Sidney Poitier, R.I.P.

In the days before his passing, I thought about Sidney Poitier a couple of times.

Earlier this week, someone at work referred to me in an email as Mr. Goldstein. In jest, I quoted Poitier's famous line from In The Heat of the Night, "They call me, Mr. Tibbs!!!"

Then this morning, a few hours before I learned that Sidney Poitier had passed away, I was thinking about him albeit a roundabout way. I started out by thinking about Philadelphia Story (which is being shown at The Brattle next month) starring Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart and Katherine Hepburn. I then thought of Hepburn and particularly her role in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner which led me to think of Sidney Poitier and what a commanding presence he had onscreen.

Sadly, he exited the stage yesterday at the age of 94. No cause of death has been released. 

A few years back, I read Poitier's 1980 memoir This Life which recounted his impoverished childhood in the Bahamas, returning to America and struggling in both Miami and Harlem before finding his life's calling with the theater. When one sees Poitier in a movie he made it look so effortless. But Poitier had to overcome a thick accent and a thin skin. 

Poitier's film career began in the 1950's. His breakout role came in Blackboard Jungle with Glenn Ford. By the end of the decade, Poitier earned his first Academy Award nomination in The Defiant Ones - the first ever for an African-American male. In between Blackboard Jungle and The Defiant Ones, Poitier co-starred with John Cassavetes in Edge of the City which was among the first films with the theme of an interracial friendship.

At the start of the 1960's, Poitier would star in A Raisin in the Sun reprising his role of Walter Lee Younger whom he had portrayed a year earlier on Broadway. Poitier would become the first African-American male to win Best Actor for his portrayal of Homer Smith in the 1963 film Lilies in the Field. 

The pinnacle of Poitier's career came in 1967 when he starred in three of the biggest films of the year - In The Heat of the Night, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and To Sir, with Love. The first film won Best Picture while the second film received a Best Picture nomination. Poitier would reprise the role of Virgil Tibbs in They Call Me Mr. Tibbs! and The Organization in the early 1970's, but with considerably less success.

Poitier would work more sporadically during the 1970's and 1980's turning his attention to directing with comedy films like Uptown Saturday Night and Let's Do It Again both with Bill Cosby as well as Stir Crazy with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. In the late 1980's and early 1990's, Poitier returned to acting with roles in Shoot to Kill, Little Nikita and Sneakers. Poitier also appeared on TV portraying Thurgood Marshall in Separate But Equal and Nelson Mandela in Mandela and de Clerk with Michael Caine. He also reprised the role of Mark Thackeray in a TV movie sequel for To Sir, with Love. 

In the late 1990's, Poitier became a diplomat when he was named Bahamian Ambassador to Japan and also served as that country's Ambassador to UNESCO holding both roles until 2007. Among his many honors include the Presidential Medal Freedom bestowed upon him by President Obama in 2009.

Like many people of great intelligence and thoughtfulness, Poitier did not suffer fools or foolish questions gladly. While he was a supporter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Poitier led a life which more than about race as he amply demonstrates in this exchange with reporters. R.I.P.