Sidney Poitier Net Worth

Sidney Poitier had a long and distinguished career as an American-born actor, film director, diplomat, and author. At the time of his death, Sidney Poitier’s net worth had reached a modest $20 million, and he was one of the last stars who lived through the Golden Age of Hollywood, being considered royalty in Show Business circles. He garnered widespread praise for winning the 1964 Academy Award for Best Actor since he was the first black man to ever accomplish this feat. He was also the first Bahamian national to win that award.

Career Achievements

Poitier began his career in the theater world of New York City, and there he caught the attention of Hollywood gurus and began appearing in films. In 1958, he co-starred with Tony Curtis in a breakthrough film role in The Defiant Ones, earning him his first Academy Award nomination. In 1964, he was again nominated for an Academy Award when Poitier played in Lilies of the Field, and this time he won the award.

Career Honors

Throughout his career, he appeared in numerous film roles and eventually moved into directing with films like Stir Crazy. He has won numerous awards during his long career, including Screen Actors Guild Awards, The Presidential Medal of Freedom, The Kennedy Center Honor, and BAFTA awards. In 1970, he was also knighted by the Queen of England, thus becoming Sir Sidney Poitier. He is well-respected outside the entertainment world, being known as a Bahamian ambassador to Japan.

Sidney Poitier’s early life

Sydney L. Poitier was born in Miami, Florida, on the 20th of February, 1927. He was raised with six older siblings in a Roman Catholic household with strong Bahamian roots. Both his parents were farmers who regularly traveled to Miami to sell their produce. During one of these selling visits, Sidney was born in Miami, and spent his first three months living there.

Later, he relocated to the Bahamas, where he spent most of his childhood years. He was granted citizenship in the United States because he was born on American soil. When he was ten, Sidney’s family moved to Nassau, and when he reached the age of 15, he was living with his brother’s family in Miami. A year later, Sidney had again moved, this time to New York City. Working as a dishwasher, he learned how to read and write.

When World War II broke out, Poitier served in the Army but was frustrated that he never had the chance to leave the state of New York. His assignment was to help psychiatric patients at a VA Hospital located in Northport. Eventually, he was discharged from the Army by pretending to have some kind of mental illness.

Sydney’s Career begins in Earnest

After returning to life as a civilian, Sidney got another job as a dishwasher, but at the same time, he audited for roles in the theater. He got involved with an American Negro Theatre production but met with little initial success. Even the American Negro Theater had to admit he still had a noticeable Bahamian accent and couldn’t sing. However, he was determined to succeed in his chosen profession and spent six months working on his acting abilities and related talents.

All his hard work paid off when he was awarded the leading role in a Broadway production of Lysistrata. Fresh after Poitier appeared in this role, he was booked in many major Broadway productions. In the late 1940s, he also began receiving film offers, such as a role in No Way Out. This film single-handedly catapulted his movie career into high gear and allowed him to land several other film roles. In 1955, he had a major Hollywood breakthrough when Poitier acted in The Blackboard Jungle.

Poitier worked in starring roles in Goodbye My Lady and The Defiant Ones. He earned critical praise for his performance in that movie, which was a huge box office success. Once again, he received an Academy Award nomination for his work. He also appeared in several Broadway productions at this time, including A Raisin in the Sun, which many critics have said changed American Theater forever.

Recognition for excellence

It certainly amounted to a major achievement in representing Black Culture in the theater. He received a Golden Globe nomination for his appearance in Porgy and Bess and then also had a starring role in the film version of A Raisin in the Sun. He made history in 1963 by becoming the first black male actor to ever win an Academy Award. He deeply appreciated the honor this represented but also expressed concern about being seen as a token in Hollywood since he was literally the only significant black actor in Hollywood at the time. Because most of the movie roles he was being offered were similar in nature, he decided to step away from the world of filmdom for a time.

The Zenith of his Career

By 1964, Sidney had decided to switch gears and turn his attention to music. That year he recorded an album called Poitier Meets Plato in collaboration with composer Fritz Katz. The theme for the album was Sidney reciting several of the most famous works written by Plato. During the next several years, Poitier returned to film with leading roles in three films, The Bedford Incident, A Patch of Blue, and The Greatest Story Ever Told.

By the late 1960s, he had reached the pinnacle of success in his career, starring in such Hollywood blockbusters as Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night, and To Sir With Love. However, even these extremely popular movies couldn’t deflect the criticism he faced for being a primarily stereotyped black male actor with very little personality.

Final bow

He then turned his attention to directing, and in 1980 he helmed Stir Crazy and then went on to helm A Warm December, Buck and the Preacher, and Uptown Saturday Night. By the time the 2000s had rolled around, Sidney had basically disassociated himself from the entertainment world, although he regularly appeared at the Academy Awards. Sidney Poitier died in January of 2022, leaving behind a legacy of being one of the greatest black actors, with tremendous acting skills and demonstrating great versatility in the world of theater, filmdom, and television.

Sidney Poitier FAQs