love. by Lulu this morning. My favorite film of Sidney Poitier. RIP

 

[AzStevenCal]

In his memory I played the song - To Sir, With love. by Lulu this morning. My favorite film of Sidney Poitier. RIP

I was doing some back-to-school clothes shopping at the Thomas Mall more than 50 years ago and a DJ from KRUX (Lucky Lawrence I believe) was asking music trivia questions and giving out prizes for correct answers. I answered one of them correctly and won a Lulu demo record. The A side was To Sir With Love, the other side was a song I'd never heard of called The Boat That I Row (written by Neil Diamond). I wore out both sides of that 45.

I know his star shined brightest in the 50's to early 70's but I'm more fond of his later films. We just watched The Jackal night before last and Sneakers two weeks ago. Shoot to Kill is in our plans to watch in the next week or so. We got rid of a lot of our DVD's otherwise we'd probably watch Little Nikita again.

Like many of our great actors, he was guilty of overacting occasionally but I always enjoyed watching him perform. RIP Mr Poitier.

 

[StreetTruckinTitan]

I was doing some back-to-school clothes shopping at the Thomas Mall more than 50 years ago and a DJ from KRUX (Lucky Lawrence I believe) was asking music trivia questions and giving out prizes for correct answers. I answered one of them correctly and won a Lulu demo record. The A side was To Sir With Love, the other side was a song I'd never heard of called The Boat That I Row (written by Neil Diamond). I wore out both sides of that 45.

I know his star shined brightest in the 50's to early 70's but I'm more fond of his later films. We just watched The Jackal night before last and Sneakers two weeks ago. Shoot to Kill is in our plans to watch in the next week or so. We got rid of a lot of our DVD's otherwise we'd probably watch Little Nikita again.

Like many of our great actors, he was guilty of overacting occasionally but I always enjoyed watching him perform. RIP Mr Poitier.

Its funny you mentioning KRUX radio. I was just telling my wife a couple weeks ago when I hear a song now from my teenage years (Blinded By The Light - Manfred Mann) (Dream Weaver - Gary Wright) (Im Not In Love - 10cc) I immediately get swept back to my darkened bedroom listening to KRUX before going to sleep. KRIZ was another rock station from that time.

Im going to have to revisit some of his movies you mentioned. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[QuebecCard]

I was doing some back-to-school clothes shopping at the Thomas Mall more than 50 years ago and a DJ from KRUX (Lucky Lawrence I believe) was asking music trivia questions and giving out prizes for correct answers. I answered one of them correctly and won a Lulu demo record. The A side was To Sir With Love, the other side was a song I'd never heard of called The Boat That I Row (written by Neil Diamond). I wore out both sides of that 45.

I know his star shined brightest in the 50's to early 70's but I'm more fond of his later films. We just watched The Jackal night before last and Sneakers two weeks ago. Shoot to Kill is in our plans to watch in the next week or so. We got rid of a lot of our DVD's otherwise we'd probably watch Little Nikita again.

Like many of our great actors, he was guilty of overacting occasionally but I always enjoyed watching him perform. RIP Mr Poitier.

FYI: see if you can get the original JACKAL with Edward Fox, a much better movie.

 

[AzStevenCal]

FYI: see if you can get the original JACKAL with Edward Fox, a much better movie.

I get that the critics and most fans disliked The Jackal but we watched "Day Of" when it first came out and were confused and a little bored by it. I read the book a few years later and some of it started to make sense but even still, I think I would have had trouble with the pacing no matter when I saw it.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Its funny you mentioning KRUX radio. I was just telling my wife a couple weeks ago when I hear a song now from my teenage years (Blinded By The Light - Manfred Mann) (Dream Weaver - Gary Wright) (Im Not In Love - 10cc) I immediately get swept back to my darkened bedroom listening to KRUX before going to sleep. KRIZ was another rock station from that time.

Im going to have to revisit some of his movies you mentioned. Thanks for the recommendation.

Non-Poitier response for those that want to skip.

Spoiler

Good songs, Blinded By the Light was written by Springsteen, a much different version than Manfred Mann's is on his Asbury Park album.

I'm careful to recommend The Jackal, it's kind of comic-bookish and not for everyone but Sneakers and Shoot to Kill are solid flicks. And yeah, I grew up with KRUX and KRIZ in the 60's, looking back I get a chuckle out of the teen arguments we had over which station was better.

 

[Shane]

Legend