Sidney Poitier, whose innovative work in the '50s and' 60s paved the way for many other actors of color, has passed away at the age of 94.
His death was announced Friday by Bahamas Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell. "We have lost an icon. "A hero, a mentor, a warrior, a national treasure," he said.
Poitier, who was born in Miami and raised in the Bahamas, was the first actor of color to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in "Lilies of the Field," and along with Harry Belafonte were the first pioneers. that paved the way for the presence of people of color in cinemas.
"No words can describe how your work radically changed my life. The dignity, strength, perfection and pure electricity he brought to the roles showed us that we, as people of color, mattered !!! " wrote actress Viola Davis after the news of her death.
Poitier's entire family lived in the Bahamas, then still a British colony, but he was suddenly born in Miami while they were visiting over the weekend, which automatically granted him US citizenship.
Few movie stars have had the same impact that Sidney Poitier had. Poitier's profile growth reflected profound changes in the 1950s and 1960s.
Debates about diversity in Hollywood inevitably return to Poitier's story. With his sleek face, intense look and style, he was for years the most famous movie star.
Some of his most famous films are "No Way Out", "Edge of the City", "A Raisin in the Sun", "A Patch of Blue", "In the Heat of the Night", "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner "," Buck and the Preacher "," Uptown Saturday Night "," The Wilby Conspiracy "," Sneakers "," The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn "etc.
Poitier married twice: to Juanita Hardy between 1950 and 1965 (with whom he had four children) and then to Joanna Shimkus in 1976 (with whom he had two others).
