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Sidney Poitier

Started by Tom62, January 08, 2022, 07:13:58 AM

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Tom62

Sidney Poitier, one of the most groundbreaking inspirational actors in cinema, died at an age of 94.

https://apnews.com/article/sidney-poitier-dead-214e66b7e52909bdc64465e9ff4a1339
The universe never did make sense; I suspect it was built on government contract.
Robert A. Heinlein

Tank

Always remembered in Guess who's coming to dinner? I remember thinking just a stupid racism was when I first saw that.
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

billy rubin

he was a master

1958 with tony curtis as escaped black and white convicts chained together was a masterpiece of racial awareness way back when



"I cannot understand the popularity of that kind of music, which is based on repetition. In a civilized society, things don't need to be said more than three times."

Tom62

Another great movie in which he starred was "Patch of Blue".
The universe never did make sense; I suspect it was built on government contract.
Robert A. Heinlein

billy rubin

ill never forget this one



saw it one time when i was a kid. never forgot it


"I cannot understand the popularity of that kind of music, which is based on repetition. In a civilized society, things don't need to be said more than three times."

Ecurb Noselrub

My favorite was when he played Mr. Tibbs in The Heat of the Night. He and Rod Steiger together knocked it out of the park. Won Best Picture.

Icarus

I use the term, Mister Poitier, out of respect for an outstanding individual.

I listened, today, to a replay of an NPR interview of Sidney Poitier from 2002.  His diction, pronunciation, and verbal cadence was, to say the least, outstanding. How did a black man from a near obscure Island become so eloquent?  He told us. He listened to the radio and practiced endlessly to speak in the same disciplined way that nationally famous newscasters spoke. He achieved his skill decisively.

It may be familiar to some that another, long ago, celebrity did something like that.  Sugar Ray Leonard was a sensational boxer who won Olympic medals and professional championships. He was a young black kid from Baltimore who had a drive toward what he believed was excellence, not only in boxing but in his quest for respect in society. He knew that his language would keep him from becoming equally respected as a man, not only a boxer.  He daily stood before a mirror and read to himself., Again and again and again, he tried to form his words, inflections, and content to graduate from the ghetto language with which he grew up. He too used the language skills of nationally famous newscasters to attempt to emulate.   He succeeded very well on both accounts, language and boxing excellence.

Both Sugar Ray and Sidney Poitier must have encountered some flak from his peers.  It was a no- no for a black man to "talk white".  Both of them excelled far beyond what the fates had assigned to them.   

Here's a salute for Sidney Poitier, a man of outstanding achievement and undeniable talent.