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.

Filmography

• 2026The Resurrection of Christ
• 2001The Last Brickmaker in America — Henry Cobb
• 2000Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light
• 1999Free of Eden — Will Cleamons
• 1999The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn — Noah Dearborn
• 1998David and Lisa — Dr. Jack Miller
• 1998Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist — Reverend Msimangu (archive footage)
• 1997Mandela and de Klerk — Nelson Mandela
• 1997The Jackal — Carter Preston
• 1996To Sir, with Love II — Mark Thackeray
• Children of the Dust — Gypsy Smith
• 1992Sneakers — Crease
• 1991Separate but Equal — Thurgood Marshall
• Separate but Equal — Thurgood Marshall
• 1990Ghost Dad — Director
• 1988Little Nikita — Roy Parmenter
• 1988Shoot to Kill — Warren Stantin
• 1985Fast Forward — Director
• 1982Hanky Panky — Director
• 1980Stir Crazy — Director
• 1979Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist — Narrator (voice)
• 1977A Piece of the Action — Manny Durrell, Director
• 1975Let's Do It Again — Clyde Williams, Director
• 1975The Wilby Conspiracy — Shack Twala
• 1974Uptown Saturday Night — Steve Jackson, Director
• 1973A Warm December — Dr. Matt Younger, Director
• 1972Buck and the Preacher — Buck, Producer, Director
• 1971Brother John — John Kane
• 1971The Organization — Virgil Tibbs
• 1970They Call Me Mister Tibbs! — Virgil Tibbs
• 1969The Lost Man — Jason Higgs
• 1968For Love of Ivy — Jack Parks, Original Story
• 1967Guess Who's Coming to Dinner — John Prentice
• 1967In the Heat of the Night — Virgil Tibbs
• Omnibus
• 1967To Sir, with Love — Mark Thackeray
• 1966Duel at Diablo — Toller
• 1965A Patch of Blue — Gordon Ralfe
• 1965The Bedford Incident — Ben Munceford
• 1965The Greatest Story Ever Told — Simon of Cyrene
• 1965The Slender Thread — Alan Newell
• 1964The Long Ships — Aly Mansuh
• 1963Lilies of the Field — Homer Smith
• 1962Pressure Point — Doctor
• 1961A Raisin in the Sun — Walter Lee Younger
• 1961Paris Blues — Eddie Cook
• 1960All the Young Men — Sgt. Eddie Towler
• 1959Porgy and Bess — Porgy
• 1959Virgin Island — Marcus
• 1958The Defiant Ones — Noah Cullen
• 1957Band of Angels — Rau-Ru
• 1957Edge of the City — Tommy Tyler
• 1957Something of Value — Kimani Wa Karanja
• 1957The Mark of the Hawk — Obam
• 1956Good-bye, My Lady — Gates Watson
• 1955A Man Is Ten Feet Tall — Tommy Tyler
• 1955Blackboard Jungle — Gregory W. Miller
• 1954Go Man Go — Inman Jackson
• Kraft Television Theatre
• Omnibus
• 1952The Red Ball Express — Robertson
• 1951Cry, the Beloved Country — Reverend Msimangu
• 1950No Way Out — Luther Brooks
• The Philco Television Playhouse — Tommy Tyler
• 1947Sepia Cinderella — Nightclub Extra (uncredited)

Appearances as themselves (44)

• 2025A Star Without a Star: The Untold Juanita Moore Story — Self
• Hollywood Black — Self (archive footage)
• 2024Remembering Gene Wilder — Self (archive photos)
• 2023Paul Newman: The Restless — Self (archive footage)
• 2023Reinventing Elvis: The 68' Comeback — Self (archive footage)
• 2023Sidney Poitier - The Man Who Changed Hollywood — Self (archive footage)
• 2022Sidney — Self
• 2018Mr. SOUL! — Self (archive footage)
• 2018Poitier's Walter Lee — Self (archive footage)
• 2017Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes / Feeling Heart — Self
• 2017The Madding Crowd — Self (archive footage)
• 2013Martin Luther King and the March on Washington — Self
• 2013Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley — Self
• 2012Sing Your Song — Self
• 2007Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project — Self
• 2004Hollywood Legenden — Self
• 2003The Making of ‘Sneakers’ — Self
• 2001Quincy Jones: In the Pocket — Self
• 2000Richard Widmark: Strength of Characters — Self
• 1997Afro Promo — Self (archive footage)
• 1995Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick — Self
• 1994A Century of Cinema — Self
• 1988Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night — Self - Audience Member
• 1986The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn — Self
• 1985Night of 100 Stars II — Self
• 1984I Love Quincy — Self
• The Kennedy Center Honors — Self
• The American Film Institute Salute to ... — Self
• 1972Nationtime: Gary — Self - Narrator
• Film '72 — Self
• 1970King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis — Self (archive footage)
• 1969Three Young Americans in Search of Survival — Himself
• The Dick Cavett Show — Self - Guest
• ABC Stage 67 — Self - Host
• 1966The Strolling '20s — Self
• 1965A Cinderella Named Elizabeth — Self
• The Merv Griffin Show — Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson — Self
• The Mike Douglas Show — Self, Self - Taped Tribute
• Tonight Starring Jack Paar — Self
• Cinépanorama — Self
• Tony Awards — Self - Presenter
• The Oscars — Self
• Golden Globe Awards — Self - Nominee, Self - Presenter