Sidney Poitiermade history as the first ever Black man to win an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1964. Decades later, the late star went on to earn another Oscar for his groundbreaking legacy.
Poitier, whodiedThursday at age 94, was known for his trailblazing film career and humanitarian work. His talents were recognized at the 2002 Oscars, when Poitier received an Honorary Award.
Denzel Washingtonpresented the award, which was given to Poitier at the 74th Academy Awards to celebrate his “remarkable accomplishments as an artist and as a human being.”
Sidney Poitier.Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times via Getty
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“I arrived in Hollywood at the age of 22 in a time different than today’s, a time in which the odds against my standing here tonight 53 years later would not have fallen in my favor,” he said. “Back then, no route had been established for where I was hoping to go, no pathway left in evidence for me to trace, no custom for me to follow.”
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TheLilies of the Fieldactor commended the people he’d worked with for their “strong sense of citizenship responsibility to the times in which they lived,” noting that they were “each unafraid to permit their art to reflect their views and values, ethical and moral, and moreover, acknowledge them as their own.”
Sidney Poitier.SGranitz/WireImage
“They knew the odds that stood against them and their efforts were overwhelming and likely could have proven too high to overcome,” he said. “Still those filmmakers persevered, speaking through their art to the best in all of us. And I’ve benefited from their effort. The industry benefited from their effort. America benefited from their effort. And in ways large and small the world has also benefited from their effort.”
WATCH: Sidney Poitier, First Black Man to Win Best Actor Oscar and a Titan of Cinema, Dead at 94
Poitier said he shared his award with Joe Mankiewicz, Richard Brooks, Ralph Nelson, Darryl Zanuck, Stanley Kramer and the Mirisch brothers, as well Guy Green and Norman Jewison.
“Without them this most memorable moment would not have come to pass and the many excellent young actors who have followed in admirable fashion might not have come as they have to enrich the tradition of American filmmaking as they have,” he said.
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Poitier added, “I accept this award in memory of all the African-American actors and actresses who went before me in the difficult years, on whose shoulders I was privileged to stand to see where I might go.”
Poitier’s storied career included 55 acting credits, with some of his most recognizable roles inTo Sir With Love, In the Heat of the NightandGuess Who’s Coming to Dinner.Along with two Oscars to his name, he also received two Golden Globes, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and a Grammy. He was also the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors.
source: people.com
