Bahamas News
Black is Beauty Caribbean Connection
Remembering a Bahamian Sir, Sydney Poitier
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
Born on a trip to Miami Florida in 1927, Sir Sidney Poitier was a Bahamian actor and the first black man to be nominated for an Academy Award, the first Black man to win an Academy Award and was considered one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
Poitier was granted US citizenship at birth after being born early in the country while his parents were on a trip from Cat Island to trade tomatoes; he grew up on the islands of Cat Island and New Providence in the Bahamas before
Miami, Sidney would write was not for him. He moved to New York where his acting career began.
After a few small roles, he starred in the film ‘The Defiant Ones’ at 28. It was a massive box office success, immediately netting him his first Best Actor nomination, a British Film Academy Award and the Silver Bear for Best Actor. Nearly a decade later in 1964, he won Best Actor at the Oscars and the Golden Globes for ‘Lilies of the Field’.
He made his name in the Golden Age of Hollywood as one of the best leading men on screen and went on to play several acclaimed and ground breaking roles paving the way for dozens more black actors including Denzel Washington, who especially thanked him in his own Academy Award acceptance speech.
Along with his competitive accolades, he received an Honorary Oscar in 2002 for his entire body of work.
He is recognized by three different countries as an extraordinary citizen; he spent ten years as the Bahamian Ambassador to Japan; he holds the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the US, its highest civilian honour; he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in the United Kingdom and in The Bahamas, he is immortalized as the bridges connecting Paradise Island to the city of Nassau are named in his honour.
Sidney Poitier, famed for his role in the movie: To Sir with Love, passed away in 2022 at 94 years old.