---
name: "Sidney Poitier"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/sidney-poitier"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "20 February 1927"
died: "6 January 2022"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 75
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-09-20T04:45:35.453368+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Sidney Poitier

Actor. Born 20 February 1927 in Miami, Florida, USA. Died 6 January 2022.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 20 February 1927, Miami, Florida, USA
- **Died:** 6 January 2022
- **Active:** 1958–1967
- **Also known as:** Sir Sidney Poitier, Сидней Пуатье, シドニー・ポワティエ
- **Frequently works with:** [Stanley Kramer](https://film.one/person/stanley-kramer.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 1 nominated)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 75, as actor, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1950s 74 (1), 1960s 75 (3)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 76 to 74 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 4 of 4 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 4, Crime 2, Thriller 2, Adventure 1, Comedy 1, Mystery 1
- **Screen time:** 7 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $91m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Poitier, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104049, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001627/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/16897

## Streaming the US now

- **The Roku Channel:** [*In the Heat of the Night*](https://film.one/film/in-the-heat-of-the-night.md) (85), [*The Defiant Ones*](https://film.one/film/the-defiant-ones.md) (74)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Guess Who's Coming to Dinner*](https://film.one/film/guess-whos-coming-to-dinner.md) (70)
- **Tubi:** [*Lilies of the Field*](https://film.one/film/lilies-of-the-field.md) (70)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Sidney Poitier

> Poitier's leading men held everything back and let the little they released count double. The stillness made him a star and, for a stretch of the 1960s, a target; watch *The Defiant Ones* and see why both were fair.

Watch Noah Cullen while Tony Curtis is talking. In *The Defiant Ones* (1958) Poitier spends long stretches saying nothing, chained at the wrist to a man who will not shut up, and the stillness does most of the work. When he does open his mouth it is to sing, low and unbothered, a song about a man who got clean away, and it drives Curtis's Joker to fury. He saves his anger for the two or three moments when it will land. Most of what he does on screen works like that.

He arrived in *No Way Out* (1950), was noticed in *Blackboard Jungle* (1955), and became a star opposite Curtis under Stanley Kramer, who would direct him again. *A Raisin in the Sun* (1961) let him play Walter Lee Younger, a part he had done on stage, and gave him room to lose his temper properly. Then came 1967 and three leading roles in a year: Virgil Tibbs in *In the Heat of the Night* for Norman Jewison, John Prentice in *Guess Who's Coming to Dinner*, Mark Thackeray in *To Sir, with Love*. From the early 1970s he directed, *Stir Crazy* (1980) among them, and acted only now and then into the 1990s.

The voice was a made thing, a Bahamian accent worked down in New York, and it came out warm, measured and slightly formal, so that his men sounded as if they had thought before speaking. Against Rod Steiger in *In the Heat of the Night* that composure is the whole point of the casting. Set him next to a louder actor and he gets better, which is why the pairings with Curtis and Steiger are the ones people remember.

The cost is well known and it is real. Too often the parts asked him to be patient, wise and forgiving while the white man in the scene was allowed to be wrong and to grow, and the film's sympathy went to the man who changed. We noticed it in *The Defiant Ones* and it nagged at us; by the late 1960s some Black writers were saying so far more sharply. Poitier knew. "If the fabric of the society were different, I would scream to high heaven to play villains... But I'll be damned if I do that at this stage of the game," he said in 1967. He chose those parts, and he said why. It does mean a run of films in which the most interesting man on screen is not permitted to be interesting.

Our own reaction is the case for him. In *The Defiant Ones* the speeches about race were written to be quoted and we sat through them dutifully; the song got under our skin, because a chained man humming about escape as though he had all the time in the world told us more about Cullen than anything he was given to say. Start there, and keep your eyes on him whenever someone else has the lines.

## Biography

Sidney Poitier was a Bahamian-American actor and film director. Born in Miami, Florida, on 20 February 1927, he died on 6 January 2022.

He rose to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s with leading roles in *The Defiant Ones* (1958), *Lilies of the Field* (1963), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, *To Sir, with Love* (1967), *Guess Who's Coming to Dinner* (1967) and *In the Heat of the Night* (1967). He later directed films including *Stir Crazy* (1980) and *Ghost Dad* (1990).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, britannica.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

- *Guess Who's Coming to Dinner* (1967), Fi1m 70, as John Prentice — [page](https://film.one/film/guess-whos-coming-to-dinner.md)
- *In the Heat of the Night* (1967), Fi1m 85, as Virgil Tibbs — [page](https://film.one/film/in-the-heat-of-the-night.md)
- *Lilies of the Field* (1963), Fi1m 70, as Homer Smith — [page](https://film.one/film/lilies-of-the-field.md)
- *The Defiant Ones* (1958), Fi1m 74, as Noah Cullen — [page](https://film.one/film/the-defiant-ones.md)

## Complete filmography (64)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Resurrection of Christ* (2026), Actor
- *The Last Brickmaker in America* (2001), as Henry Cobb
- *Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light* (2000), Actor
- *The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn* (1999), as Noah Dearborn
- *Free of Eden* (1999), as Will Cleamons
- *David and Lisa* (1998), as Dr. Jack Miller
- *Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist* (1998), as Reverend Msimangu (archive footage)
- *The Jackal* (1997), as Carter Preston
- *Mandela and de Klerk* (1997), as Nelson Mandela
- *To Sir, with Love II* (1996), as Mark Thackeray
- *Children of the Dust* (1995), series, as Gypsy Smith
- *Sneakers* (1992), as Crease
- *Separate but Equal* (1991), as Thurgood Marshall
- *Separate but Equal* (1991), series, as Thurgood Marshall
- *Ghost Dad* (1990), Director
- *Little Nikita* (1988), as Roy Parmenter
- *Shoot to Kill* (1988), as Warren Stantin
- *Fast Forward* (1985), Director
- *Hanky Panky* (1982), Director
- *Stir Crazy* (1980), Director
- *Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist* (1979), as Narrator (voice)
- *A Piece of the Action* (1977), as Manny Durrell · Director
- *Let's Do It Again* (1975), as Clyde Williams · Director
- *The Wilby Conspiracy* (1975), as Shack Twala
- *Uptown Saturday Night* (1974), as Steve Jackson · Director
- *A Warm December* (1973), as Dr. Matt Younger · Director
- *Buck and the Preacher* (1972), as Buck · Producer, Director
- *The Organization* (1971), as Virgil Tibbs
- *Brother John* (1971), as John Kane
- *They Call Me Mister Tibbs!* (1970), as Virgil Tibbs
- *The Lost Man* (1969), as Jason Higgs
- *For Love of Ivy* (1968), as Jack Parks · Original Story
- *Guess Who's Coming to Dinner* (1967), as John Prentice — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/guess-whos-coming-to-dinner.md)
- *Omnibus* (1967), series, Actor
- *In the Heat of the Night* (1967), as Virgil Tibbs — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/in-the-heat-of-the-night.md)
- *To Sir, with Love* (1967), as Mark Thackeray
- *Duel at Diablo* (1966), as Toller
- *The Slender Thread* (1965), as Alan Newell
- *A Patch of Blue* (1965), as Gordon Ralfe
- *The Bedford Incident* (1965), as Ben Munceford
- *The Greatest Story Ever Told* (1965), as Simon of Cyrene
- *The Long Ships* (1964), as Aly Mansuh
- *Lilies of the Field* (1963), as Homer Smith — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/lilies-of-the-field.md)
- *Pressure Point* (1962), as Doctor
- *Paris Blues* (1961), as Eddie Cook
- *A Raisin in the Sun* (1961), as Walter Lee Younger
- *All the Young Men* (1960), as Sgt. Eddie Towler
- *Virgin Island* (1959), as Marcus
- *Porgy and Bess* (1959), as Porgy
- *The Defiant Ones* (1958), as Noah Cullen — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-defiant-ones.md)
- *The Mark of the Hawk* (1957), as Obam
- *Band of Angels* (1957), as Rau-Ru
- *Something of Value* (1957), as Kimani Wa Karanja
- *Edge of the City* (1957), as Tommy Tyler
- *Good-bye, My Lady* (1956), as Gates Watson
- *A Man Is Ten Feet Tall* (1955), as Tommy Tyler
- *Blackboard Jungle* (1955), as Gregory W. Miller
- *Go Man Go* (1954), as Inman Jackson
- *Kraft Television Theatre* (1953), series, Actor
- *The Red Ball Express* (1952), as Robertson
- *Cry, the Beloved Country* (1951), as Reverend Msimangu
- *No Way Out* (1950), as Luther Brooks
- *The Philco Television Playhouse* (1948), series, as Tommy Tyler
- *Sepia Cinderella* (1947), as Nightclub Extra (uncredited)

## Gallery

- ![Sidney Poitier](https://film.one/media/person/1239471/gallery-a03ced492d8b.jpg) Sidney Poitier — Unknown photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Sidney_Poitier_1968.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. [Actors Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, and Charlton Heston.], 08/28/1963](https://film.one/media/person/1239471/gallery-779b5d857670.jpg) Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. [Actors Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, and Charlton Heston.], 08/28/1963 — U.S. Information Agency. Press and Publications Service.  (ca. 1953 - ca. 1978), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Poitier_Belafonte_Heston_Civil_Rights_March_1963_2_crop.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Sidney Poitier's star on the Paseo de las Estrellas on Paseo Constitución in Victoria de Durango, Mexico (2018)](https://film.one/media/person/1239471/gallery-3609f239c2d4.jpg) Sidney Poitier's star on the Paseo de las Estrellas on Paseo Constitución in Victoria de Durango, Mexico (2018) — Thelmadatter, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/49/PaseodelasEstrellas025.jpg/1280px-PaseodelasEstrellas025.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![President Barack Obama hugs Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient actor Sidney Poitier during the award ceremony in the East Room of the White House, on Aug. ](https://film.one/media/person/1239471/gallery-25628a3df400.jpg) President Barack Obama hugs Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient actor Sidney Poitier during the award ceremony in the East Room of the White House, on Aug.  — The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Barack_Obama_hugs_Sidney_Poitier.jpg/1280px-Barack_Obama_hugs_Sidney_Poitier.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Sidney Poitier](https://film.one/media/person/1239471/gallery-8557861fe6a4.jpg) Sidney Poitier — Image via TMDB
- ![Sidney Poitier](https://film.one/media/person/1239471/gallery-b58fbd8f0656.jpg) Sidney Poitier — Image via TMDB
- ![Sidney Poitier](https://film.one/media/person/1239471/gallery-3e06f12de87a.jpg) Sidney Poitier — Image via TMDB
- ![Left to right: Mychal Thompson, a guest, Sidney Poitier, Rick Fox, and another guest at the 2012 Sidney Poitier Recognition Dinner in The Bahamas](https://film.one/media/person/1239471/gallery-4fd221605df4.jpg) Left to right: Mychal Thompson, a guest, Sidney Poitier, Rick Fox, and another guest at the 2012 Sidney Poitier Recognition Dinner in The Bahamas — Redsky Enterprise, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Mychal_Thompson%2C_Sidney_Poitier%2C_and_Rick_Fox_at_the_Poitier_Recognition_Dinner.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Gregory Peck, Annabella, Sidney Poitier and Anne Bancroft backstage at the Academy Awards, Los Angeles Original caption: "HAPPINESS IS AN OSCAR—Holding Oscars a (1964)](https://film.one/media/person/1239471/gallery-d3356c6e7816.jpg) Gregory Peck, Annabella, Sidney Poitier and Anne Bancroft backstage at the Academy Awards, Los Angeles Original caption: "HAPPINESS IS AN OSCAR—Holding Oscars a (1964) — Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Gregory_Peck%2C_Annabella%2C_Sidney_Poitier%2C_and_Anne_Bancroft.jpg/1280px-Gregory_Peck%2C_Annabella%2C_Sidney_Poitier%2C_and_Anne_Bancroft.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Sidney Poitier](https://film.one/media/person/1239471/gallery-64c33d077df5.jpg) Sidney Poitier — Image via TMDB
- ![Sidney Poitier](https://film.one/media/person/1239471/gallery-80005bf445f1.jpg) Sidney Poitier — Image via TMDB
- ![Sidney Poitier](https://film.one/media/person/1239471/gallery-142895625f6a.jpg) Sidney Poitier — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 1 nominated

- 1964: Best Actor (won), for *Lilies of the Field*
- 1959: Best Actor (nominated), for *The Defiant Ones*

### BAFTA Film Awards — 1 won

- 2016: BAFTA Fellowship (won)

### Golden Globes — 2 won, 5 nominated

- 1981: Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award (won)
- 1967: Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama (nominated), for *In the Heat of the Night*
- 1965: Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama (nominated), for *A Patch of Blue*
- 1963: Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama (won), for *Lilies of the Field*
- 1961: Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama (nominated), for *A Raisin in the Sun*
- 1959: Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (nominated), for *Porgy and Bess*
- 1958: Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama (nominated), for *The Defiant Ones*

### Primetime Emmy Awards — 0 won, 2 nominated

- 1997: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie (nominated), for *Mandela and de Klerk*
- 1991: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie (nominated), for *Separate But Equal*

### SAG Awards — 1 won, 1 nominated

- 2000: Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award (won)
- 1998: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie (nominated), for *Mandela and de Klerk*

### Berlin International Film Festival — 2 won

- 1963: Silver Bear (won), for *Lilies of the Field*
- 1958: Best Actor (won), for *The Defiant Ones*

### Other awards — 17 won, 10 nominated

- Spingarn Medal 2015: Spingarn Medal (won)
- Presidential Medal of Freedom 2009: Presidential Medal of Freedom (won)
- Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording 2008: Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording (nominated)
- Paul Robeson Award 2008: Paul Robeson Award (won)
- Marian Anderson Award 2006: Marian Anderson Award (won)
- Academy Honorary Award 2002: Academy Honorary Award (won)
- Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording 2001: Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording (won), for *The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography*
- NAACP Image Award – Hall of Fame Award 2001: NAACP Image Award – Hall of Fame Award (won)
- Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording 2000: Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording (nominated)
- NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special 2000: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special (won), for *The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn*
- NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special 1998: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special (nominated), for *Mandela and de Klerk*
- NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special 1996: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special (nominated), for *Children of the Dust*
- Kennedy Center Honors 1995: Kennedy Center Honors (won)
- NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture 1994: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture (nominated), for *Sneakers*
- star on Hollywood Walk of Fame 1994: star on Hollywood Walk of Fame (won)
- AFI Life Achievement Award 1992: AFI Life Achievement Award (won)
- NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series 1992: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series (nominated), for *Separate But Equal*
- NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture 1988: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture (nominated), for *Shoot to Kill*
- honorary doctor of the University of Miami 1986: honorary doctor of the University of Miami (won)
- Coretta Scott King Award 1981: Coretta Scott King Award (won)
- Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame 1978: Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame (won)
- Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire 1974: Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (won)
- Henrietta Award 1970: Henrietta Award (nominated)
- Henrietta Award 1969: Henrietta Award (nominated)
- Henrietta Award 1968: Henrietta Award (won)
- Silver Shell for Best Actor 1968: Silver Shell for Best Actor (won)
- Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play 1960: Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play (nominated)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/sidney-poitier