'He was transformative in people's thinking. I think he just really changed a lot of minds.'
SAN FRANCISCO -- This past Friday, Academy Award-winning Hollywood legend, Sidney Poitier died at the age of 94. He touched the lives of many here in the Bay Area and will be remembered as much more than just an actor.
"I remember seeing Sidney Poitier in Guess Who's Coming To Dinner. The movie which brought different characters of substance to uses men, African descendants." "I don't think you can measure how important he was. That's why I saw he paved the way for Denzel Washington but I believe in a way, paved the way for Obama.""He was the first Black person to win an Oscar for not playing a slave."
"He was transformative in people's thinking. I think he just really changed a lot of minds. He made people embarrassed the be like the people in his movies giving him a hard time. He was the biggest box office star in the 60's and it meant white people were going to his movies too," says LaSalle.Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown got to know the trailblazing Poitier through politics. He hopes the next generation will appreciate and understand the gravity of his work.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Hollywood legend Sidney Poitier dies at 94Sidney Poitier, Hollywood's first major Black movie star and the first Black man to win the best actor Oscar, dies at 94
Read more »
Barack Obama, Oprah and More Pay Tribute to Hollywood Legend Sidney PoitierThe icon made history as the first Black man to win an Oscar for Best Actor for his role in the 1963 film 'Lilies of the Field.'
Read more »
Sidney Poitier, Oscar-Winning Hollywood Legend, Dies at 94He was the first Black man to win an Academy Award for Best Actor.
Read more »
“Heartbroken” Norman Jewison Remembers Sidney Poitier After 50 Years of Friendship'He was probably one of the most intelligent actors I ever worked with,' Jewison tells The Hollywood Reporter of directing Poitier in the Oscar-winning drama 'In the Heat of the Night.'
Read more »
Why Sidney Poitier Is the Most Important Actor in American HistoryThis commentary on the life and legacy of Sidney Poitier was first published in the BAFTA Awards Book 2006, as part of the organization’s lifetime achievement award tribute to the trailblazin…
Read more »