Friday, March 29, 2024

Film Academy Museum Names Grand Lobby After Sidney Poitier

Sidney Poitier1

*The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has honored Hollywood icon Sidney Poitier by naming its 10,000-square lobby after the 94-year-old screen legend. 

“It is an incredible honor to name our grand lobby — the nucleus of the Academy Museum, in celebration of Sir Sidney Poitier, whose legacy of humanitarian efforts and groundbreaking artistry continue to inspire us all,” said Bill Kramer, director and president of the museum, in a statement, as reported by TheWrap. “We are deeply thankful to everyone who supported this campaign, and to Sidney, his wife Joanna Shimkus Poitier, and their entire family for allowing us this great privilege.”

Joanna Shimkus Poitier said in the statement, “Sidney’s tremendous impact on the motion picture industry, and on audiences around the world, is inseparable from the story of his longstanding, collegial relationship with the Academy. Sidney has always taken great pride in the Academy’s recognition of this work. To be honored now as the namesake of the Academy Museum’s lobby, the place of access to everything that lies within, is almost like receiving a second Oscar for lifetime achievement.”

READ MORE: Black News Channel Launches BNC GO: New Streaming Platform

The lobby was made possible through a campaign supported by Tyler Perry, and Oprah Winfrey as well as Ambassador Nicole Avant and Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, and others. 

Poitier became the first Black winner of a Best Actor Oscar for the 1963 film “Lilies of the Field.” He made his film debut in the 195O movie “No Way Out.” His film credits include “The Defiant Ones”; “Porgy and Bess”;  “A Raisin in the Sun”; “A Patch of Blue”;  “In the Heat of the Night”;  “To Sir With Love”;   and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.” 

The museum opens Sept. 30.

In related news, according to Jeffrey Poitier, the nephew of the screen star and Academy Award winner, 23 or more members of his family are missing in The Bahamas in the wake of Hurricane Dorian.

Poitier told the Daily Mail that (as of Thursday) there had been no contact from missing relatives including his sister Barbara and his adult children in Freeport, Bahamas.

“We are still looking for and waiting for them to appear soon. It has us all worried.

“We are trying to reach out to them using every means available to us but we are not hearing anything. We are deeply worried,” said Poitier, 66.

Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas last Sunday as a Category 5 storm with winds as fast as 185mph.

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