WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Sidney Poitier has passed away at the age of 94. He was the first Black recipient of the Oscar for best actor in a film, “Lilies of the Field,” which broke down racial barriers and inspired a generation of civil rights activists.

Eugene Torchon–Newry was the Acting Director General of Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He confirmed Poitier’s passing.

Poitier left a remarkable film legacy with his three 1967 films. This was at a time in which segregation was still prevalent in many parts of the United States.

In “Guess(NYSE:) Who’s Come to Dinner”, he played a Black man who marries a white woman. In “In the Heat of the Night,” he was Virgil Tibbs a Black cop confronting racism as he investigates a crime. In “To Sir, With Love,” he also played the role of a teacher at a London school.

Poitier, who played a handyman helping German nuns to build a desert chapel, had received his best actor Oscar in 1963. Poitier, a Black actor who played the lead role in “The Defiant Ones” five years prior to that nomination.

In the Heat of the Night, his Tibbs character was immortalized by two sequels: “They Call Me Mister Tibbs!” In 1970 and 1971, “The Organization” was created. It became the foundation of the television series “In the Heat of the Night”, starring Carroll O’Connor & Howard Rollins (NYSE :).

He also made classic films of the era, including “A Patch of Blue” in 1964 in which his character was befriended a blind white girl. “The Blackboard Jungle”, “A Raisin in the Sun” were two other examples.

Poitier was born February 20, 1927 in Miami. He was raised in the Bahamas on a tomato farm. To become an actor of major importance by the mainstream, Poitier had to overcome poverty, illiteracy, and prejudice.

Poitier chose his roles carefully, forgetting the Hollywood myth that Black actors were only allowed to appear as maids or train conductors.

Poitier heard another Oscar-winner, Denzel Washington tell Poitier, “I love and I respect you. I imitate your actions.”

Poitier was a director and worked alongside Harry Belafonte, Bill Cosby and Bill Cosby on “Uptown Saturday Night”, 1974. In 1980’s film “Stir Crazy,” Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor were also involved.

START ON THE STAGE

Poitier was raised in Cat Island, Bahamian, and Nassau. He moved to New York when he turned 16 to lie about his age and sign up to serve a brief stint in the Army. After that, he worked at various jobs including dishwasher while also taking acting classes.

When he first met American Negro Theater’s casting director, the young actor was granted his first major break. As an understudy for “Days of Our Youth”, he took over the role of star Belafonte when he fell ill.

Poitier was a Broadway star in 1948’s “Anna Lucasta”, and two years later he landed his first film role with Richard Widmark in “No Way Out”.

He acted in over 50 films and directed nine others, beginning in 1972 with Buck and the Preacher, in which he was a co-star with Belafonte.

Poitier, who was a recipient of the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award, in 1992, joined other recipients like Bette Davis and Fred Astaire.

Poitier stated to his audience, “I have to also thank an old Jewish waiter who took the time to help a young Black dishwasher learn to read.” I cannot give you his name. I never knew it. However, I can read quite well now.

An honorary Oscar was awarded to Oscar in 2002 for his “remarkable achievements as an artist as well as as a person.”

Poitier, his second marriage, was to actress Joanna Shimkus in the late 1970s. With his second wife, Poitier had six children and wrote three books: “This Life”, “The Measure of a Man” (2000), and “The Measure of a Man : A Spiritual Autobiography”, (2000). He also published “Life Beyond Measure”: Letters to my Great-Granddaughter (2008).

He told The Washington Post that if you don’t apply logic and reason to my career, it won’t get you very far. It has been an incredible journey from its inception. I believe that much of life is determined by sheer randomness.

Poitier wrote three autobiographical novels and published in 2013 “Montaro Caine”, a novel described as part mystery, half science fiction.

Poitier, who was knighted in Britain by Queen Elizabeth II of England in 1974, served as ambassador for the Bahamian to Japan and to UNESCO (the United Nations cultural agency). Poitier also served as Walt’s representative. Disney From 1994 through 2003, the board of directors at Co was located at (NYSE:)

Poitier received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 by President Barack Obama.

Poitier, who was in attendance to receive the Oscar for best director at the 2014 Academy Awards ceremony commemorated the 50th anniversary his Oscar.