Sidney Poitier
Acting
Sidney Poitier KBE (February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was a Bahamian and American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he became the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, for Lilies of the Field. Other accolades include two competitive Golden Globe Awards, a competitive British Academy of Film and Television Arts award (BAFTA), and a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. Major films featuring Poitier in a starring role include Blackboard Jungle (1955), The Defiant Ones (1958), To Sir, with Love (1967), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), In the Heat of the Night (1967), Sneakers (1992), and The Jackal (1997). Later in his career, he turned to directing with features such as Buck and the Preacher (1972), Uptown Saturday Night (1974), Stir Crazy (1980), and Ghost Dad (1990). At the time of his death, Poitier was one of the last major stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.
TV Shows(18)
Hollywood Black
Self (archive footage)
2024
Children of the Dust
Gypsy Smith
1995
Separate but Equal
Thurgood Marshall
1991
The Kennedy Center Honors
Self
1978
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Self
1973
The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest
1968
ABC Stage 67
Self - Host
1966
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
1962
The Merv Griffin Show
Self
1962
The Mike Douglas Show
Self
1961
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
Self
1957
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter
1956
Cinépanorama
Self
1956
Kraft Television Theatre
1953
The Oscars
Self
1953
Omnibus
1952
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee
1944
Movies(82)
The Resurrection of Christ
2026
Reinventing Elvis: The 68' Comeback
Self (archive footage)
2023
Sidney Poitier - The Man Who Changed Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
2023
A Star Without a Star: The Untold Juanita Moore Story
Self
2022
Sidney
Self
2022
Poitier's Walter Lee
Self (archive footage)
2018
Mr. SOUL!
Self (archive footage)
2018
Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes / Feeling Heart
Self
2017
The Madding Crowd
Self (archive footage)
2017
Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley
Self
2013
Martin Luther King and the March on Washington
Self
2013
Sing Your Song
Self
2012
Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project
Self
2007
Hollywood Legenden
Self
2004
The Making of ‘Sneakers’
Self
2003
Quincy Jones: In the Pocket
Self
2001
The Last Brickmaker in America
Henry Cobb
2001
Richard Widmark: Strength of Characters
Self
2000
Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light
2000
The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn
Noah Dearborn
1999
Free of Eden
Will Cleamons
1999
David and Lisa
Dr. Jack Miller
1998
Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist
Reverend Msimangu (archive footage)
1998
The Jackal
Carter Preston
1997
Mandela and de Klerk
Nelson Mandela
1997
Afro Promo
Self (archive footage)
1997
To Sir, with Love II
Mark Thackeray
1996
Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick
Self
1995
Sneakers
Crease
1992
Separate But Equal
Thurgood Marshall
1991
Little Nikita
Roy Parmenter
1988
Shoot to Kill
Warren Stantin
1988
Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night
Self - Audience Member
1988
The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
Self
1986
Night of 100 Stars II
Self
1985
I Love Quincy
Self
1984
Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist
Narrator (voice)
1979
A Piece of the Action
Manny Durrell
1977
Let's Do It Again
Clyde Williams
1975
The Wilby Conspiracy
Shack Twala
1975
Uptown Saturday Night
Steve Jackson
1974
A Warm December
Dr. Matt Younger
1973
Nationtime
Self - Narrator
1972
Buck and the Preacher
Buck
1972
The Organization
Virgil Tibbs
1971
Brother John
John Kane
1971
They Call Me Mister Tibbs!
Virgil Tibbs
1970
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
Self (archive footage)
1970
The Lost Man
Jason Higgs
1969
Three Young Americans in Search of Survival
Himself
1969
For Love of Ivy
Jack Parks
1968
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
John Prentice
1967
In the Heat of the Night
Virgil Tibbs
1967
To Sir, with Love
Mark Thackeray
1967
Duel at Diablo
Toller
1966
The Strolling '20s
Self
1966
The Slender Thread
Alan Newell
1965
A Patch of Blue
Gordon Ralfe
1965
The Bedford Incident
Ben Munceford
1965
The Greatest Story Ever Told
Simon of Cyrene
1965
A Cinderella Named Elizabeth
Self
1965
The Long Ships
Aly Mansuh
1964
Lilies of the Field
Homer Smith
1963
Pressure Point
Doctor
1962
Paris Blues
Eddie Cook
1961
A Raisin in the Sun
Walter Lee Younger
1961
All the Young Men
Sgt. Eddie Towler
1960
Virgin Island
Marcus
1959
Porgy and Bess
Porgy
1959
The Defiant Ones
Noah Cullen
1958
The Mark of the Hawk
Obam
1957
Band of Angels
Rau-Ru
1957
Something of Value
Kimani Wa Karanja
1957
Edge of the City
Tommy Tyler
1957
Good-bye, My Lady
Gates Watson
1956
A Man Is Ten Feet Tall
Tommy Tyler
1955
Blackboard Jungle
Gregory W. Miller
1955
Go Man Go
Inman Jackson
1954
The Red Ball Express
Robertson
1952
Cry, the Beloved Country
Reverend Msimangu
1951
No Way Out
Luther Brooks
1950
Sepia Cinderella
Nightclub Extra (uncredited)
1947