
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