Photo courtesy of Instagram.
According to NBC News, legendary actor Sidney Poitier died from prostate cancer, heart failure and dementia. The legendary performer passed away at home on Jan. 6 in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 94-years-old.
Poitier was an exemplary performer and had an acting career that lasted 76 years. Poitier was also the first Black actor to win an Academy Award, having won the Best Actor Oscar in 1963 for his performance in Lilies of the Field.
Poitier got his big break in 1946 when he landed a role on Broadway in “Lysistrata.” He went on to star in film classics such as Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, A Patch of Blue, In the Heat of the Night
and To Sir, With Love.One of his daughters, Sydney Poitier, posted a moving tribute to her father on Instagram where she noted she was grieving not only for herself but also the world for losing “so much goodness.”
Poitier also received an honorary Oscar in 2000 due to his contributions as an artist and human being. He retired the same year and went on to write his autobiography, “The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography,” for which he won a Grammy for his narration.
In 2009, Poitier was also honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He also served as the Bahamas’ ambassador to Japan for 10 years and wrote the novel “Montaro Caine” in 2013.
Sydney had been caring for her father when he passed. Poitier had six children, daughters Anika, Sydney Tamiaa, Gina, Beverly, Pamela and Sherri. His daughter, Gina, passed in 2018.