Sidney Poitier Has Passed Away At Age 94

Discussion in 'Celebrity Deaths' started by John Brunner, Jan 8, 2022.

  1. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Another great actor lost.

    Sidney lived in the Bahamas when it was still a British Colony. He was born in Miami in 1927 when his father (a farmer) and his mother (in her 7th month of pregnancy) went there for a weekend to sell produce. She unexpectedly went into labor and gave birth. Sidney was not expected to survive. Being born in America, he held dual citizenship.

    He permanently moved to the states at the age of 15 to be with extended family, and lied about his age to enlist in the Army during WW2. He worked in an Army psychiatric hospital and--horrified at what he saw there--faked mental illness in order to obtain a discharge. (He actually fessed up to the fact he was faking, and the sympathetic Army doctor helped him out, anyway.) He then went into acting, having the usual fits & starts that many in the profession do. His specific shortcoming--in an era when black actors were cast in roles where they also sang--was being tone deaf.

    There's lots to his biography. He was a trail-blazer in an era when black actors & actresses were just beginning to enter the mainstream (Poitier started out in the American Negro Theater), yet he was not of American culture, so sometimes took controversial roles that other black actors rejected as being demeaning (such as the lead role in the film adaptation of Porgy and Bess.) He took roles that some criticized as being one-dimensional (no real character flaws or depth) in movies that pushed back against stereotypes of American blacks, but that was during a transitional era in film, and his acting was done from the perspective of an immigrant.

    I've always enjoyed his work. And he came across as being a genuinely nice guy.

    R.I.P.
     
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    Last edited: Jan 8, 2022
  2. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    Oh my goodness; I'm sorry to hear this. I was a big fan. I recently watched "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" again for the umpteenth time.

     
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  3. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Topic Detour
    I just read that at the time, interracial marriage was still illegal in 17 states. Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was ill during the making of that movie, and died 2 weeks after he finished filming his role. There's a story there about Hepburn moving in with him 4 years prior due to Tracy's lifestyle-inflicted medical issues, to include a coma and kidney failure 2 years before making that movie. Those tears of hers in Tracey's famous last scene are real.

    Back On Topic
    I'd be hard-pressed to pick a specific favorite Poitier film. In The Heat Of The Night is certainly among the top 5, as is A Raisin In The Sun (Louis Gossett Jr's film debut.)
     
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  4. Joe Smith

    Joe Smith Very Well-Known Member
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    One of my Mothers favorites. I enjoyed his work also. To Sir with Love comes to mind.
     
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  5. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    He was one of the great actors.
     
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  6. John West

    John West Very Well-Known Member
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    I'd have to say In The Heat Of The Night was not only his best films but, IMHO, also one of the best films period.
     
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  7. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    Thank you Sidney, for all of the joy that you brought with you into the World! May you Rest in peace!

    Sidney Poitier on winning an Oscar® for Best Actor for his work in "Lilies of the Field" - 36th Annual Academy Awards®.
     
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  8. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    Don Warrington, the Trinidadian-British stage actor – and star of Death in Paradise and Rising Damp – pays tribute to a Black Hollywood pioneer

    "He climbed the ladder but he didn’t pull it up after him. He went: “This is it! You can come here too, and if I can help, I will.”

    [​IMG]
    Dignity and panache and grace’ … Sidney Poitier at the Vanity Fair Oscar party in 2014. Photograph: Larry Busacca/VF14/Getty Images for Vanity Fair
     
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  9. Thomas Stillhere

    Thomas Stillhere Very Well-Known Member
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    Just my personal favorites over the decades, not even close to the true number of films he participated in.
    In the Heat of the Night
    Lilies of the Field
    The Defiant Ones
    The Bedford Incident
    Buck and the Preacher
     
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  10. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and In the Heat of the Night, are two favorites of mine.
     
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  11. Gil Arnold

    Gil Arnold Well-Known Member
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  12. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Man, I wish I had cable.
     
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  13. Marie Mallery

    Marie Mallery Veteran Member
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    You may be able to rent it on YouTube,not sure.
     
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  14. Marie Mallery

    Marie Mallery Veteran Member
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    I really liked Lillie Of The Field, great acting.He was very talented.
     
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  15. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Man, I wish I had decent internet.
     
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