Sir Sidney L. Poitier

Sidney Poitier was born prematurely in Miami while his Bahamian tomato-farmer parents were visiting, granting him dual citizenship. Raised in poverty on Cat Island and Nassau, Bahamas, Poitier moved to New York City at sixteen, sleeping in bus stations and working as a dishwasher before joining the American Negro Theatre in Harlem.

Refusing demeaning, subservient roles typically offered to Black actors, Poitier insisted on portraying men of dignity, intelligence, and moral strength. In 1963, he made history when he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Lilies of the Field, becoming the first African American to win the award. In 1967, at the height of the Civil Rights movement, Poitier was Hollywood's number-one box office star, delivering three seismic performances: police detective Virgil Tibbs in In the Heat of the Night ("They call me Mister Tibbs!"), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and To Sir, with Love. Poitier later directed smash comedies like Stir Crazy, served as Bahamas ambassador to Japan, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.