Another award-winning Hollywood icon is dead.
Sidney Poitier, the first black actor to win an Academy Award, has died at the age of 94.
Poitier was a Bahamian who was born prematurely in Miami, Florida.
He grew up in the Bahamas, but because of his premature birth, he gained dual US citizenship.
He started his career with the American Negro Theater, gaining his first film role in 1950, leading to more roles including those in films like 1961’s A Raisin in the Sun – for which he gained a Golden Globe Award nomination.
He is perhaps best known for his roles in the classics To Sir, With Love, In the Heat of the Night, and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? and became a Hollywood idol for his talent and good looks.
Before his passing he was the oldest living Academy Award recipient.
He was nominated for Best Actor in 1958 for his role in The Defiant Ones, and won the Best Actor award in 1963 for Lilies of the Field.
He was a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011, and was knighted to the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth in 1974.
We lost an elegant King today. Thank you Sidney Poitier. For not only opening the door, but for walking in this world with endless grace and excellence, so that today, still, we follow behind you, reaching toward the example that you set. Rest In Peace and in Power. We love you. pic.twitter.com/CP2ga9KiHu
— kerry washington (@kerrywashington) January 7, 2022
