Sidney Poitier, First Black Man To Win Best Actor Oscar dies aged 94

Legendary actor Sidney Poitier, the first black man to win Best Actor Oscar award for his performance in Lilies of the Field has died aged 94.

Sidney Poitier was a Bahamian-American actor known for films including Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night, and Lilies of the Field, for which he became the first Black and Bahamian man to win a Best Actor Oscar.

The news was announced by the Bahamian Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell, prompting tributes from the world of entertainment.

Sidney Poitier grew up in the Bahamas but later moved to the United States of America when he was 15. He quickly rose to fame and secured his first lead film role in 1955’s Blackboard Jungle.

Sidney Poitier is survived by six children, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.