A short story of one of the greatest black men of all times.
Sidney Poitier was a 20 year old dishwasher in NYC. He came from the Bahamas and could only read 3rd grade level, having great trouble with 3 syllable words. He lost his dish washing job, so he looked in the want ads and was about to throw the newspaper into the trash box on the street when he read: Actors Wanted.
The ‘wanted’ seemed like an invitation, so he walked to the address, was given a two page scene to read by a large man. Poitier slowly read word by word in his Caribbean accent. The large man grabbed him by the belt and collar and pushed him to the door saying, “Stop wasting people’s time. You can’t speak and you can’t read.
Go back to dish washing.” Walking to the bus stop Poitier stopped on the street thinking, “How did he know I was a dishwasher?” Poitier said: “I realized that was his perception of me. No value but something I could do with my hands. Even though he was correct in his anger to characterize me that way, I was deeply offended. I said to myself, ‘I have to rectify that.’ “I decided right then on that street, that I was going to be an actor just to show him he was wrong about me. I had to take the responsibility to change how people perceived me.
I continued as a dishwasher, but I began to work on myself.”
Poitier auditioned at the American Negro Theater in Harlem, hoping to get into classes there. He didn’t know that one could buy books with plays in them, so he memorized an article in True Confessions magazine.
He wasn’t accepted, but Sidney said, “I’ll be your janitor for free if you let me study here.” The school accepted that deal. Months later, he was told he had no gift for acting and had to leave. Unknown to Poitier, three fellow students that liked him went to the head-master and asked her to give him a walk on in the next play. She said, “No, but I’ll make him the understudy for the lead. (She had no intention to use him).
However, the night of the play, the lead, Harry Belafonte, had to help his janitor father carry out the six heavy boxes of furnace ashes, and it had to be done that night. So Poitier went on, knew his lines and did he best he could. In the theater that night was a producer that offered him a bit part in his next play. His character was the first to speak as an excited man who has to tell some news in the first scene, and that was all.
Poitier said, “When I looked out through a peephole at the 1,200 people waiting for the play to begin, I became paralyzed with fear. “I ran out on stage and started with my 7th line first. The other actor’s eyes bulged out, but he came up with the right answer. We skipped around lines, then my character left the stage and that was my only scene. The audience didn’t know the play, so they liked my confused, excited character.
“However, walking back to the room I was renting, I decided to give up on acting. I bought four newspapers on the way home and was surprised that I was mentioned favorably in three of them, like: ‘Who was that funny kid that came on at the beginning?’ So I decided to continue acting.” After a few small parts in small movies, it was 1954. Sidney Poitier was sent to an audition for a movie by an agent named Martin Baum, but was not Poitier’s agent.
Poitier read a scene in front of the producers, they wanted him and gave him a full script to take home. Poitier’s character was a janitor who saw a crime committed by gangsters. To keep him quiet, the gangsters kill his daughter. And he stays quiet. Poitier said, “I really hated it. At that time, I had no objections to playing a janitor, but I hated the idea of a father not taking action on the gangsters. The janitor permits what the gangster do to him. To the writers it’s just a plot point, but I can’t play that because I have a father. And I know my father would never be like that. And as a father myself, I would never be able to NOT attack those gangsters. I want to do movies that show who I am as a human being.”
Poitier called Martin Baum who said they will pay $750 for the part. ($7,000 today). He told Baum, ” I read it and I can’t play it,” and explained why. Baum said, “That’s why you don’t want to do this? You need that money don’t you?” Poitier desperately needed the money. He had to pay the hospital $75 for his 2nd daughter’s birth. But didn’t take the part. Poitier said, “That speaks to who I was then and still am. And who I am is my father’s son. I saw how he treated my mother and family. I know how to be a decent human being.
So I pawned my furniture, such as it was, got $75 and paid the hospital. Then I went back to dish washing. “Months later, Martin Baum called me and invited me to his office and said, “I have never been able to understand why you turned down that job. I told him why again, but I don’t know if he understood it.
But Martin said, ‘I have decided that anyone as crazy as you are, I want to be their agent.’ He’s been my agent till now.” Poitier won an Academy Award for Best Actor for ‘Lilies of the Field’ in 1963. Five years later, Sidney Poitier was offered the lead in ‘In the Heat of the Night’ to be produced by Walter Mirisch (West Side Story, The Magnificent 7) Poitier said, “When I read the script, I said, ‘Walter I can’t play this. The scene requires me to be slapped by a wealthy man and I just look at him fiercely and walk away. That is not very bright in today’s culture. It’s dumb.
“This is 1968. You can’t do that. The black community will look at that and be appalled, because the human response would be different. You certainly won’t do the movie with me this way. ‘If I do this movie, I insist to respond as a human being; he pops me and I pop him right back. If you want me to play it, you will put that in writing. Also in writing you will say ‘If this picture plays in the south, that scene is never removed.’ Walter said, ‘Yeah, I promise you that and I’ll put it in writing.’ “But being the kind of guy Walter is, his handshake and his word are the same, so I didn’t need to have it in writing, and he kept his word. That scene made the movie. Without it, the movie wouldn’t have been as popular.”
‘In the Heat of the Night’ won five Academy Awards: Best Picture – Best Screenplay – Best Editing – Best Sound – Best Actor Rod Steiger
𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝘀: https://besrilankan.com/vintage-photos-of-the-old-school…/
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Integrity!
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He was obviously pretty intelligent. Great actor. My favorite film of his; is in : The Heat Of The Night
Mable Thomas
My take away from Sidney in movies was that there is a man darker than me, on television in a time of racial disparity, making it bigger in ways than most blacks of that era. To me , he was amazing. A super black man.
Henry Ray
Excellent and beautifully written. He sure went thru a lot. Glad he hung in there.
Their has been other African American actors in lead roles including James Edwards and Harry Belafonte but they were extremely rare!! Poitier captured the public imagination like no one before him, with his soft powerful voice unidentifiable accent from the (Bahamas) and crucially his integrity!! If their wasn’t Sidney Poitier their be know Denzel Washington!!!
Amazing journey
Great story
Simply a man of integrity and class!
One of my favorite actors
In spite of racism He Made It
Color Did Not Define Him ……
“If you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for anything.”
Caron Kros
Great actor racism is a disgusting thing
Anita Wisdom
I had an absolutely amazing beautiful Uncle that we always said. Every film we see with Sidney Poitier in, reminds us of our dear Uncle 
Brad Johnson
That scene in “In The Heat of the Night” was amazing for me as a Black teenager. Completely unexpected.
Yes I have always loved his movies my father loved Lillie’s of the field and him singing I loved his accent and singing Amen
He was a great actor, who at first didn’t get the credit! He was also a great humanitarian!
Amazing human being and an amazing actor.
You have to have principle in your life.
Without it, you are nothing.
Lora Lynn
I totally LOVE me some Sidney Poitier! ……And the SLAP that was heard worldwide!
R. I. P. Rest In Power
GOAT!! 
Wayne Parsons
Always loved everything Sidney did. When I would hear he was acting in the show I knew it was a good show
Márta Maria Valens
Truly a remarkable story. A perfect example of not judging people!
Wow this story just blew me away to see his drive and determination he wasn’t the best actor but he didn’t take no for an answer he turned down roles because he felt they weren’t right for coloureds to shown that way on the screen.
Gary Johnson
Never settle. I’ve always loved his character! RIH! 
Read his autobiography. Great actor and missed
Great actor didn’t know that about how he started his career in acting.
Thanks for this enlightening story of Sidney’ s beginning. It’s amazing what some people had to endure to work.He was truly one of the greatest actors ever! Loved him
Winston Thompson
Sidney shows great character. I agree with his true representation of how a human would react. If gangsters kill my daughter. I would react to that and if a man slaps me, I would react to that too. Maybe he couldn’t read that well but he di…
Michelle Bajraktarević
I was wondering how the heck a screenwriter of those times thought of THAT scene!
Now I know the answer… They didn’t! He the actor did! …
Helen Highmoor
Great actor and great human being.
Great story. I always liked this performer, but not nearly as much as I do now. He may have had a difficult childhood but he grew into one of the most admired personalities in America.
Stuart Baron
Honorable, decent, humane. What a real person is. Don’t ever tell people they “can’t” unless one is prepared for their success.
- Elena Dar Rodriguez
I love the way he stood up for himself! Bravo 
I love In The Heat Of The Night. Edgy. Murky. Believable. The entire cast is perfect. It bears rewatching over and over again.
Debbie Honn-Flathers
What a great human being! I have always loved his acting/movies!!!!
Liz Mandeville
Sidney Poitier has been one of my favorite actors ever since I saw him play the teacher in To Sir, With Love, back in the ‘60’s. Segregation was a thing and the civil rights movement was raging so his portrayals were so very important. He embodies grac…
Great Actor. Thank you for sharing this with us. Excellent article.
Great actor and beautiful voice
Arthur Siegmann
A wonderful man. I met him when he came into the store I was working in…
Sadie Gresham
Great actor, very talented. Rest well Sidney Poitier.
Jacqueline Osgood Jensen
I loved him from the first time I saw him so did my parents immigrants as well. what a great man 
He was an amazing actor
Betty Ann Berger
Amazing incredible phenomenal story! Truly” Nothing is impossible with a willing heart!” And French said”Vouloir c’est pouvoir ! » We must work hard to turn our dreams into reality not just dream about this!He is one of a greatest actor of all time!
Simone Samantha Murray
One of the GREAT GREATS! We were privileged to be influenced & impacted by this man’s grace, humility & integrity! Definitely, one of the most adored role models there has been in this industry. Loved him in all his film roles. Sadly missed!
Powerful story. Determination very important
Bridget Juliana Bell
God bless Sydney Poitier. One of the finest actors of our time. So many other brilliant roles. “Lilies of the Field”/”To Sir With Love”/ “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner”/”Cry the Beloved Country” to name just a few that my old brain can remember! Integri…
Meer weergeven
IVE ALWAYS RESPECTED MR POITIERS BODY OF WORK AND HIS ENERGY OF PORTRAYING HIS CHARACTERS WAS VERY UNIQUE GREAT ACTOR 
Dawn Simmons
He is one of my favorite actors since I was a child. I love the movie “In The Heat of the Night” I wonder what the reaction was in the 1968 in the South when that scene appeared. Also he was great in the movie “A Warm December” I would always cry.
2
And there you have it. From rags to riches based on chance, rejection , perseverance, and standing behind his convictions. Obviously not only a great actor, but a man with a spine buttressed by human decency.
I certainly think he is a real good actor . He would not knuckle under any pressure . He hung on to his integrity . That’s what makes him different . I’d go see anything he’s in and know I won’t be disappointed .
What a man!
