sidney poitier s virgil tibbs, a man of authority. i m a police officer. ..intelligence and a steely determination never to back down the kind of qualities that defined poitier on screen and off. he made his cinema debut playing a doctor, a man of status something almost unheard of for black performers then. and with roles like an escaped convict in the defiant ones and a struggling husband in a raisin in the sun, he tackled prejudice head on. maybe i ll get down on my black knees. all right, mr charlie. all right, mr great white father. you just give us that money! and we won t come out there and dirty up your white folks neighbourhood. the era, of course, meant he had a burden his white counterparts rarely had to carry the weight of being a symbol. but he bore it with dignity. in lilies of the field, playing a travelling handyman, helping build a group of nuns a new chapel.
he made his cinema debut playing a doctor, a man of status something almost unheard of for black performers then. and with roles like an escaped convict in the defiant ones and a struggling husband in a raisin in the sun, he tackled prejudice head on. maybe i ll get down on my black knees. all right, mr charlie. all right, mr great white father. you just give us that money! and we won t come out there and dirty up your white folks neighbourhood. the era, of course, meant he had a burden his white counterparts rarely had to carry the weight of being a symbol. but he bore it with dignity. in lilies of the field, playing a travelling handyman, helping build a group of nuns a new chapel. sing it over. the winner is sidney poitier. he won the academy award the first black performer ever to receive the oscar for a leading role. in the years that followed, he became hollywood s biggest star, redefining how audiences