1947–1957: Early work and blacklist Poitier joined the American Negro Theater but was rejected by audiences. Contrary to what was expected of negro actors at the time, Poitier's
tone deafness made him unable to sing. Determined to refine his acting skills and rid himself of his noticeable Bahamian accent, he spent the next six months dedicating himself to achieving theatrical success. He modeled his legendary speech pattern after radio personality
Norman Brokenshire. On his second attempt at the theater, he was noticed and given a leading role in the
Broadway production of
Lysistrata, through which, though it ran a failing four days, he received an invitation to understudy for
Anna Lucasta. Poitier would later befriend
Harry Belafonte at the American Negro Theater. In 1947, Poitier was a founding member of the Committee for the Negro in the Arts (CNA), an organization whose participants were committed to a left-wing analysis of class and racial exploitation. Among his other CNA-related activities, in the early 1950s he was a Vice Chair of the organization. In 1952, he was one of several narrators in a pageant written by
Alice Childress and
Lorraine Hansberry for the Negro History Festival put on by the leftist Harlem monthly newspaper
Freedom. His participation in such events and CNA generally, along with his friendships with other leftist Black performers, including
Canada Lee and
Paul Robeson, led to his subsequent
blacklisting for a few years. Even associating with Poitier added to the basis for blacklisting Alfred Palca, the writer and producer of one of Poitier's earliest films, the 1954
Go Man Go. Poitier never did sign a
loyalty oath, despite being asked in connection with his prospective role in
Blackboard Jungle (1955). '' in 1959, with (from left)
Louis Gossett Jr. as George Murchison,
Ruby Dee as Ruth Younger, and Poitier as Walter Younger By late 1949, Poitier had to choose between leading roles on stage and an offer to work for
Darryl F. Zanuck in the film
No Way Out (1950). His performance with
Ruby Dee and
Maude Simmons in
No Way Out, as a doctor treating a white bigot (played by
Richard Widmark, who became a friend), was noticed and led to more roles, each considerably more interesting and more prominent than those most African-American actors of the time were offered. In 1951, he traveled to South Africa with the African-American actor Canada Lee to star in the film version of
Cry, the Beloved Country. Poitier's distinction continued in his role as Gregory W. Miller, a member of an incorrigible high-school class in
Blackboard Jungle (1955). But it was his performance in
Martin Ritt's 1957 film
Edge of the City that the industry could not ignore. Poitier enjoyed working for director
William Wellman on
Good-bye, My Lady (1956). Poitier later praised Wellman for inspiring his thoughtful approach to directing when he found himself taking the helm from Joseph Sargent on
Buck and the Preacher in 1971.
1958–1969: Breakthrough and stardom In 1958 he starred alongside
Tony Curtis in director
Stanley Kramer's
The Defiant Ones. The film was a critical and commercial success with the performances of both Poitier and Curtis being praised. The film landed eight Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Actor nominations for both stars, making Poitier the first African-American actor to be nominated in a lead role. Poitier did win the
British Academy Film Award for Best Foreign Actor. The play was a groundbreaking piece of American theater, with
Frank Rich, critic from
The New York Times, writing in 1983 that
A Raisin in the Sun "changed American theater forever". For his performance Poitier earned a
Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination. That same year he starred in the film adaptation of
Porgy and Bess (1959) with
Dorothy Dandridge. For his performance, Poitier received a 1960
Golden Globe Award nomination for
Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. , alongside actors
Harry Belafonte and
Charlton Heston In 1961, Poitier starred in the film adaptation of
A Raisin in the Sun for which he received another Golden Globe Award nomination. Also in 1961, Poitier starred in
Paris Blues alongside
Paul Newman,
Joanne Woodward,
Louis Armstrong, and
Diahann Carroll. The film dealt with the
American racism of the time by contrasting it with Paris's open acceptance of
Black people. For this role, he won the
Academy Award for Best Actor and became the first African-American to win the award in a leading role. His satisfaction at this honor was undermined by his concerns that this award was more of the industry congratulating itself for having him as a token and it would inhibit him from asking for more substantive considerations afterward. Poitier worked relatively little over the following year; he remained the only major actor of African descent and the roles offered were predominantly typecast as a soft-spoken appeaser. In 1964, Poitier recorded an album with the composer
Fred Katz called
Poitier Meets Plato, in which Poitier recites passages from
Plato's writings. He also performed in the Cold War drama
The Bedford Incident (1965) alongside the film's producer Richard Widmark, the Biblical epic film
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) alongside
Charlton Heston and
Max von Sydow, and
A Patch of Blue (1965) co-starring
Elizabeth Hartman and
Shelley Winters. In 1967, he was the most successful draw at the box office, the commercial peak of his career, with three popular films,
To Sir, with Love, and
In the Heat of the Night, and ''
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Although these three films seemingly shared little similarity, they all, albeit not overtly, dealt with the black and white divide. In To Sir, with Love
, Poitier plays a teacher at a secondary school in the East End of London. The film deals with social and racial issues in the inner city school. The film was met with mixed response; however, Poitier was praised for his performance, with the critic from Time'' writing, "Even the weak moments are saved by Poitier, who invests his role with a subtle warmth." In
Norman Jewison's mystery drama
In the Heat of the Night, Poitier played
Virgil Tibbs, a police detective from
Philadelphia who investigates a murder in the
Deep South in Mississippi alongside a cop with racial prejudices played by
Rod Steiger. The film was a critical success with
Bosley Crowther of
The New York Times calling it "the most powerful film I have seen in a long time."
Roger Ebert placed it at number ten on his top ten list of 1967 films. Art Murphy of
Variety felt that the excellent Poitier and outstanding Steiger performances overcame noteworthy flaws, including an uneven script. Poitier received a Golden Globe Award and
British Academy Film Award nomination for his performance. In Stanley Kramer's social drama ''Guess Who's Coming to Dinner'', Poitier played a man in a relationship with a White woman played by
Katharine Houghton. The film revolves around her bringing him to meet with her parents played by
Katharine Hepburn and
Spencer Tracy. The film was one of the rare films at the time to depict an interracial romance in a positive light, as
interracial marriage historically had been illegal in most states of the United States. It was still illegal in 17 states—mostly Southern states—until June 12, 1967, six months before the film was released. The film was a critical and financial success. In his film review, Roger Ebert described Poitier's character as "a noble, rich, intelligent, handsome, ethical medical expert" and that the film "is a magnificent piece of entertainment. It will make you laugh and may even make you cry." To win his role as Dr. Prentice in the film, Poitier had to audition for Tracy and Hepburn at two separate dinner parties. Poitier began to be criticized for being typecast as over-idealized African-American characters who were not permitted to have any sexuality or personality faults, such as his character in ''Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
. Poitier was aware of this pattern himself but was conflicted on the matter. He wanted more varied roles; but he also felt obliged to set an example with his characters, by challenging old stereotypes, as he was the only major actor of African descent being cast in leading roles in the American film industry at the time. For instance, in 1966, he turned down an opportunity to play the lead in an NBC television production of Othello with that spirit in mind. Despite this, many of the films in which Poitier starred during the 1960s would later be cited as social thrillers by both filmmakers and critics. Such films included For Love of Ivy'' in which he modifies the over-idealized African American as Jack Parks, a trucking company executive, who also operates an illegal casino.
1970–1989: Transition to directing In the Heat of the Night featured his most successful character, Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, detective whose subsequent career was the subject of two sequels:
They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970) and
The Organization (1971). In 1972, he made his feature film directorial debut, the
Western Buck and the Preacher, in which Poitier also starred, alongside
Harry Belafonte and Ruby Dee. Poitier replaced the original director,
Joseph Sargent. The following year he directed his second feature, the romantic drama
A Warm December. Poitier also starred in the film alongside
Esther Anderson. Along with
Barbra Streisand and
Paul Newman, Poitier formed
First Artists Production Company so actors could secure properties and develop movie projects for themselves. Working with First Artists, Poitier directed several financially successful comedy films, including three in which he also starred:
Uptown Saturday Night (1974) with
Bill Cosby and Harry Belafonte; and ''
Let's Do It Again (1975) and A Piece of the Action (1977), both with Cosby. His most successful comedy was Stir Crazy'' (1980; not a First Artists production), starring
Richard Pryor and
Gene Wilder, which for many years was the highest-grossing film directed by a person of African descent. In 1985, he directed
Fast Forward and, in 1990, he reunited with Cosby directing him in the family comedy
Ghost Dad. In 1988, he starred in
Shoot to Kill with
Tom Berenger.
1990–2022: Later work In 1992, he starred in
Sneakers with
Robert Redford and
Dan Aykroyd. In 1997, he co-starred in
The Jackal with
Richard Gere and
Bruce Willis. In the 1990s, he starred in several well received television movies and miniseries such as
Separate but Equal (1991),
To Sir, with Love II (1996),
Mandela and de Klerk (1997), and
The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn (1999). He received
Emmy nominations for his work in
Separate but Equal and
Mandela and de Klerk, as well as a
Golden Globe nomination for the former. He won a
Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2001. In 2002, Poitier received the 2001
Honorary Academy Award for his overall contribution to American cinema. In his victory speech, Washington saluted Poitier by saying "I'll always be chasing you, Sidney. I'll always be following in your footsteps. There's nothing I would rather do, sir." With the death of
Ernest Borgnine in 2012, Poitier became the oldest living recipient of the Academy Award for Best Actor. On March 2, 2014, Poitier appeared with
Angelina Jolie at the
86th Academy Awards to present the
Best Director Award. He was given a standing ovation and Jolie thanked him for all his Hollywood contributions, stating: "We are in your debt." In 2021, the academy dedicated the lobby of the new
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles as the "Sidney Poitier Grand Lobby" in his honor. Poitier was a lifelong activist for racial and social justice. He declined film roles he considered based on offensive racial stereotypes. ==Board and diplomatic service==