sydney portier, a towering figure who demanded respect on screen and off died today at the age of 94. he once said his primary goal was to playplay black men of refinement, education and accomplishment, and boy did he do just that. he became first black man to win an academy award for best actor in lilies of the field. he encounter a group of east german nuns who believe he s been sent by god to build them a new chapel. because it s a long journey to this moment, i am naturally indebted to countless number of people. in 1967, he played a doctor
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.