Sidney Poitier was born in 1927 and spent his early childhood in the Bahamas. At 15, he was sent to live with his brother in Miami, as his parents tried to head off a growing tendency toward criminality. There, he encountered racism for the first time in his life, and it shaped many of his attitudes as he grew into adulthood.
After a brief stint in the U.S. Army (joining after lying about his age) and a series of menial jobs, Poitier decided to try his hand at acting. His initial audition at the American Negro Theatre was such a disaster that he spent six months focusing on eliminating his Bahama accent and improving his acting skills. His next attempt was far more fruitful, and he was soon performing on Broadway.
Poitier's first major film role was in "No Way Out" (1950) in which he played a doctor who had to treat a bigoted racist. He immediately attracted the attention of Hollywood, but, in an approach that would mark his stance for his entire career, he turned down most offers because he thought they were demeaning toward him as a black man.
Poitier starred in many great movies, among these being "Blackboard Jungle" (1955), "Edge of the City" (1957), "The Defiant Ones" (1958), "A Raisin in the Sun" (1961), "The Long Ships" (1964), "The Bedford Incident" (1965), "To Sir, With Love" (1967), "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1967), "In the Heat of the Night" (1967) [and he played a slightly revised version of his character from "In the Heat of the Night", Virgil Tibbs, in two kinda-sorta sequels, "The Call Me Mister Tibbs!" (1970) and "The Organization" (1972)], "A Piece of the Action" (1977), "Shoot to Kill" (1988), "Sneakers" (1992), and "Mandela and DeKlerk" (1997). He appeared in a total of 55 movies, and on many of his projects, Poitier had contracts that stated he received a percentage of earnings from the very first dollar that was taken in.
During the 1970s, Poitier turned to directing and producing. He also remained active on stage. He retired from acting in 2001, He spent his remaining years in the Bahamas where he also passed away.
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