As a trailblazing actor to generations of Black performers in Hollywood, Sidney Poitier often spoke about his larger off-screen role.
Poitier, who died Thursday …
As a trailblazing actor to generations of Black performers in Hollywood, Sidney Poitier often spoke about his larger off-screen role. Poitier, who died Thursday at the age of 94, entered the film industry at a time when portrayals of African Americans were generally stereotypical. But Poitier, who refused to play such caricatures, emerged as a matinee idol, an Oscar-winning actor and one of the most potent and graceful screen presences of his time, paving the way for countless who followed him. In interviews and in his 2000 autobiography, « The Measure of a Man, » Poitier spoke and wrote about the hardships, responsibilities and importance of his historic ascent in Hollywood. Here are excerpts of Poitier in his own words through the years. « There was almost no frame of reference for us except as stereotypical, one-dimensional characters…. Not only was I not going to do that, but I had in mind what was expected of me — not just what other Blacks expected but what my mother and father expected. And what I expected of myself…. To walk through my life as my own man. » — From a 2000 interview with Oprah Winfrey. « OK listen, you think I’m so inconsequential? Then try this on for size.
