in "the heat of the night." >> now, where did you earn it? >> i'm police officer. ♪ amen ♪ >> reporter: and in "the lilies of the field" as handy man homer smith. >> lots of luck, mother. i ain't building no. >> yeah, you. >> reporter: the role that won him the first-ever lead actor oscar for an african-american. >> it is a long journey to this moment. >> reporter: raised in the bahamas, he had moved to harlem as a teenager and endured the usual hard-scrabble climb to an actor's life. then came "no way out," the groundbreaking 1959 joseph mankiewicz film about racism. >> you watch yourself, black boy. watch how you talk to me. >> just shut up! >> reporter: poitier played a doctor in a performance so powerful the film was credited with ending the british colonial rule in the bahamas and in the intense 22-year-old perform, hollywood had its first african-american screen star. >> why you black --