Sidney Poitier, a Hollywood legend who paved the way for countless African American actors, has died at the age of 94. This was reported by some US media.
It was he, in 1964, the first black to win a statuette in this category (for ‘Lilies of the Field’) by breaking a racial barrier that Hattie McDaniel, the black housekeeper of ‘Gone with the Wind’, had begun to scratch. when she was awarded an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1939.
Poitier with the Oscar won in 1964
In 2003, Poitier achieved another record by earning, as the first black in the history of cinema, an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement. Before reaching this second milestone, he had come a long way: the son of farmers from a small island in the Bahamas, at 16 he was sent by his parents to Miami and then to New York.
He was born on a boat in the middle of the sea while his parents brought tomatoes to sell at the market. After the usual rigmarole of humble jobs, petty crime and a short enlistment in the American army, he tries the path of the theater and goes on stage on Broadway with a Lysistrata made by a company of only blacks.
In his debut film, Mankiewicz’s ‘White Man You Will Live’ (’49), he plays a doctor wrongfully accused by racists of letting a friend of his die. Long-limbed, elegant, with fine features, Poitier is the classic black that well-meaning whites like, somewhat similar to them, integrated, cultured and tame, even if fiercely determined to assert his rights on a level of complete equality. It is perhaps also for this characteristic that it becomes the emblem of an anti-racist cause fought as a non-violent with the weapons of dialogue and civilization (among its points of reference are Gandhi and Nelson Mandela).
In ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?’ (’67) and ‘The hot night of Inspector Tibbs’, his greatest hits, is faced with two different forms of racism: the first, very politely controlled, is represented by the couple Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn, progressive parents who are seen arriving for dinner, with great surprise, the black boyfriend of their daughter; the second is instead embodied by the grim sheriff Rod Steiger with whom Poitier, police inspector, should collaborate on a murder case.
After the global success of the latter film, Poitier will be called upon to play the same character in two sequels. Although his notoriety is mainly linked to the many roles as an actor, Poitier has also been the director of a dozen films including ‘Hanky Panky – Escape for two’, a comedy disguised as a thriller starring Gene Wilder. Believer, progressive but never revolutionary, the Hollywood black extremely determined despite his good manners paved the way for American cinema for all the black actors who have established themselves after him.
Unlimited access to all site content
€ 1 / month for 3 months, then € 3.99 / month for 3 months
Unlock unlimited access to all content on the site
#Goodbye #Sidney #Poitier #Hollywood #legend