Sidney Poitier: Bridging the Divide. A true pioneer

Sidney Poitier was born February 20, 1927 to Evelyn and Reginald Poitier, Bahamian tomato farmers.
Poitier was born in Miami, Florida, while his parents were visiting. He was born premature so his parents stayed in Miami for three months after his birth to nurse him back to health. Because of his birth on American soil, he was granted an American citizenship. Poitier grew up in the Bahamas and lived on Cat Island until the age of ten. He then moved to Nassau, Bahamas. Poitier was raised in a Roman Catholic household, his views shifted and he later became agnostic.
Times were very rough in the Bahamas for the Poitier family so his parents sent him back to Miami to live with his brother at age 15. When he was 16, Poitier moved to New York and worked different odd jobs, mainly as a dishwasher. During the Second World War, Poitier enlisted into the army, but in order to do so, he lied about his age. He only served a short amount of time in the military working as a mental hospital attendant. He plead insanity and the army discharged him for good. Poitier went back to civilian life still working as a dishwasher until a victorious audition landed him a spot in the American Negro Theatre after being turned down because of his thick Bahamian accent.
In 1946, he appeared in the Broadway production of “Lysistrata.” His work in Lysistrata was so exquisite that it landed him a major part in the play, Anna Lucasta. Poitier toured the U.S. for the next four years performing in the all black play. Poitier finally took his talents past the stage after his debut in the 1950 film titled, “No Way Out.” Another big role for Poitier was in the 1955 film, “Blackboard Jungle.” In 1958, Sidney Poitier acquired his first academy award nomination for the film, “Defiant Ones.” After the Defiant Ones and Poitiers appearance in 1961 film, “A Raisin in the Sun”, his seat in Hollywood would become solidified. Poitier won an academy award in 1964 for his performance in “Lilies of the Field,” which made it the first Oscar win by a black actor. In 1967, he starred in three very popular films, known mostly amongst older generations, “In the Heat of the Night”, “Guess who’s Coming to Dinner”, and “To Sir with Love”.
All of Poitiers hard work helped bridge the divide between white and black acting. “I never had an occasion to question color, therefore, I only saw myself for what I was, a human being,” said by Sidney Poitier. In the late 60’s, a very criticizing article was written in the New York Times about Poitier which caused him to take a break from the limelight and move back to the Bahamas. Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier joined together in 1972 for the making of “Buck and Preacher”. In 1980, Poitier directed “Stir Crazy,” a comedy featuring Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. After Stir Crazy, Sidney took another break from acting and came back a few years later with “Shoot to Kill” and “Little Nikita” in 1988. Poitier worked on set for another decade but is now retired. He published an autobiography entitled “The Measure of a Man,” back in 2000. He was granted a Grammy award for the audio version of the book. In 2009, Poitier received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.
Sidney eloped with his first wife Juanita Hardy in 1950. Juniata and Sidney nurtured four children together: Beverly, Pamela, Sherri, and Gina. They divorced in 1965. He married his second wife Joanna Shimkus in 1976. They had two children together, Anika and Sidney. Altogether Sidney has six daughters, eight grandchildren, and three great grandchildren. Manning Marable said, “He is the man in between, he is between black, he is between white, he is a man between representing the system and trying to subvert it.”