Actor, Film Director. Born in Miami, Florida, the son of Bahamian farmers, he was raised on Cat Island until the age of 10 before his family relocated to Nassau. At the age of 15, he briefly moved to Miami to live with his brother's extended family, before relocating to New York City the following year. During the Second World War, he enlisted in the United States Army, working for a year at a psychiatric hospital operated by Veterans Affairs. Following his discharge from the Army in 1944, he returned to work as a dishwasher before finding work with a Harlem based theatre company. Over the next few years he honed his acting skills and perfected his voice, shedding his Caribbean accent. His new found success in the field of theatre led to motion picture film offers. Some of his notable early film roles included 1950's "No Way Out" and 1958's "The Defiant Ones" which saw his star opposite Tony Curtis. The next several years bore witness to Poitier transitioning back and forth between theatre and film. In 1959, he starred in the inaugural production of Lorraine Hansberry's play, "A Raisin in the Sun." The work became significant, helping to expose the plight of African Americans to a larger audience. Later that year, Poitier also starred in the film production of George Gershwin's 1935 musical, "Porgy and Bess." The role garnered him his first nomination for a Golden Globe Award. His repeat performance as Walter Younger, this time in 1961's big screen rendition of "A Raisin in the Sun" earned him a repeat nomination for the Golden Globe. Two years later, Poitier made waves in the acting community when he became the first African American to win an Academy Award for Best Actor when he starred in "Lillies of the Field." In 1967, at the height of his acting career, he starred in three separate films; "To Sir with Love," "In the Heat of the Night," and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," each of which dealt with the themes of racial tension which were prominent at the time. With a stunning performance as In the Heat of the Night's Detective Virgil Tibbs, he earned dual Golden Globe and British Academy Film award nominations. During the later period of his career, Poitier changed roles, this time taking up the helm of director. His work on 1980's "Stir Crazy" was for many years the highest grossing film directed by an African American. Following his retirement from acting in 1997, he was appointed as the Bahamian ambassador to Japan, a position he would hold for the next decade. In 2002, he was honored by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences with an honorary Academy Award for his services to the acting community. Over a lengthy career, the number of awards and award nominations he received were many. For his contributions to film, he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 7065 Hollywood Blvd. In addition to his 1963 Academy win, he was further nominated to the award twice. He was also the recipient of a Grammy Award for his 2001 spoken word album "The Measure of a Man." Made an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, he furthermore received ten Golden Globe Award nominations, two Primetime Emmy nominations, six BAFTA nods, and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination over the course of half a century. In 2009, he was bestowed the highest civilian honor in the United States, when he was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Following the passing of Kirk Douglas in 2020, Poitier became the concurrent oldest and earliest surviving recipient of the Academy Award.