Sidney Poitier
Known for: 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.
Filmography
Series
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
1962
Series
The Mike Douglas Show
Self
1961
Series
The Mike Douglas Show
Self - Taped Tribute
1961
Series
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee
1944
Series
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter
1944
Series
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter
1956
Series
The Merv Griffin Show
Self
1962
Series
The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest
1968
Series
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
Series
The Philco Television Playhouse
Tommy Tyler
1948
Series
Omnibus
1967
Film '72
Self
1971
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
Self
1957
Series
The Oscars
Self
1953
Series
Omnibus
1952
Series
The Kennedy Center Honors
Self
1978
Film
The Jackal
Carter Preston
1997
Series
Cinépanorama
Self
1956
Film
Sneakers
Crease
1992
Series
Hollywood Black
Self (archive footage)
2024
Film
In the Heat of the Night
Virgil Tibbs
1967
Series
ABC Stage 67
Self - Host
1966
Series
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Self
1973
Film
To Sir, with Love
Mark Thackeray
1967
Film
Sidney
Self
2022
Film
The Greatest Story Ever Told
Simon of Cyrene
1965
Film
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
John Prentice
1967
Film
Shoot to Kill
Warren Stantin
1988
Film
The Defiant Ones
Noah Cullen
1958
Film
Paris Blues
Eddie Cook
1961
Series
Children of the Dust
Gypsy Smith
1995
Film
Duel at Diablo
Toller
1966
Film
Uptown Saturday Night
Steve Jackson
1974
Film
Little Nikita
Roy Parmenter
1988
Film
A Patch of Blue
Gordon Ralfe
1965
Film
Buck and the Preacher
Buck
1972
Film
They Call Me Mister Tibbs!
Virgil Tibbs
1970
Film
Blackboard Jungle
Gregory W. Miller
1955
Film
The Wilby Conspiracy
Shack Twala
1975
Kraft Television Theatre
1953
Film
No Way Out
Luther Brooks
1950
Film
Paul Newman: The Restless
Self
2023
Film
A Raisin in the Sun
Walter Lee Younger
1961
Film
The Organization
Virgil Tibbs
1971
Film
Lilies of the Field
Homer Smith
1963
Film
Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project
Self
2007
Film
The Long Ships
Aly Mansuh
1964
Film
Night of 100 Stars II
Self
1985
Film
Nationtime: Gary
Self - Narrator
1972
Series
Separate but Equal
Thurgood Marshall
1991
Film
Mr. SOUL!
Self (archive footage)
2018
Film
Remembering Gene Wilder
Self (archive photos)
2024
Film
Band of Angels
Rau-Ru
1957
Film
A Piece of the Action
Manny Durrell
1977
Film
The Slender Thread
Alan Newell
1965
Film
The Resurrection of Christ
2026
Film
The Bedford Incident
Ben Munceford
1965
Film
Edge of the City
Tommy Tyler
1957
Film
To Sir, with Love II
Mark Thackeray
1996
Film
Let's Do It Again
Clyde Williams
1975
Film
Sepia Cinderella
Nightclub Extra (uncredited)
1947
Film
The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn
Noah Dearborn
1999
Film
Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night
Self - Audience Member
1988
Film
Pressure Point
Doctor
1962
Film
The Lost Man
Jason Higgs
1969
Film
Reinventing Elvis: The 68' Comeback
Self (archive footage)
2023
Film
Porgy and Bess
Porgy
1959
Film
Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light
2000
Film
The Red Ball Express
Robertson
1952
Film
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
Self (archive footage)
1970
Film
The Making of ‘Sneakers’
Self
2003
Film
David and Lisa
Dr. Jack Miller
1998
Film
Something of Value
Kimani Wa Karanja
1957
Film
Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick
Self
1995
Film
A Warm December
Dr. Matt Younger
1973
Film
The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
Self
1986
Film
Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley
Self
2013
Film
Virgin Island
Marcus
1959
Film
Free of Eden
Will Cleamons
1999
Film
Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist
Reverend Msimangu (archive footage)
1998
Hollywood Legenden
Self
2004
Film
Good-bye, My Lady
Gates Watson
1956
Film
Separate but Equal
Thurgood Marshall
1991
Film
Sing Your Song
Self
2012
Film
The Mark of the Hawk
Obam
1957
Film
The Last Brickmaker in America
Henry Cobb
2001
Film
Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist
Narrator (voice)
1979
Film
Brother John
John Kane
1971
Film
The Madding Crowd
Self (archive footage)
2017
Film
Mandela and de Klerk
Nelson Mandela
1997
Film
For Love of Ivy
Jack Parks
1968
Film
Afro Promo
Self (archive footage)
1997
Film
Cry, the Beloved Country
Reverend Msimangu
1951
Film
Richard Widmark: Strength of Characters
Self
2000
Film
Quincy Jones: In the Pocket
Self
2001
Film
All the Young Men
Sgt. Eddie Towler
1960
Film
I Love Quincy
Self
1984
Film
Sidney Poitier - The Man Who Changed Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
2023
Film
Go Man Go
Inman Jackson
1954
Three Young Americans in Search of Survival
Himself
1969
Film
Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes / Feeling Heart
Self
2017
Film
The Strolling '20s
Self
1966
Film
A Man Is Ten Feet Tall
Tommy Tyler
1955
Film
Martin Luther King and the March on Washington
Self
2013
Film
A Cinderella Named Elizabeth
Self
1965
Film
A Star Without a Star: The Untold Juanita Moore Story
Self
2022
Film
Poitier's Walter Lee
Self (archive footage)
2018