Saddened to hear that movie legend Sydney Poitier died on January 6th, aged 94. To paraphrase the title of one of his movies - to Syd, with love. What a star - respect.
Sunday, 9 January 2022
10 comments:
ALL ANONYMOUS COMMENTS WILL BE DELETED UNREAD unless accompanied by a regularly-used and recognized
name. For those without a Google account, use the 'Name/URL' option. All comments are subject to moderation and will
appear only if approved. Remember - no guts, no glory.
I reserve the right to edit comments to remove swearing or blasphemy, and in instances where I consider certain words or
phraseology may cause offence or upset to other commenters.
A great actor. His portrayal of Virgil Tibbs in Heat of the Night is a stunning bit of work. Slapping a powerful white man was both shocking and transformative for a culture steeped in racism. He followed that up with Guess Who's Coming to Dinner in a country where miscegnation was still illegal in several states in the country. It was one fact that often actually shocked my students back in the day. That such laws existed in my lifetime as old as they imagined me to be.
ReplyDeleteRip Off
Yes Kid, His film To Sir With Love made a big impression on me when I was much younger. I always liked Sydney Poitier, and the theme song, sung by Lulu, who was also in the film, one of my all time favourites. Sad to lose someone of such calibre, although 94 is a good age.
ReplyDeleteJeff Crawley
I can't really add anything to what you've both said, RJ & JC, so I won't even try as you covered it all. He'll live forever in his movies.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful actor and man. I remember the first time I saw "In the Heat of the night" when I was about 12\13 years old I was transfixed by his stunning performance and as Rip says so hard to believe that these laws existed.
ReplyDeleteHe was good in The Defiant Ones as well, McS, as was Tony Curtis. In fact, he was good in every role he played. Great actor, great man.
ReplyDeleteI forgot about "The Defiant Ones", that was another excellent film and spot on Tony Curtis was great in that as well.
ReplyDeleteThere was a sequel to In The Heat Of The Night, by the name of They Call Me Mr. Tibbs, McS. Did you see that one?
ReplyDeleteSidney Poitier was a brilliant actor who did not need to sell himself on his colour and race. He was a true actor. The movie he stands out in to me is The Bedford Incident. If you haven't seen it watch it . It's good!!!! RIP Mr Poitier and thank you for all the great movies you made.
ReplyDeleteYes I saw that one Kid and I enjoyed it but not as much as "In the Heat of the night". It was part of a trilogy of films but I don't think I ever saw the third instalment "The Organization".
ReplyDeleteDon't think I've seen that one, LH, so I'll look out for it.
ReplyDelete******
Don't think I've seen that one either, McS, so another one to look out for.