Sidney Poitier dead: First black man to win Best Actor Oscar dies aged 94

Hollywood legend Sir Sidney Poitier has died aged 94. The Lilies of the Field actor Sidney Poitier, the first black man to win a Best Actor Oscar.

Poitier grew up in the Bahamas and moved to American when he was 15-years-old, scoring his first lead film role just one year later in 1955’s Blackboard Jungle.

Over his career, Poitier repeatedly was the “first” to break records with his nominations and award victories. He became the first black man to win an international film award at the Venice Film Festival in 1957, the first to be nominated for Best Actor at the Academy Awards in 1958 and most notably he became the first black man to win a Oscar for his role as Homer Smith in Lilies of the Field.

Poitier was nearly in tears as he described his Oscar win a "long journey".

The actor also served as a diplomat for the Bahamas. In 1997, he was named the ambassador of the Bahamas to Japan. He remained in the position until 2007.

The Academy Award winner's death was confirmed by Bahamas Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell, via Eyewitness News Bahamas.

Actor Sidney Poitier arrives at London Airport. After costume fittings for the film The Long Ships
PA

Speaking about Poitier's death, Mitchell said, "We've lost a great a Bahamian and I've lost a personal friend."

Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper said he was "conflicted with great sadness and a sense of celebration when I learned of the passing of Sir Sidney Poitier

"Sadness that he would no longer be here to tell him how much he means to us, but celebration that he did so much to show the world that those from the humblest beginnings can change the world and that we gave him his flowers while he was with us," Cooper told the Guardian Nassau.

Denzel Washington dedicated his Oscar win to Poitier when he became the second Black man to win Best Actor for 2001 film Training Day. He said: “I’ll always be chasing you, Sidney. I’ll always be following in your footsteps. There’s nothing I would rather do, sir.”

At the same ceremony Poitier received an Honorary Academy Award for his contribution to American cinema.

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