Sidney Poitier was an American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He was one of the last major stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.

From the beginning of his career, Sydney Poitier broke ground in many successful films as a leading man portraying a strong, intelligent, black male that dealt with issues of race and race relations. These included: To Sir, with Love; Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and In the Heat of the Night, the latter of which won the Academy Award for Best Picture for that year. He received Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for his performance in the last film, and in a 1968 poll he was voted the US's top box-office star.

Beginning in the 1970s, he directed several comedy films including Stir Crazy, Shoot to Kill, and Sneakers.

From 1995 to 2003, Poitier served as a member of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company. And in 1997, Sydney Poitier was appointed ambassador from the Bahamas to Japan, a position he held until 2007. He was born in the U.S. but his parents were Bahamian, and he spent his youth on Cat Island and Nassau in the Bahamas.

Sydney Poitier was described as Hollywood's first African-American film star who became an icon "advancing the nation's dialogue on race and respect" and "opening doors for a generation of actors.”

Sydney Poitier forever In Heaven with the Stars.