Sidney Poitier

Sidney Poitier was born on Feb 20, 1927 in USA. Sidney Poitier's big-screen debut came with No Way Out directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz in 1950, strarring Dr. Luther Brooks. Sidney Poitier is known for The Last Brickmaker in America directed by Gregg Champion, Sidney Poitier stars as Henry Cobb and Piper Laurie as Ruth Anne. Sidney Poitier has got 28 awards and 41 nominations so far. The most recent award Sidney Poitier achieved is Online Film & Television Association. The upcoming new movie Sidney Poitier plays is The Last Brickmaker in America which will be released on Sep 23, 2001.

Sidney Poitier was a native of Cat Island, Bahamas, although born, two months prematurely, in Miami during a visit by his parents, Evelyn (Outten) and Reginald James Poitier. He grew up in poverty as the son of farmers, with his father also driving a cab in Nassau. Sidney had little formal education and at the age of 15 was sent to Miami to live with his brother, in order to forestall a growing tendency toward delinquency. In the U.S., he experienced the racial chasm that divides the country, a great shock to a boy coming from a society with a majority of African descent.At 18, he went to New York, did menial jobs and slept in a bus terminal toilet. A brief stint in the Army as a worker at a veterans' hospital was followed by more menial jobs in Harlem. An impulsive audition at the American Negro Theatre was rejected so forcefully that Poitier dedicated the next six months to overcoming his accent and improving his performing skills. On his second try, he was accepted. Spotted in rehearsal by a casting agent, he won a bit part in the Broadway production of "Lysistrata", for which he earned good reviews. By the end of 1949, he was having to choose between leading roles on stage and an offer to work for Darryl F. Zanuck in the film La porte s'ouvre (1950). His performance as a doctor treating a white bigot got him plenty of notice and led to more roles. Nevertheless, the roles were still less interesting and prominent than those white actors routinely obtained. But seven years later, after turning down several projects he considered demeaning, Poitier got a number of roles that catapulted him into a category rarely if ever achieved by an African-American man of that time, that of leading man. One of these films, La chaîne (1958), earned Poitier his first Academy Award nomination as Best Actor. Five years later, he won the Oscar for Les Lys des champs (1963), the first African American to win for a leading role.He remained active on stage and screen as well as in the burgeoning Civil Rights movement. His roles in Devine qui vient dîner... (1967) and Les anges aux poings serrés (1967) were landmarks in helping to break down some social barriers between blacks and whites. Poitier's talent, conscience, integrity, and inherent likability placed him on equal footing with the white stars of the day. He took on directing and producing chores in the 1970s, achieving success in both arenas.