The first African-American to win the Oscar for best actor in 1964, Sidney Poitier died this Friday. His disappearance arouses reactions from all sides that praise a man and a talented artist, a symbol of the fight against racism.
Artist but also anonymous pay him homage. Starting with his family of actors who mourns a man of talent and conviction. In France, Vincent Cassel reacted by sharing a photograph of the actor when, across the Atlantic, Whoopi Goldberg greeted an artist who “showed the way”.
If you wanted the sky i would write across the sky in letters that would soar a thousand feet high ..
To Sir… with Love
Sir Sidney Poitier RIP
He showed us how to reach for the stars
– Whoopi Goldberg (@WhoopiGoldberg) January 7, 2022
It is indeed “A legend as much as a pioneer” that the Institut Lumière celebrates. A world of cinema that recalls how Sidney Poitier has moved the lines, as underlined by producer Stéphane Célérier, at the head of Mars Films. “While segregation had not yet been completely abolished in the United States in 1964, Sidney Poitier became the first black actor to win the Oscar for best actor for the film Le Lys des champs. Absolute class, ”he wrote on Twitter.
An opinion shared by the multi-awarded writer Alain Mabanckou, Renaudot Prize in 2006 for “Mémoires de porc-épic”, who praises an actor “of immense talent” and “one of the precursors of the obstinacy of entering the world. ‘Art when the doors are locked by prejudice’.
#Rip Sidney Poitier… Immense acting talent, one of the precursors of the persistence of entering Art when the doors are locked by prejudices. #Ripsidneypoitier pic.twitter.com/glrbPAtxZH
– Alain Mabanckou (@amabanckou) January 7, 2022
While segregation had not yet been completely abolished in the United States in 1964, Sidney Poitier became the first black actor to win the Oscar for best actor for the film LE LYS DES CHAMPS. The absolute class pic.twitter.com/ieut29jS3K
– Stephane Celerier (@stephanecel) January 7, 2022
An inspiring actor who is unanimous
But he is also an artist with humanist values that the host Olivier Minne evokes with great emotion. “The world is losing a unique and rare man, so inspiring, so sincere. A wonderful humanist. The cinema is losing one of its most talented and elegant actors ”. Many anonymous people joined in these tributes, evoking successively “a real prince”, “an icon”, “a legend”, but also “his class, and his immense talent”.
The world is losing a unique and rare man, so inspiring, so sincere. A wonderful humanist. Cinema is losing one of its most talented and elegant actors. My thoughts for his children and Joanna, his wife whom I love. My prayers go to him! #sidneypoitier pic.twitter.com/kzu1MqhTFg
– Olivier MINNE (@olivierminne) January 7, 2022
FAREWELL TO THE PRINCE
Sidney Poitier passed away at the age of 94. What extraordinary radiance in this actor. What a natural class. Representing just and humanistic causes, he will remain as one of the models of the seventh art. A real prince. pic.twitter.com/i1J5zEmUb2
– Kant must go … (@ sirius1936) January 7, 2022
I mourn an icon, a Legend, a huge actor, one of the Last of Old Hollywood with a fantastic career. Farewell Mr. Sidney Poitier, and Thank you !. RIP pic.twitter.com/fm6C3oC5ow
– Fatimata K (@debbopoullo) January 7, 2022
Sidney Poitier passed away at the age of 94 and it breaks my heart. The grace, the class and the talent of this man. pic.twitter.com/6oP9oDHuYk
– Mehdi Omaïs (@MehdiOmais) January 7, 2022