Legendary actor Sidney Poitier has died at age 94.
At the time, the U.S. was still in the throws of segregation, and despite breaking barriers on screen, Poitier and other black actors weren’t allowed to share the same spaces as their white counterparts. Nonetheless, Poitier became the first Black male actor to receive an Academy Award nomination fora 1958 film co-starring Tony Curtis. The two portrayed escaped inmates shackled to one another, thus forcing them to work together in order to get around.
As one of the only mainstream Black actors of the time, Poitier used his celebrity to bring attention to civil rights issues and worked closely with but continued to find himself under intense scrutiny. Black audiences criticized him for portraying romanticized versions of Black characters, and while he did attempt to bring complexities to the characters, he feared being pigeonholed.
. “I lived in a country where I couldn't live where I wanted to live. I lived in a country where I couldn't go where I wanted to eat. I lived in a country where I couldn't get a job, except for those put aside for people of my color or caste.” Poitier sought out to play more versatile characters, even if that meant passing on gigs like the lead in NBC’swhich he rejected in 1966. Nearly a decade earlier, Poitier almost turned down an offer to co-star ininjurious to NegroesHe went on to star in the film as Porgy, a disabled and impoverished Black man struggling to survive in Charleston, North Carolina. The all-Black cast included Dorothy Dandridge , Sammy Davis Jr., Pearl Bailey, Brock Peters and Diahann Carroll.
With another hit film to his name, the ‘60s became a triumphant era for Poitier’s career. He was a regular face on the big screen, appearing in many of his most memorable films, and winning an Oscar. He kept up the momentum with
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