Sidney Poitier

Abstract

Sidney Poitier (b. 1927) was the first African American to be, inarguably, a movie star and, beyond that, an “institution” of Hollywood film and American culture. Poitier’s stature is such that in his autobiography Barack Obama recalls his mother holding Poitier up as a model (alongside Martin Luther King Jr.); that in 2008 the New York Times’s film critics felt Poitier’s acting helped Americans prepare to elect a black president; and that Quentin Tarantino sought his advice before making Django Unchained (2012), his controversial, violent action film about an ex-slave turned bounty hunter. Poitier was the first African American to win a major Academy Award (Best Actor, 1963; awarded 1964) and the first African American box-office top earner (1967–1968). His many other honors include an honorary Academy Award (2002) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2009). That Poitier would achieve such renown was improbable. Poitier’s first Hollywood role was in a social problem film, No Way Out (1950), which featured a brutal interracial melee and a jaundiced view of American race and class relations. But Poitier’s character—a young, aspiring, and dignified doctor—served to provide a glimmer of hope. Poitier’s portrayal made it clear that though his character was angry and had suffered from white prejudice, he would rise above past injustices and work toward a better future. With many variations, this is a character type Poitier repeated over the next two decades in films such as The Defiant Ones (1958), Lilies of the Field (1963), In the Heat of the Night (1967), and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967). These roles proved influential and led to great success but also to criticism of Poitier as an overly safe and de-sexualized “ebony saint.” In the 1970s Poitier increasingly turned to directing and producing. Never lauded for his style, he nonetheless made some influential and successful movies, including the black western Buck and the Preacher (1972), a trio of comedies that spoofed “blaxploitation” films, and Stir Crazy (1980), a breakthrough film for Richard Pryor and the first movie directed by an African American to earn more than 100 million dollars. After the 1980s, Poitier continued to act, often in character roles or in roles portraying civil rights icons—for example, Nelson Mandela. Since 2000 Poitier has turned his attention to penning popular, introspective autobiographies.