Sidney Poitier, icon, legend, and Oscar winner passes away at the age of 94.
Poitier is a Bahamian-American actor, film director, activist, and ambassador. He was born Feb. 20, 1927, in Miami Florida. His birth was unexpected during a family trip to Miami. He grew up in his native land, the Bahamas. His family owned a farm. At the tender age of 15, he came to the United States to pursue personal goals in hopes of social, educational, and economical advancement. “He worked as a dishwasher in New York City, while he tried to land journeyman work as a stage actor. He was the lead actor in a play that ran for four performances, the understudy for another play, before ultimately joining the original cast of [sp] “A Raisin In the Sun,”” according to CineMontage.
He became one of the most influential actors throughout his career. Poitier, icon, legend, and oscar winner passed away but achieved so much in life. Achieving accolades such as Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 1964, Corretta Scott King Award for Authors in 1981, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture – Drama in 1964, NAACP Image Award-Hall of Fame Award in 2001, Grammy Award for Best-Spoken Word Album in 2001, and many more throughout his remarkable career.
Arizona State University named its film school after the great iconic legend. The Sidney Poitier New American Film School was chosen because of what the actor embodies as a human being. Excellence matching his drive, passion with a social purpose, and socially equal outcomes. “You’re looking for an icon, a person that embodies everything you stand for,” Michael M. Crow, university president, said in an earlier interview. “With Sidney Poitier, it’s his creative energy, his dynamism, his drive, his ambition, the kinds of projects he worked on, the ways in which he advanced his life,” according to Fox News.
Today the world has lost a great man, father, mentor, and friend, Poitier, icon, legend, and Oscar winner who passed away.
Written by Lionel Carter
Edited by Cathy Milne-Ware
Sources:
Fox News: Sidney Poitier, Oscar-winning actor, dead at 94; by Stephanie Nolasco
CINEMONTAGE: Cut to Black: Sidney Poitier, Actor, Director, and Activist
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Embajada de Estados U’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Insert Image Courtesy of Dennis Amith’s Flickr Page- Creative Commons License
