Difference between revisions of "Sidney Poitier"
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
DavidB4-bot (talk | contribs) (clean up & uniformity) |
|||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
'''Sir Sidney Poitier''', KBE, born February 20, 1927 (age {{age|1927|2|20}}), was one of the most famous black entertainers of the 1960s. Born on Cat Island in the [[Bahamas]], he came to New York to seek work as an actor. | '''Sir Sidney Poitier''', KBE, born February 20, 1927 (age {{age|1927|2|20}}), was one of the most famous black entertainers of the 1960s. Born on Cat Island in the [[Bahamas]], he came to New York to seek work as an actor. | ||
| − | He was known for his groundbreaking roles in dramatic film, <ref>In 1967 three of his movies -- ''To Sir, With Love'', ''In the Heat of the Night'' and ''Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?'' -- led all others at the box office. [http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/05/28/reviews/000528.28sayret.html NY Times] </ref> such as: | + | He was known for his groundbreaking roles in dramatic film,<ref>In 1967 three of his movies -- ''To Sir, With Love'', ''In the Heat of the Night'' and ''Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?'' -- led all others at the box office. [http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/05/28/reviews/000528.28sayret.html NY Times]</ref> such as: |
*''[[To Sir, With Love]]'' - an unemployed [[engineer]] falls back on schoolteaching, and finds he can make a difference in the lot of high school kids in [[London]]. | *''[[To Sir, With Love]]'' - an unemployed [[engineer]] falls back on schoolteaching, and finds he can make a difference in the lot of high school kids in [[London]]. | ||
*''[[Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?]]'' - a leading physician for the UN is introduced by his new bride to her well to do, progressive-liberal white family. Oh, yes, he's black! (Remade as the comedy ''[[Guess Who]]'' with Ashton Kutcher.) | *''[[Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?]]'' - a leading physician for the UN is introduced by his new bride to her well to do, progressive-liberal white family. Oh, yes, he's black! (Remade as the comedy ''[[Guess Who]]'' with Ashton Kutcher.) | ||
| Line 13: | Line 13: | ||
<references/> | <references/> | ||
| − | {{DEFAULTSORT: Poitier, Sidney}} | + | {{DEFAULTSORT:Poitier, Sidney}} |
[[Category:Actors]] | [[Category:Actors]] | ||
[[Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom award winners]] | [[Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom award winners]] | ||
Revision as of 00:20, July 12, 2016
Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE, born February 20, 1927 (age 99), was one of the most famous black entertainers of the 1960s. Born on Cat Island in the Bahamas, he came to New York to seek work as an actor.
He was known for his groundbreaking roles in dramatic film,[1] such as:
- To Sir, With Love - an unemployed engineer falls back on schoolteaching, and finds he can make a difference in the lot of high school kids in London.
- Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? - a leading physician for the UN is introduced by his new bride to her well to do, progressive-liberal white family. Oh, yes, he's black! (Remade as the comedy Guess Who with Ashton Kutcher.)
- In the Heat of the Night - a police detective helps break a murder case, after overcoming some initial hostility from sheriff Rod Steiger.
His second autobiography is entitled The Measure of a Man - and the measure is not race but character.
Poitier played mostly noble, dignified roles. A more recent film was The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn, in which he plays a man with an intense devotion to his carpentry work; who indeed built most of the buildings in his small rural town; but who becomes the target of a mean-spirited campaign to take his land away from him by having him declared mentally incompetent.