Africa-Press – Seychelles. Sidney Poitier, the first black actor to win an Oscar as the lead in a film, died this Friday at the age of 94, according to government sources from Bahamas.
The Prime Minister’s Office announced on its official Twitter account that the Head of Government, Philip Davis, will soon make “a statement on the death of Sir Sidney Poitier”, whose family is a native of one of the Bahamian islands.
The news shocked artists, politicians, activists and athletes; who expressed their regret on social media. Hollywood stars like Denzel Washington and the former president Barack Obama they expressed emotional condolences.
“He was a gentle man and he opened doors that were closed to many of us,” said two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington in a statement sent to ..
“Al Sir … with love. Sir Sidney Poitier RIP showed us how to reach for the stars,” tweeted actress Whoopi Goldberg.
“A great friend, I learned a lot by watching Sidney,” tweeted basketball legend Magic Johnson. “Rest in peace”.
Who was Sidney Poitier?
Poitier was born on February 20, 1927 in Miami but grew up with his six siblings on Cat Island (Bahamas), where he spent his first ten years of life, until he moved to the capital, Nassau, and later to Florida.
With his role in “Fugitives” (1958), he was the first black actor to be nominated for an Oscar. Six years later, fhe was the first black actor to win this golden statuette thanks to his role in “Los lirios del valle” (1963).
In collecting this historic recognition, Poitier, who also stood out as civil rights activist he told a mostly white audience that he had come “a long journey” to get there.
He played a number of groundbreaking roles at a time of great racial tension in U.S in the 1950s and 1960s.
He balanced success with a sense of duty, choosing projects that addressed bigotry and stereotypes, including the classics “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner Tonight”, “In the Heat of the Night”, and the memorable “To the Master with Love” .
On television, he played historical figures such as the first black president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, and the first black justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Thurgood Marshall.
Poitier was awarded in 2009 with the Presidential Medal of the Freedom, America’s greatest civilian honor, at the hands of the Democratic President himself Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States.
Poitier had been married to his second wife, Joanna, since 1976 and had six children, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
In 1997, he assumed a ceremonial post as the Bahamian ambassador to Japan. He was awarded a Honorary Oscar in 2002 for his “extraordinary performances” on the big screen and his “dignity, style and intelligence” outside of it.
For More News And Analysis About Seychelles Follow Africa-Press
