The first Black winner of the Oscars as Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field, Sidney Poitier, breathed his last recently. The Bahamian-American actor has died at the age of 94.
The star's death was confirmed to Fox News on Friday by the Bahamian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office. In 1963, Poitier had made a film in Arizona, Lilies of the Field. The performance led to a huge milestone making him the first black winner of a lead-acting Oscar.
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Sidney's roles were legendary. He starred as Mark Thackeray in To Sir With Love, and Detective Virgil Tibbs in In the Heat of the Night in 1967. He also starred in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, also released in the same.
Sidney was also a tireless civil rights activist. He was awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 by President Obama for his work. A dual citizen of the US and the Bahamas, he served from 1997-2007 as Bahamian Ambassador to Japan.
Soon after the news of his death broke out, many Hollywood stars including Tyler Perry, Whoopi Goldberg, Viola Davis, Jeffrey Wright and others took to their social media and paid tribute to the Oscar Award winning star.
Also, Arizona State University has named its new film school after the late actor. The Sidney Poitier New American Film School was unveiled at a virtual ceremony.
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