Beneath his charming smile, lay an unparalleled acting prowess. Underlying his art, lay a singular force of societal progress. Having passed away on 6 January at the age of 94, renowned actor Sidney Poitier left behind a wealth of talent and activism to look back on and revere.
Garnering two Oscar nominations for his work in film, Poitier became the first African-American man to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field (1963).
Known for his simple yet powerful performances, Poitier’s choice of portraying complex central characters set a precedent in which future black actors such as Denzel Washington, Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman would follow suit.
A social activist through his craft, Poitier’s films and roles in the 1960s often carried themes of communal harmony amongst different races, furthering the ideals of the ongoing Civil Rights Movement in the United States at the time.
Take his Oscar-winning role in Lilies of the Field, wherein Poitier played a man seen as a Messianic offering from God to bridge the gap between communal groups. Or his 1967 films To Sir, With Love and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner which touched upon racial discrimination in urban spaces, depicting it with dramatic finesse, and (in the case of the latter) often in a humorous manner.
Poitier’s composed portrayals often carried subtle powerful themes that sought to challenge the biases held against the African-American community. Emphasizing the themes of acceptance, his films encouraged audiences to be better and be more open in their subjective view of the world, ushering in a cultural and political revolution through his craft in the process.
While he played characters that do not see themselves as the hero, Sidney Poitier was certainly one off-screen in the truest sense of the word.
Texts of A Pop Culture Buff 