Acting · Miami, Florida, USA · Born February 20, 1927
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.
MovieThe Resurrection of Christ
2026
TVHollywood Black
2024
as Self (archive footage)
MovieRemembering Gene Wilder
2024
as Self (archive photos)
MovieReinventing Elvis: The 68' Comeback
2023
as Self (archive footage)
MoviePaul Newman: The Restless
2023
as Self
MovieSidney Poitier - The Man Who Changed Hollywood
2023
as Self (archive footage)
MovieA Star Without a Star: The Untold Juanita Moore Story
2022
as Self
MovieSidney
2022
as Self
MoviePoitier's Walter Lee
2018
as Self (archive footage)
MovieMr. SOUL!
2018
as Self (archive footage)
MovieLorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes / Feeling Heart
2017
as Self
MovieThe Madding Crowd
2017
as Self (archive footage)
MovieWhoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley
2013
as Self
MovieMartin Luther King and the March on Washington
2013
as Self
MovieSing Your Song
2012
as Self
MovieMr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project
2007
as Self
Hollywood Legenden
2004
as Self
MovieThe Making of ‘Sneakers’
2003
as Self
MovieQuincy Jones: In the Pocket
2001
as Self
MovieThe Last Brickmaker in America
2001
as Henry Cobb
MovieRichard Widmark: Strength of Characters
2000
as Self
MovieSidney Poitier: One Bright Light
2000
MovieThe Simple Life of Noah Dearborn
1999
as Noah Dearborn
MovieFree of Eden
1999
as Will Cleamons
MovieDavid and Lisa
1998
as Dr. Jack Miller
MovieScandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist
1998
as Reverend Msimangu (archive footage)
MovieThe Jackal
1997
as Carter Preston
MovieMandela and de Klerk
1997
as Nelson Mandela
MovieAfro Promo
1997
as Self (archive footage)
MovieTo Sir, with Love II
1996
as Mark Thackeray
TVChildren of the Dust
1995
as Gypsy Smith
MovieWild Bill: Hollywood Maverick
1995
as Self
MovieSneakers
1992
as Crease
MovieSeparate but Equal
1991
as Thurgood Marshall
TVSeparate but Equal
1991
as Thurgood Marshall
MovieLittle Nikita
1988
as Roy Parmenter
MovieShoot to Kill
1988
as Warren Stantin
MovieRoy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night
1988
as Self - Audience Member
MovieThe Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
1986
as Self
MovieNight of 100 Stars II
1985
as Self
MovieI Love Quincy
1984
as Self
MoviePaul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist
1979
as Narrator (voice)
TVThe Kennedy Center Honors
1978
as Self
MovieA Piece of the Action
1977
as Manny Durrell
MovieLet's Do It Again
1975
as Clyde Williams
MovieThe Wilby Conspiracy
1975
as Shack Twala
MovieUptown Saturday Night
1974
as Steve Jackson
MovieA Warm December
1973
as Dr. Matt Younger
TVThe American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973
as Self
MovieNationtime: Gary
1972
as Self - Narrator
MovieBuck and the Preacher
1972
as Buck
Film '72
1971
as Self
MovieThe Organization
1971
as Virgil Tibbs
MovieBrother John
1971
as John Kane
MovieThey Call Me Mister Tibbs!
1970
as Virgil Tibbs
MovieKing: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
1970
as Self (archive footage)
MovieThe Lost Man
1969
as Jason Higgs
Three Young Americans in Search of Survival
1969
as Himself
MovieFor Love of Ivy
1968
as Jack Parks
TVThe Dick Cavett Show
1968
as Self - Guest
MovieGuess Who's Coming to Dinner
1967
as John Prentice
TVOmnibus
1967
MovieIn the Heat of the Night
1967
as Virgil Tibbs
MovieTo Sir, with Love
1967
as Mark Thackeray
TVABC Stage 67
1966
as Self - Host
MovieDuel at Diablo
1966
as Toller
MovieThe Strolling '20s
1966
as Self
MovieThe Slender Thread
1965
as Alan Newell
MovieA Patch of Blue
1965
as Gordon Ralfe
MovieThe Bedford Incident
1965
as Ben Munceford
MovieThe Greatest Story Ever Told
1965
as Simon of Cyrene
MovieA Cinderella Named Elizabeth
1965
as Self
MovieThe Long Ships
1964
as Aly Mansuh
MovieLilies of the Field
1963
as Homer Smith
MoviePressure Point
1962
as Doctor
TVThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
as Self
TVThe Merv Griffin Show
1962
as Self
TVThe Mike Douglas Show
1961
as Self
MovieParis Blues
1961
as Eddie Cook
MovieA Raisin in the Sun
1961
as Walter Lee Younger
MovieAll the Young Men
1960
as Sgt. Eddie Towler
MovieVirgin Island
1959
as Marcus
MoviePorgy and Bess
1959
as Porgy
MovieThe Defiant Ones
1958
as Noah Cullen
MovieThe Mark of the Hawk
1957
as Obam
MovieBand of Angels
1957
as Rau-Ru
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
1957
as Self
MovieSomething of Value
1957
as Kimani Wa Karanja
MovieEdge of the City
1957
as Tommy Tyler
MovieGood-bye, My Lady
1956
as Gates Watson
TVTony Awards
1956
as Self - Presenter
TVCinépanorama
1956
as Self
MovieA Man Is Ten Feet Tall
1955
as Tommy Tyler
MovieBlackboard Jungle
1955
as Gregory W. Miller
MovieGo Man Go
1954
as Inman Jackson
Kraft Television Theatre
1953
TVThe Oscars
1953
as Self
TVOmnibus
1952
MovieThe Red Ball Express
1952
as Robertson
MovieCry, the Beloved Country
1951
as Reverend Msimangu
MovieNo Way Out
1950
as Luther Brooks
TVThe Philco Television Playhouse
1948
MovieSepia Cinderella
1947
as Nightclub Extra (uncredited)
TVGolden Globe Awards
1944
as Self - Nominee
