{"id":3992,"date":"2022-01-15T12:59:39","date_gmt":"2022-01-15T07:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/viewsonnewsonline.com\/?p=3992"},"modified":"2022-01-25T13:01:05","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T07:31:05","slug":"sir-sidney-poitier-is-no-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/viewsonnewsonline.com\/sir-sidney-poitier-is-no-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Sir Sidney Poitier is no more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Sir Sidney Poitier, the first man of colour in the US to get the immense respect of the Academy Award, a person who broke through ages of disparity and torture on Black people, died at the age of 94 at his home in Los Angeles, early in the second week of this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The star was a groundbreaking actor and an inspiration for all Black people, not just Black actors. He won his Oscar for best lead performance and was also the first to be a top box-office draw. His death was confirmed by Fred Mitchell, the Bahamian minister of foreign affairs. His cause of death is not yet known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Poitier won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field, making him the first Black man to do so; at the time,an unthinkable feat. He had said maybe his win would break barriers for others, especially Black actors. He had been quoted in the media as saying: \u201cI like to think it will help someone. But I don\u2019t believe my Oscar will be a sort of magic wand that will wipe away the restrictions on job opportunities for Negro actors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those were the times in America the 1950s and 1960s when racial discrimination was at its peak and tensions were rife. Poitier chose projects that tackled bigotry and stereotypes, a way to show his sense of duty in helping his folk overcome the oppression in society. This was amplified by his success, as was evident in the 1967 classics Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and In the Heat of the Night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was knighted by the Queen in 1974 and awarded a Bafta fellowship in 2016, but could not attend the ceremony because of ill health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n