acceptable because his character was so perfect and accomplished. hello! he also directed 80s comedy stir crazy the first movie from an african american film maker to pass the blockbuster $100 million mark in the united states. what are you doing? i m getting bad! in his later years, he was awarded the presidential medal of freedom by barack obama, who today said sidney poitier epitomised dignity and grace. oprah winfrey paid tribute, saying: while denzel washington said: those words two decades after he celebrated him at the academy awards. a0 years, i ve been chasing sidney. they finally give it to me. what do they do? they give it to him the same night. i ll always be following in your footsteps. there s nothing i would rather do.
40 years i ve been chasing sidney. they finally give it to me, what do they do? they give it to him the same night. i ll always be following in your footsteps. there s nothing i would rather do. that same night, poitier also received an honorary oscar. hollywood recognition for a star who blazed a trail for so many. they call me mr tibbs. ..and who entertained millions more. sidney poitier one of the greats. who has died at the age of 94. let s take a look at some of the tributes which have been paid by actors and directors to sidney poitier. and politicians. the actor don cheadle said he was the standard bearer for generations of actors and directors. he is irreplaceable.
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 saw black characters with films like to sir, with love. you will call me sir or mr thackeray . the young ladies will be addressed as miss , the boys by their surnames. some of what i am was reflected in those movies. it was, in a way, i was saying to an audience, this is who i am. look at me. more controversial was his role as a highly gifted, hugely successful doctor engaged to a white woman in guess who s coming to dinner. i love your daughter. there is nothing i wouldn t do
denzel washington said he was a gentle man who opened doors which had been closed for years. spike lee said he was a proud, dignified, handsome and strong black man, a game changer who impacted lives with a positive force. and the director steve mcqueen said, with his caribbean heritage and american birth, sidney poitier was an icon to the black diaspora. he was someone to be proud of, he was someone who dared, he was someone to love and he was someone to cherish. i ve been speaking to the film director, screenwriter, and actor kasi lemmons, who directed the tribute video for sidney poitier s honorary oscar. i asked her what he had meant to her. i mean, i think one of the first performances i saw was in the heat of the night, and it was absolutely stunning. he had this presence and this dignity that everyone talks about, and it was just so moving.
to the actor sir sidney poitier, who s died at the age of 94. mr obama said the star had opened doors for a generation of actors . sidney poitier made his name in a series of ground breaking films which challenged racial stereotypes. he was the first black man to win an oscar for best actor, and his success paved the way for generations of other black artists. our correspondent lizo mzimba looks back on the life of a hollywood icon. # in the heat of the night. 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