
Sidney Poitier is the late Bahamian and American actor, film director, and diplomat. He was born on February 20, 1927. He became the first African American actor and the first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He died on January 6, 2022, at his home in Beverly Hills, California, at the age of 94. He is a father of 6 children.
Sidney Poitier: Bio Summary
Name | Sidney Poitier |
Date of birth | February 20, 1927 |
Birthplace | Miami, Florida, U.S. |
Died | January 6, 2022 (aged 94) |
Nationality | American- Bahamian |
Spouse/Ex | Juanita Hardy(m. 1950; div. 1965) Joanna Shimkus (m. 1976) |
Children | Sydney Tamiia, Beverly Poitier, Pamela Poitier, Sherri Poitier, Anika Poitier, Gina Poitier |
Occupation(s) | Actor, film director, diplomat |
Sidney Poitier was a founding member of the Committee for the Negro in the Arts (CNA). He has played numerous roles in several films. He was one of the last major stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama.
Sidney Poitier was granted a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 1974. He has received several other honors and awards. Sidney Poitier’s death according to a copy of his death certificate obtained by TMZ was caused by cardiopulmonary failure, with Alzheimer’s disease and prostate cancer listed as underlying causes.
Sidney Poitier gave birth to four girls with his ex-wife Juanita Hardy, and the relationship lasted from 1950 to 1965. He then gave birth to two other girls with his second wife Joanna Shimkus.
Beverly Poitier
Beverly Poitier’s parents are Sidney Poitier and Juanita Hardy. She is an artist and jewelry designer. She has established her own Etsy page, Poitier Henderson Jewelry, and a collection with the jewelry brand Kazuri West. She started with books on jewelry design, classes, and then workshops. She discovered endless ways to hone her craft.
Beverly Poitier’s mediums of choice are the famed Kazuri beads, precious metals, gemstones, and polymer clay. Kazuri gives her an added sense of satisfaction, because of the seemingly endless variations, and the story behind the beads. She calls the Kazuri beads the beads that keep giving. All who touch them are passing on a blessing.
Beverly Poitier named her jewelry brand, Poitier Henderson Jewelry, after her two favorite guys, her father, and her husband. She worked in the casting department of the 1991 movie Separate But Equal. She wrote and published her fiction book, Nana, about a grandmother who can talk to ghosts and her 30-year-old single granddaughter (named Pamela after Beverly’s younger sister)whom she wants to match make.
According to Beverly in an interview with Vidette Online in August 2001, she enjoyed writing her first novel, Nana. She said the idea came from a lot of places, from a little old lady she knew at church, members of her family, and things like that.
Pamela Poitier
Pamela Poitier is the daughter of Sidney Poitier. Her mother is called Juanita Hardy. She was born on April 12, 1954, in New York City. She is an actress and per her IMDb, she has worked in 1980s Stir Crazy with Richard Pryor, 1990s Ghost Dad and Air America, and 1997’s The Jackal with Bruce Willis. She acted as an understudy on Broadway.
Pamela Poitier moved to her father’s home country of the Bahamas, and there she filmed the documentary, Islands of Life. This raised awareness for the preservation of the Bahamas’ ecological diversity. She lives on Cat Island in the central Bahamas.
Pamela Poitier teaches acting classes in the Bahamas. According to her, she decided to teach these classes to share her knowledge of Strasberg’s acting method that she learned from Lee Strasberg.
Sherri Poitier
Sherri Poitier was born on July 12, 1956, to Sidney Poitier and Juanita Hardy. Sherri has an actor in several movies as she has also followed her father’s steps. She has worked in films such as 1977’s A Piece of the Action and 2001’s The Fighting Temptations and also worked as a cook according to The Sun.
Gina Poitier
Gina Poitier was born in 1961, to Sidney Poitier and Juanita Hardy. She is among the six children of Sidney Poitier. She lived in Pleasantville, New York, for some time and moved to Stuyvesant, New York with her family according to her obituary.
Gina Poitier owned her designer boutique after she graduated from the State University of New York in Albany. She also worked as an administrative assistant, according to The Hollywood Reporter. She met Gaetan Gouraige and they got married. They welcomed four children. Her youngest child, Emmanuel, passed before she died.
Gina Poitier died on May 27, 2018, at age 57. According to her obituary, her death was “quick and unexpected.” “It is a gross understatement to say that she will be missed,” as the youngest child Gina, was loved tremendously, spoiled by her mother and her second Mother ‘Mama Jean’. Gina spent many a day on her father’s lap escaping the strict discipline she expected from her sisters.”
Anika Poitier
Anika Poitier is the daughter of Sidney Poitier and Joanna Shimkus. She was welcomed in Manhattan, New York City, New York, the USA on February 29, 1972. She is an actress, director, and writer. She attended Sarah Lawrence College and the American University of Paris. She enrolled in the American Film Institute as well.
Anika Poitier is known for her work in myth America, The Devil Cats, and Swordfish with Halle Berry and John Travolta. She has directed The Choir, Black Irish, and Yard Sale. She won the Adrienne Shelley Filmmaking Grant for directing the film Black Irish in 2012. She is the founder of ASP & Company along with 3 other partners.
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Anika Poitier is a married woman. She married Leandro Pari DiMonriva. They have two children together.
Sydney Tamiia Poitier
Sydney Tamiia Portier is an American television and film actress who hails from Los Angeles, California, U.S. She was born on November 15, 1973. She is the youngest child of six children born to Sidney Poitier. She was born to actor Sidney Poitier and Canadian actress Joanna Shimkus.
Sydney Tamiia Portier also followed her father’s steps and chose to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. She attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and earned a bachelor’s degree in acting. She then went on to study at Stella Adler Studio of Acting. It was during the late 1990s that she started her acting career.
Sydney Tamiia Portier has played several roles in films and TV shows. Her work is credited in the NBC drama series First Years, and the UPN sitcom Abby. She also had a recurring role in Joan of Arcadia, was a regular on the first season of Veronica Mars, guest-starred in Private Practice, and acted in the Canadian crime comedy series called Carter.
Sydney Tamiia Portier acted in the movies Park Day, Clinical, and Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof. She married Dorian Heartsong in 2012. Dorian Heartsong is a musician. Sydney and Dorian have one son together.
Fact Check
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“Gina Poitier was born on May 27, 2018” – I believe you mean 1961 since she died at age 57 in 2018. Thanks.
Thank you very much for the correction.