Sidney Poitier Has Died

Angela Channing

Angela Channing

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Sidney Poiteir has died, aged 94. The Hollywood actor was whose films include Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night and Lilies of the Field, for which he became the first black man to win a Best Actor Oscar.

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www.bbc.co.uk

Sidney Poitier: The actor who broke down Hollywood's racial barriers

Sidney Poitier, the actor and director who helped break down Hollywood's racial barriers, dies aged 94.
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Angela Channing

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About a year and a half ago I watched the film Lilies In The Field (1963) for the first time and posted my thoughts in the What Was The Last Film You Watched thread. This is part of what I said in my review:

Sidney Poitier plays Homer Smith who by chance meets a group of nuns and who persuade him to stay and build a chapel for them. It's an understated film that has drama and humour with just the right balance of each. Sidney Poitier is outstanding and gives one of the most charming and endearing performances you will ever see in a film.

He was one of the greats of Hollywood who should have had a more extensive career but he rejected film roles based on offensive racial stereotypes at a time when many Black performers were relegated to subservient or foolish roles. He once said “the kind of Negro played on the screen was always negative, buffoons, clowns, shuffling butlers, really misfits. This was the background when I came along 20 years ago and I chose not to be a party to the stereotyping". What a man!
 
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Such a sad start of the new year. I'll always remember him from "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?" (1967). It was such a great movie. :)

My condolances to his family, friends and fans. :rip:
 
Snarky Oracle!

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Angela Channing said:
About a year and a half ago I watched the film Lilies In The Field (1963) for the first time and posted my thoughts in the What Was The Last Film You Watched thread. This is part of what I said in my review:

Sidney Poitier plays Homer Smith who by chance meets a group of nuns and who persuade him to stay and build a chapel for them. It's an understated film that has drama and humour with just the right balance of each. Sidney Poitier is outstanding and gives one of the most charming and endearing performances you will ever see in a film.

He was one of the greats of Hollywood who should have had a more extensive career but he rejected film roles based on offensive racial stereotypes at a time when many Black performers were relegated to subservient or foolish roles. He once said “the kind of Negro played on the screen was always negative, buffoons, clowns, shuffling butlers, really misfits. This was the background when I came along 20 years ago and I chose not to be a party to the stereotyping". What a man!
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My mother's favorite movie in her sundowning years.
 
Angela Channing

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The New York Time had my favourite opinion piece about Sidney Poitier, I'll quote the first 2 paragraphs:

Were anyone to ask me who’s the greatest American movie star, my answer would never change. And it will never change because the answer is easy. The greatest American movie star is Sidney Poitier. You mean the greatest Black movie star? I don’t. Am I being controversial? Confrontational? Contrarian? No. I’m simply telling the truth.

Who did more with less? Of whom was less expected as much as more? Who had more eyes and more daggers, more hopes and fears and intentions aimed his way, at his person, his skill and, by extension, his people? Race shouldn’t matter here. But it must, since Hollywood made his race the matter. Movie after movie insisted he be the Black man for white America, which he was fine with, of course. He was Black. But the radical shock of Sidney Poitier was the stress his stardom placed on “man.” Human.

You can read the whole article here:

www.nytimes.com

Sidney Poitier Was the Star We Desperately Needed Him to Be (Published 2022)

Without the obstacles put in his way, he could’ve been even bigger than he was. But Mr. Poitier still managed to be a giant, which, in itself, is astonishing.
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Angela Channing

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Probably Sidney's Poitier's greatest scene in his career. His character wasn't going to tolerate a white man slapping him and his response was heard around the world.

 
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