SIDNEY POITIER
Noted for his dignified portrayals of black characters, Sidney Poitier has become one of the foremost film actors of our time.
Born in 1927, Poitier was raised on tiny, impoverished Cat Island in the Bahamas. When he was 15, he was sent to live with an older brother in Miami, Florida. He eventually made his way to New York City, where he attended acting classes and appeared on the stage before touring the United States for three years with a theater company.
Poitier's Hollywood film career began in the 1950s, at a time when blacks were just beginning to be offered serious roles. Starring in such films as Blackboard Jungle and The Defiant Ones, he helped to change the public's image of blacks by bringing dignity and depth of character to the screen. He also helped to show the brutal reality of racism in America by appearing in movies such as the Academy Award-winning In the Heat of the Night.
Poitier's accomplishments were acknowledged in 1964, when he received an Oscar as Best Actor for his portrayal of the drifter Homer Smith in Lilies of the Field. The only black actor ever to be so honored, he continues to play a leading role in the acceptance of blacks in the film industry and around the world.
The BLACK AMERICANS OF ACHIEVEMENT series tells the stories of black men and women who have helped shape the course of modern history. Written in a straightforward, colorful style for young adults, the series is richly illustrated with photographs, art, and documents. Each volume contains a bibliography and complete chronology of the subject's life. Coretta Scott King's inspirational essay, "On Achievement," gives additional meaning to these diverse biographies.
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