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Outstanding Bahamians: Sidney Poitier |
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 Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE
Active: born February 20th , 1927-Present
Growing up in a small settlement of Cat Island, he was born in Miami Florida. Sir Sydney spent most of his childhood days on Cat Island and was later sent to stay with in Florida in 1941, he did a short stint in the United States Army before moving on to New York to pursue his acting career.
Accomplishments: In 1963, he became the black person to win an Academy Award for role of Best Actor for the Movie ‘Lilies of the Field.” In 1967 he became the top box office star of that year when he starred in three well received films-‘To Sir, With Love, In the Heat of the Night and along side Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. In 1999, the Sir Sydney Poitier was named by the American Film Institute among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time, ranking him 22 out of a listing of 25. He was also chosen by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to receive an Honorary Award designate-“To Sydney Poitier in recognition of his remarkable accomplishments as an artist and as a human being.’ First Black President of the United States, Barack Obama awarded Sir Sydney the Presidential Medal of Freedom on August 12 2009.
Since 1997 he has served as Non-Residential Bahamian Ambassador to Japan.
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