Poitier was originally a French name, and there were then no Poitiers of French ancestry nearby in the Bahamas. Some believe that the Poitier ancestors had migrated from Haiti, and were probably among the runaway slaves who established maroon communities throughout the Bahamas, including Cat Island. His birth in the United States entitled him to US citizenship. Poitier grew up in the Bahamas, then a British Crown colony. Poitier was born unexpectedly in Miami while his parents were there on business his birth was two months premature, and he was not expected to survive, but his parents remained in Miami for three months to nurse him to health. His father also worked as a cab driver in Nassau. The family would travel to Miami to sell tomatoes and other produce to wholesalers. He was the youngest of seven children born to Evelyn ( née Outten) and Reginald James Poitier, Afro-Bahamian farmers who owned a farm on Cat Island. Sidney Poitier was born on February 20, 1927, in Miami, Florida. From 1997 to 2007, he was the Bahamian Ambassador to Japan. In 2016, he was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship for outstanding lifetime achievement in film. In 2009, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. DeMille Award in 1982, the Kennedy Center Honor in 1995, Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1999, and the Honorary Academy Award in 2002. He received numerous honors including the Golden Globe Cecil B. Poitier was granted a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 1974. He later starred in Shoot to Kill (1988) and Sneakers (1992). Poitier also directed various films, including A Warm December (1973), Uptown Saturday Night (1974), and Stir Crazy (1980). In a poll the next year he was voted the US's top box-office star. He continued to break ground in three successful 1967 films which dealt with issues of race and race relations: To Sir, with Love Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and In the Heat of the Night, the later of which earned him Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominations. Poitier also received acclaim for Porgy and Bess (1959), A Raisin in the Sun (1961), and A Patch of Blue (1965), because of his strong roles as epic African American male characters. In 1964, he won the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Actor for Lilies of the Field (1963). Additionally Poitier won the Silver Bear for Best Actor for his performance. Poitier gained stardom for his leading roles in films such as The Defiant Ones (1958) for which he made history becoming the first African American to receive an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination. He joined the American Negro Theatre, landing his breakthrough film role as a high school student in the film Blackboard Jungle (1955). He grew up in the Bahamas, but moved to Miami at age 15, and to New York City when he was 16. ![]() Poitier's family lived in the Bahamas, then still a Crown colony, but he was born in Miami, Florida, while they were visiting, which automatically granted him U.S. Poitier was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. ![]() In 1999, he ranked among one of the " American Film Institute's 100 Stars". ![]() He received two competitive Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award as well as nominations for two Emmy Awards and a Tony Award. In 1964, he was the first Black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. Sidney Poitier KBE ( / ˈ p w ɑː t j eɪ/ PWAH-tyay February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was a Bahamian and American actor, film director, and diplomat.
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