Biography sidney poitier
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Sidney Poitier
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Who Was Sidney Poitier?
After a delinquency-filled youth and a short stint in the U.S. Army, Sidney Poitier moved to New York to pursue an acting career. He joined the American Negro Theater and later began finding roles in Hollywood. Following his performance in the film Lilies of the Field, he became the first African American to win an Academy Award for Best Actor. He also directed several films, including Buck and the Preacher and Stir Crazy. The acclaimed actor was knighted in and honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in
Early Years in Miami and the Bahamas
Sidney Poitier was born on February 20, , in Miami, Florida. He arrived two and a half months prematurely while his Bahamian parents were on vacation in Miami. As soon as he was strong enough, Poitier left the United States with his parents for the Bahamas. There, Poitier spent his early years on his father's tomato farm on katt Island. After the farm failed, the family moved to Nass
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Sidney Poitier was a native of Cat Island, Bahamas, although born, two months prematurely, in Miami during a visit by his parents, Evelyn (Outten) and Reginald James Poitier. He grew up in poverty as the son of farmers, with his father also driving a cab in Nassau. Sidney had little formal education and at the age of 15 was sent to Miami to live with his brother, in order to forestall a growing tendency toward delinquency. In the U.S., he experienced the racial chasm that divides the country, a great shock to a boy coming from a society with a majority of African descent.
At 18, he went to New York, did menial jobs and slept in a bus terminal toilet. A brief stint in the Army as a worker at a veterans' hospital was followed by more menial jobs in Harlem. An impulsive audition at the American Negro Theatre was rejected so forcefully that Poitier dedicated the next six months to overcoming his accent and improving his performing skills. On his second try, he was accepted. Spott
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Sidney Poitier
Bahamian-American actor, filmmaker, diplomat (–)
For his daughter, the actress, see Sydney Tamiia Poitier.
Sidney Poitier (PWAH-tyay;[1] February 20, &#;– January 6, ) was a Bahamian-American actor, film director, activist, and diplomat. In , he was the first African-American actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor.[2] He received two competitive Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award as well as nominations for two Emmy Awards and a Tony Award. In , he was ranked among the "American Film Institute's Stars".[3][4] Poitier was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.[5][6][7]
Poitier's family lived in the Bahamas, then still a Crown colony, but he was born in Miami, Florida, while they were visiting, which automatically granted him U.S. citizenship. He grew up in the Bahamas, but moved to Miami at age 15, and to New Yor