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Sidney Poitier (1927–2022)

Teoksen The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography tekijä

24+ teosta 2,318 jäsentä 51 arvostelua 1 Favorited

Tietoja tekijästä

Born in Miami 1927 and raised in the Bahamas, Poitier began acting after the war, and soon made his debut in Hollywood with No Way Out. He became the first black actor to win an Academy Award for Best Actor. In 1968 he was knighted by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II and is the recipient of four honorary näytä lisää doctorate degrees, the last from New York University. He has starred in over forty films, directed nine, and written four. He has received three Golden Globe Awards; an American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award; the Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Award; and the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, among many other awards and honors. In April 1997 Poitier was named the Ambassador to Japan from the Bahamas. Sir Poitier is currently president and CEO of Verdon Cedric Productions. He is married, has six daughters, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Sidney Poitier was the first black actor to win the Academy Award for best actor for his performance in Lilies of the Field in 1963. His landmark films include The Defiant Ones, A Patch of Blue, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and To Sir, With Love. Poitier is the author of two autobiographies: This Life and the New York Times bestseller The Measure of a Man. (Bowker Author Biography) näytä vähemmän

Tekijän teokset

The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (2000) — Tekijä — 1,801 kappaletta
This Life (1980) 108 kappaletta
Montaro Caine: A Novel (2013) 61 kappaletta
Stir Crazy [1980 film] (1980) — Ohjaaja — 41 kappaletta
Family Favorites: 10 Movie Collection [DVD] — Ohjaaja — 37 kappaletta
Ghost Dad [1990 film] (2005) — Ohjaaja — 13 kappaletta
Buck and the Preacher [1972 film] (1972) — Ohjaaja — 11 kappaletta
Uptown Saturday Night [1974 film] (1974) — Ohjaaja; Actor — 10 kappaletta
Hanky Panky [1982 film] (1994) — Ohjaaja — 5 kappaletta
A Piece of the Action [1977 film] (1977) — Ohjaaja — 4 kappaletta
Let's Do It Again [1975 film] (1975) — Ohjaaja — 3 kappaletta
Mark of the Hawk 3 kappaletta
A Warm December [1973 film] — Ohjaaja — 2 kappaletta

Associated Works

D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths (1962) — Kertoja, eräät painokset5,292 kappaletta
Sneakers [1992 film] (1992) — Actor — 269 kappaletta
The Greatest Story Ever Told [1965 film] (1965) — Actor — 186 kappaletta
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner [1967 film] (1967) — Actor — 167 kappaletta
In the Heat of the Night : Yön kuumuudessa (1967) — Actor — 155 kappaletta
The Jackal [1997 film] (1997) — Actor — 148 kappaletta
A Raisin in the Sun [1961 film] (1961) — Actor — 115 kappaletta
To Sir, with Love [1967 film] (1967) — Actor — 97 kappaletta
Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America (1995) — Avustaja — 91 kappaletta
Lilies of the Field [1963 film] (1963) 69 kappaletta
The Defiant Ones [1958 film] (1996) 32 kappaletta
Blackboard Jungle [1955 film] (1955) 30 kappaletta
Shoot to Kill [1988 film] (1988) — Actor — 29 kappaletta
No Way Out [1950 film] (1950) — Actor — 22 kappaletta
Separate But Equal [1991 TV mini series] (1991) — Actor — 15 kappaletta
Porgy and Bess: Original 1959 Motion Picture Soundtrack (1959) — Performer — 15 kappaletta
A Patch of Blue [1965 film] (1965) 14 kappaletta
The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn [1999 TV movie] (1999) — Actor — 11 kappaletta
Paris Blues [1961 film] (1994) 11 kappaletta
The Long Ships [1964 film] (2003) 10 kappaletta
Porgy and Bess [1959 film] (1959) — Actor — 9 kappaletta
Duel at Diablo [1966 film] (1966) 9 kappaletta
For Love of Ivy [1968 film] (1968) 8 kappaletta
Little Nikita [1988 film] (1988) — Actor — 8 kappaletta
The Organization [1971 film] (1971) — Actor — 8 kappaletta
Edge of the City [1957 film] (1957) — Actor — 7 kappaletta
Band of Angels [1957 film] (1957) — Actor — 7 kappaletta
The Slender Thread [1965 film] (1965) — Actor — 7 kappaletta
Something of Value [1957 film] (1957) 5 kappaletta
The Wilby Conspiracy [1975 film] — Actor — 4 kappaletta
Children of the Dust [1995 TV Mini-Series] (1995) — Actor — 4 kappaletta
Cry, the Beloved Country [1951 film] — Actor — 3 kappaletta
Red Ball Express [1952 film] (2017) 2 kappaletta
Good-Bye, My Lady [1956 film] (1956) — Actor — 1 kappale
The Sidney Poitier DVD Collection (2006) — Actor — 1 kappale

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N.B. In my personal history, this review is dated—this was actually towards the end of my Episcopalian period, now over—but I have to give Past Ted some credit, and I understand both how he desired, and felt capable of, integrating Sidney into his world view.

****

It’s a pretty good book.

I’m an Episcopalian, but when I first started exploring things that I allowed that I didn’t understand at about 27, (2016), I went to a TEC place just because it was the closest spiritual center to my house. (And I stay largely because they’re not politically or morally objectionable, and because they’re not too weird or whatever to me personally, although they can be a little funny at times, since they certainly march to the beat of a more classical drum, you know.) I feel like Sidney would relate to that—the spiritual center closest to me, that’s where I go.

I’m reading The Green Bible now, an edition of the Good Book, you know, that highlights the scripture passages that relate to nature, and has essays in the front about religion and the environment. There are a surprising number of green passages. Of course, not all animals are vegetarian, as they should be—👌—but there is a certain goodness in nature. (Sidney actually alludes to the order in the apparent badness too.) It actually makes sense that there’s a lot of nature in the Bible; people were very connected back then, you know, and were until pretty recently, at least in some ways. Until industrialization—which happened as late as the 20th century in many areas— people were very close to the heart of the earth, like Sidney was in his childhood in the rural Bahamas in the early 20th century.

Of course, he does talk about racism some, but he also talks about how he had it better than many American Blacks—being born pretty far away from cities and white people, way out in the islands, you know. He was certainly poor, but it was a poverty unknown to industry, advertising, jealousy, right.

I don’t know what to say about him except that he certainly had healthy roots, right; and he showed that you can make movies and still have your values.
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
goosecap | 44 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Jan 10, 2023 |
Interesting insights into his values and how he developed them over the years. I would have liked more on his family but this is a great read that makes you contemplate life.
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
kslade | 44 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Dec 8, 2022 |
Poitier from Cat Island, Bahamas to Hollywood
Review of the HarperOne paperback edition (2007) of the HarperOne hardcover original (2000)

I went with several friends to see the recent AppleTV+ documentary Sidney when it had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2022. We wanted to see it on the big screen even though we knew it would be available online only a few weeks later. We not only enjoyed the film but had the added bonus of hearing a panel discussion afterwards which was moderated by Gayle King with 2 of the film's producers Oprah Winfrey and Derik Murray and 5 of Poitier's 6 daughters. My friend Tony later lent me his copy of Poitier's memoir/autobiography, which I enjoyed just as much.


Film still from the 2022 documentary film "Sidney" directed by Reginald Hudlin. Image sourced from the Toronto International Film Festival.

Although The Measure of a Man is billed as a "spiritual autobiography" it still contains a considerable amount about Poitier's acting career with anecdotes about various theatrical and film productions. The most interesting background story was about the original theatrical production of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun (1959) where Poitier's perception of the play was in direct opposition to that of everyone else. He states his case for it very well and reveals that he was in conflict with the producers, the playwright and the rest of the cast, esp. Claudia MacNeil (who played the mother) throughout, and yet the play was a huge success on the stage and later as a film. Probably the underlying tension added to the suspense and tension on stage, but Poitier does note that MacNeil would always find a way to not give in to him during her performances.

There are other fascinating stories throughout which involve the secret background to Poitier having to deal with the studio system and various anti-civil rights bureaucracy throughout his early career. These were things like being asked to sign "loyalty oaths" (this would have been during the McCarthy era) disavowing his association with civil rights figures such as Paul Robeson. Poitier refused to sign those, risking being dismissed from productions, but retained the jobs thanks to the associated directors (some of the lawyers did at least show a degree of shame at having to even ask him to sign).

The main refrain of the book always goes back to Poitier's childhood on Cat Island in the Bahamas, and the upbringing which he had from his parents. The dignity and forthrightness which was instilled in him from those days guided his journey throughout his life and is reflected in the legacy of film work which he left behind. It is easy to forget in the present day what groundbreaking films such as "Blackboard Jungle", "To Sir With Love". "A Patch of Blue", "The Defiant Ones", "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", "Lilies of the Field, "In the Heat of the Night" "They Call Me Mr. Tibbs" and "A Raisin in the Sun" were back in the day. This memoir and the recent film documentary reminds us of all of it.

Trivia and Link
The documentary Sidney premiered at TIFF on September 10, 2022 and was later made available online September 23, 2022 via the AppleTV+ streaming channel. You can see the trailer for the film on YouTube here.
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
alanteder | 44 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Dec 3, 2022 |

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