One of Poitier’s greatest regrets was that he never got to thank the waiter for his assistance. He reflected, «It was too late.»
Sidney Poitier, one of the world’s greatest performers, died at the age of 94. Poitier was Hollywood’s first black cinema star and the first black man who won an Oscar for best actor. The actor, director, and civil rights pioneer was born in the Bahamas and moved to New York with hopes of being an actor, but he was stymied by his inability to read. He couldn’t make it as an actor if he couldn’t read the script. Poitier said that a friendly waiter took time out of his busy schedule to teach him to read. Poitier became tearful as he told Lesley Stahl about the event on CBS Sunday Morning.
_Avi Mayer (@AviMayer),January 9, 2022
After arriving in New York, Poitier washed dishes in a restaurant to make ends meet. He would carry newspapers to his shifts, and when a Jewish man inquired about the news, Poitier said that he couldn’t tell him since he couldn’t read. «I’m sitting here, reading one of the papers.» «And there was a Jewish waiter, an old guy, sitting at the table and he spotted me there,» Poitier remembered the incident. «He got up, came over, and stood at the table close to the kitchen, saying, ‘Hi.'» «What has been published recently?» I can’t tell you what’s new in the newspaper since I don’t read very well. I didn’t have a lot of knowledge.’
«‘Would you want me to read with you?’ he offered. «I told him, ‘Yes, if you want to,'» he said. Poitier said that he sat with him «every night» after his work shift to train him. Poitier fought back tears as he remembered a guy who had absolutely nothing to gain by training Poitier but yet did it. «He would come over every night after that and sit with me and educate me on what a comma is and why it exists, what a period is, what a colon is, and what a dash is,» Poitier said.»He would teach me about syllables and how to distinguish them in a single word, as well as how to pronounce them.» «Every night,» the actor remarked, getting emotional.
Denzel Washington responds to being named «the next Sidney Poitier.»
_maya cade (@mayascade),January 8, 2022
Poitier went on to say that it gradually and steadily impacted the course of his life, both as a human being and as an actor. He did, however, have one regret. «One of my greatest regrets in life is that I went on to become a very famous actor, and one day I tried to contact him, but it was too late, and I regret that I never got the chance to really thank him,» Poitier stated on an edition of the podcast «What It Takes.» The actor has also talked about the nice Jewish waiter in interviews with Oprah, on «60 Minutes,» and in speeches when he won an award.
_Free Black Thought (@FreeBlckThought),January 7, 2022
Poitier would go on to become one of Hollywood’s greatest stars, if not the first black movie star. Previously, black people had only appeared in minor parts that were deleted from films when they were distributed in conservative regions of America. «You couldn’t take Sidney Poitier out of a Sidney Poitier film,» said Denzel Washington. He was the driving force behind the production of the film and, above the title, the first solo African-American movie star. He was the one. » Poitier earned an Oscar for his role in ‘Lilies of the Field,’ in which he portrayed an itinerant worker who assists a group of white nuns in the construction of a church.
_Debbie Allen (@msdebbieallen),January 7, 2022
Poitier discussed his path and its importance after receiving an honorary Oscar in 2002 for his contributions to cinema. I came to Hollywood at the age of 22 in a different era than today’s, a period when the chances of my being here tonight, 53 years later, would not have been in my favor.» «There was no trail left in evidence for me to trace, no tradition for me to follow back then,» he added, according to The Guardian. Yet, here I am this evening at the end of a journey that, in 1949, would have been considered almost impossible and, in fact, might never have been set in motion had it not been for an untold number of courageous, unselfish choices made by a handful of visionary American film-makers, directors, writers, and producers,» he said, before naming many of those who helped him along the way.
When I think about Sidney Poitier, my mind goes to In the Heat of the Night. He once said that he agreed to be in the film on the condition that Tibbs slap Endicott back. The scene reflected the tensions of the moment, and it had a significant cultural impact.