As for the team that has assisted me on my end, I must start with a profound, overdue thank-you to the great Mort Janklow, longtime literary agent and friend. You are a person of courage who always has my back. Everything that I’ve written has been the beneficiary of your encouragement.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to the team in the office—to Darwyn Carson and Susan Garrison, two brilliant women I’m fortunate to know and to have assisting me on a daily basis.
Finally—to my wife, the love of my life, my best friend, thank you for cheering this book on. And to my daughters, my grandchildren, and my great-granddaughters, thank you for your unconditional love. I love you all and I’m so proud to be your old man.
Photo Credits
Diligent efforts have been made to locate the copyright owners of all the reprinted photos that appear in this book but some have not been located. In the event that a photo has been printed without permission, the copyright owner should contact the author c/o HarperOne, 353 Sacramento Street, Ste 500, San Francisco, CA 94111, Attn: Editorial.
All photos are from the author’s personal collection except for the following:
Sidney Poitier at 1963 Academy Awards, © Getty Images
Sidney Poitier after the 2002 Academy Awards, © Berliner Studio/ BEImages
Sidney Poitier with Oprah Winfrey, © Harpo, Inc./All Rights Reserved/Photographer: Kwaku Alston
Photos of Sidney Poitier and his family at his eightieth birthday, © Alberto Vega, Photographer
Searchable Terms
Note: Entries in this index, carried over verbatim from the print edition of this title, are unlikely to correspond to the pagination of any given e-book reader. However, entries in this index, and other terms, may be easily located by using the search feature of your e-book reader.
abolition, 80
Academy Awards, 128
Acapulco, 172–73, 186 acid rain, 247, 248 addictions, 141–50
Addy, Tralance, 10–12
Africa, 19, 22, 116, 123, 193, 195, 197, 238, 267; culture, 21–23, 142; folk magic, 21; religion, 23
African National Congress, 182, 195
agnosticism, 83
AIDS, 243
Alaska, 19
alcohol, 141, 142, 149–50, 207
Allen, Woody, 262
American Cancer Society, 179
American Negro Theatre, Harlem, 98–99, 106–107, 110
Amsterdam News, 106, 268
Angelou, Maya, 178–79
Anglican Church, 80, 84
animal shelters, 116
Anna Lucasta (play), 99 apartheid, 174–76, 182–84
Arkansas, 192
Army, U.S., 76–77, 97–98, 169–70
Arthur’s Town, 4, 26, 31–35, 45
Asia, 116, 236, 238
aspirin, 267
astronomy, 25, 87
atheism, 83
Atlanta, xi, 10, 13
Australia, 19
Australopithecus afarensis, 133
Australopithecus africanus, 133
Australopithecus robustus, 133
Azikiwe, Nnamdi, 195
Bahamas, xiii, 4, 7, 23, 26, 30, 31–41, 54, 65, 80, 164, 186, 196; abolition of slavery in, 80
Baldwin, James, 188
Baltimore, 99, 185
Barnard College, 123
baseball, 186–87
basketball, 43
Baum, Marty, 136–37, 172–73
Belafonte, Harry, 173–74
Bell, Alexander Graham, 228
Beth Israel Hospital, New York City, 136
Bethune, Mary McCleod, 192
bigotry, 243
blackjack, 143
Blood, 54
Boleyn, Anne, 80
Bono, 196
Book of Hebrews, 82
Bowers, Reveta, 189
Bradley, Tom, 183
bravery and cowardice, 151–62
British Colonial Hotel, Nassau, 120
Brooklyn Dodgers, 186
Buddhism, 85
Bunche, Ralph, 188, 197
Canada, 19, 147, 229, 248
cancer, 176–80, 242
Candle in the Dark Award, 13, 14
Cape Town, 183–84
Cardod, 167–68
Caribbean, 19, 23; folk magic, 21
Carmichael, Stokely, 174
Carroll, Diahann, 148
cars, 36, 38, 221, 222, 223, 249; driving, 223–24
Carter, Jimmy, 195
Cassavetes, John, 172
Catholicism, 23, 80–84
Cat Island, xiii, 4, 7, 20, 22, 26, 30, 31–35, 36, 38, 44–45, 52, 60–64, 110, 118, 132, 156, 163, 210, 212, 123, 220, 221, 222, 246, 266
cell phones, 230
Center for Early Education, West Los Angeles, 189
Central America, 19
chaos, 117
Children’s Defense Fund, 190
China, 19, 238
christening, 10–12
cigarette smoking, 141, 142, 148–49
Civil Rights Act (1964), 194
civil rights movement, 116, 162, 173–74, 191–94
Civil War, 236
climate crisis, 246
Clinton, Bill, 195
close calls, 163–80
cocoa plums, 62, 63
Cold War, 162
college, 147
colonialism, 6, 26, 65, 80, 166–67, 195, 196, 213, 238
comic books, 155
Communism, 187
compassion, 252, 253, 259
compulsion, 157–59
computers, 227, 230
Congress, U.S., 190–91
Connecticut, 99
Constitution, U.S., 217
Cooper, Vernice, 118–19
courage, people of, 181–99
Cry, the Beloved Country (film), 75, 123, 174, 182
Daguerre, Louis-Jacques-Mandé, 30
dancing, 33–34
Dandridge, Dorothy, 148
Darfur, 116
Davis, Sammy, Jr., 148
death, 257–64
Declaration of Independence, 230
democracy, 217, 230, 242
Democratic National Convention: of 1964, 191; of 1976, 190
diabetes, 242
divorce, 125–26
Doctors Without Borders, 116
drugs, 207
East Carolina University, 43
Eastern Senior, 65
economics, 93–101, 125, 139, 161, 214, 239, 249
Edelman, Marian Wright, 189–90
Edge of the City (film), 172
Edison, Thomas, 228
Egypt, 226
Einstein, Albert, 272
electricity, 38, 220, 222, 224, 228
energy conservation, 248–49
environment, 232, 233, 245–50
equality, 242
evolution, 233, 234, 237
faith, 251–55
farming, 4, 6, 35, 212
fear, doubt, and desperation, 131–40
films, 117, 221–22, 224, 269; Poitier’s career in, 75, 123, 128, 135–37, 148, 174, 182, 194; racial stereotypes in, 135–37. See also specific films
Florida, 19–20, 35
folk magic, 21, 79
Foreman, James, 174
France, 236, 238; colonialism, 80, 238
free will, 111
French Vogue, 128
Ga language, 11
galaxy, 255
gambling, 141, 142–47
garment industry, 121
Gates, Bill, 196
Georgia, 30
Germany, 236, 238
Ghana, 10–11, 195
Gibbs, Emmy, 119
globalization, 247
global warming, 246, 247
Gore, Al, 248
Gouraige, Etienne, xi, 18
Gouraige, Gabrielle, xi, 18
Gouraige, Guylaine, xi, 18
graveyards, 63–64, 132
Great Britain, 80, 195, 196, 213, 236, 239
Gr
eat Depression, 267
Greaves, William Garfield, 124, 191
greenhouse-gas emissions, 248
Greenville, North Carolina, 43
guardian angels, 25
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? (film), 128
Haiti, 23, 80, 81
Hamer, Fannie Lou, 191
Hardy, Edward, 44
Hardy, Eleanor, 44
Hardy, Joan, 44
Harlem, xiii, 95–101, 105–110, 120–22, 142, 155, 158, 159, 169–72, 186, 267–68; gambling in, 142–45
heart disease, 242
Henry VIII, King of England, 80
herbal medicine, 267
heroes and role models, 181–99
Hinduism, 85
Hitler, Adolf, 242
Hollywood, 4–5; Poitier’s career in, 56, 70, 75, 82, 128
Holocaust, 89, 217
homelessness, 116
Homo erectus, 133
Homo habilis, 133
Homo sapiens, 237, 238
homosexuality, 188
horse racing, 143
hospitals, racism in, 20
House of Representatives, U.S., 190
Hunter-Gault, Charlayne, 193
Hurricane Katrina, 89, 216
Hussein, Saddam, 240
ice cream, 37–38
India, 19
Indian National Congress, 182
indoor plumbing, 220
Internet, 227
In the Heat of the Night (film), 128
iPods, 230
Iraq War, 216, 236, 240
Islam, 85
Israel, 188
Italy, 236
jail, 66–67
Jamaica, 122, 123
Japan, 19, 238
Jim Crow, 20, 191–92
Johannesburg, 174
Johnson, Bumpy, 142–45
Johnson, Harry, 71
Johnson, Lyndon B., 193–94
Jordan, Barbara, 190–91
Katrina, Hurricane, 89, 216
Kaunda, Kenneth, 195
Kennedy, Robert, 173
Kenya, 195
Kenyatta, Jomo, 195
King, Alan, 147
King, Martin Luther, Jr., 194, 195
Kitt, Eartha, 148
Ku Klux Klan, 168, 169
LaBarrie, Aisha, xi, xii, xiii, 10, 11, 18, 257
LaBarrie, Ayele: birth of, xi–xii; christening of, 10–12
LaBarrie, Darryl, xii, 11, 43
lactose intolerance, 38
language, 11, 23, 78, 87, 104, 108–109, 241, 266
Las Vegas, 143, 145–46, 147
laundry, 221
Lee, Canada, 174, 176
life-and-death encounters, 163–80
Lilies of the Field (film), 128
literacy, 108–109, 155
Little Rock Nine, 192
logic and reason, 211–17
London, 148
Los Angeles, 14, 172, 183, 184, 189
The Lost Man (film), 128
love, 113–30, 240, 241, 252, 253, 259
Lysistrata (play), 98
Mafia, 142
Mandela, Nelson, 182–85, 195, 197
Mandela and de Klerk (film), 182, 183, 184
A Man Is Ten Feet Tall (TV show), 172
The Mark of the Hawk (film), 148
Marshall, Thurgood, 185, 194, 197
Mason General Hospital, Northport, New York, 169
materialism, 156–57
media, 239
medicine, 267
Memphis, 191
Meredith, James, 192–93
Mesopotamia, 226
Mexico, 172, 186, 229
Miami, xiii, 19–20, 30, 51, 67–68, 81, 94–95, 105, 120, 155, 168–69, 222, 223
Middle East, 239
mirrors, 39–41
Mississippi, 173–74, 190
money, 93–101, 142–45, 157; gambling, 142–46
Morehouse College, 13, 14
Mould, Kamaria Ayele, xi, 259
Mould, William Quoa, 10
Mt. Vernon, New York, 148
music, 117
NAACP, 185
Nassau, xiii, 4, 6, 30, 35–41, 49, 52, 55, 60, 64–67, 76, 94, 118, 146, 153, 164–68, 220–22, 260; Poitier’s return to, 75–77, 81–82, 90–91
Native Americans, xii, 44, 237
Nazis, 217, 242
“near death” experiences, 263
neutral zone, 208–210
New Orleans, 216
Newton, Johnny, 142, 143
New York City, 30, 41, 246; gambling, 142–45; Poitier in, 68–69, 95–101, 105–110, 120–22, 135, 142–45, 155, 158, 159, 169–72, 186, 267–68; race riots, 170–71; theater, 98–99
Niaka, Dickie, 175–76, 182
Nigeria, 148, 195
Nkrumah, Kwame, 195
No Way Out (film), 75
Nyerere, Julius, 195
Obama, Barack, 196
old age, 215; death and, 257–64
Outten, Mama Gina, 62, 77, 142, 259–60
Outten, Pa Tim, 62, 259–60
overpopulation, 232, 266
Paris, 128
A Patch of Blue (film), 128
PBS, 193
peace, 236
Peace Corps, 116
people of courage, 181–99
pesticides, 248
Peters, Brock, 148
Philadelphia, 99
philanthropy, 116–17
photography, 30–31, 42
plantation system, 23
Poitier, Anika, xi, 14–18, 129, 149, 178
Poitier, Bertha, 51
Poitier, Carl, 49–50
Poitier, Cedric, 48–49
Poitier, Cyril, 51, 67, 94, 176–77
Poitier, David, 45–48
Poitier, Delores, 51
Poitier, Evelyn Outten (mother of Sidney Poitier), xv, 20–27, 31, 35, 37, 39–40, 46–47, 55, 60, 70–71, 94, 105, 125, 140, 156, 189, 198–99, 212, 221, 259; birth of Poitier, 20–22; death of, 260; religion of, 21–22, 23–24, 77–83, 251; reunited with Poitier, 75–77, 81–82, 90–91; separation from Poitier, 61, 70–71
Poitier, Joanna Shimkus, xi, 14, 15–16, 18, 128–30, 178, 183–84; marriage to Poitier, 128–30, 149–50; smoking of, 149–50
Poitier, Juanita Hardy, xi, xii, xiii, 10, 13–14, 18, 44, 124–26, 186, 188, 257; marriage to Poitier, 124–26, 135–37, 145, 148
Poitier, Kermit, 81
Poitier, Maude, 51
Poitier, Pamela, xi, 18, 126, 129, 136, 179; birth of, 136–37
Poitier, Reginald (brother of Sidney Poitier), 50–51
Poitier, Reginald (father of Sidney Poitier), xv, 6, 20–27, 31, 35, 45–47, 54, 55, 67–68, 70–72, 76, 81–82, 91, 105, 125, 140, 156, 166, 196–99, 212, 213, 269; character of, 26–27, 196–99; death of, 25, 260
Poitier, Ruby, 51
Poitier, Sherri, xi, 18, 126, 129, 184
Poitier, Sidney: Academy Award won by, 128; accent of, 69; acting career of, 56, 70, 75, 82, 98–99, 106–110, 122, 128, 135–37, 142, 148, 174, 182, 194; addictions of, 141–50; in the army, 76–77, 97–98, 169–70; birth of, 20–22, 31; on bravery and cowardice, 151–62; childhood and adolescence of, xiii, 4–5, 22, 29–42, 44–57, 59–72, 118–20, 132, 153–55, 163–68, 266–69; close calls of, 163–80; in Cry, the Beloved Country, 75, 123, 174, 182; on death, 257–64; early theatrical career of, 98–99, 106–107; early years in America, 68–69, 95–101, 105–110, 120–22, 159, 168–69, 222; in Edge of the City, 172; education of, 22, 65, 104, 105, 108, 110; eightieth birthday of, 18; on environmental issues, 245–50; fame and success of, 22, 128; as a father, 114, 136–37; on fear, doubt, and desperation, 131–40; first marriage of, 124–26, 135–37, 145, 148; gambling and, 142–47; in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?, 128; heroes and role models of, 181–99; identity of, 70; impulsiveness of, 158–59; in In the Heat of the Night, 128; leaves for America, 70–72; in Lilies of the Field, 128; literacy and, 108–109, 155; as a loner and outsider, 59–72; in The Lost Man, 128; on logic and
reason, 211–17; love and, 113–30; in Mandela and de Klerk, 182, 183, 184; in The Mark of the Hawk, 148; in Miami, 67–68, 94–95, 105, 120, 155, 168–69, 222–23; money and, 93–101, 142–45, 157; neutral zone of, 208–210; in New York, 68–69, 95–101, 105–110, 120–22, 135, 142–45, 155, 158, 169–72, 186, 267–68; in No Way Out, 75; in A Patch of Blue, 128; personality of, 33, 68–69, 158, 205; physical appearance of, 14–18, 34–35, 39–42; in Porgy and Bess, 148; prostate cancer of, 177–80; racial prejudice and, 42, 65–66, 68, 105, 135–37, 166–69, 173–76, 217; in A Raisin in the Sun, 128; on religion, 24–25, 78–91, 251–55; reunited with his parents, 75–77, 81–82, 90–91; on science and society, 219–34; second marriage of, 128–30, 149–50; in Separate but Equal, 194–95; shadow “friend” of, 32–34; sibling relationships of, 48–56, 176–77, 261; smoking and drinking of, 148–50; stealing and, 153–57; television appearances of, 172; in To Sir with Love, 128; on war, 235–44; women and, 118–30
Poitier, Sydney, xi, 14–18, 129, 178
Poitier, Teddy, 4–5, 51–56, 61
Poitier-Gouraige, Gina, xi, 18, 126, 129
Poitier-Henderson, Beverly, xi, xii, xiii, 10, 13, 18, 29, 126, 129, 179
poker, 143, 144, 146–47
pollution, 232, 246, 247, 248
pop culture, 117
Porchia, Antonio, 243
Porgy and Bess (film), 148
pork, 6
power, 239–40
Prince George’s Wharf, 36
prostate cancer, 176–80
public speaking, 206
Queens, New York, 108
racism, 20, 42, 65–66, 68, 105, 166–69, 173–76, 185, 191–93, 217, 230, 242, 243, 266; in films, 135–37; Jim Crow, 20, 191–92; in sports, 186. See also segregation
radio, 222
A Raisin in the Sun (film), 128
religion, 10–12, 21–22, 23, 24–25, 56, 77–91, 116, 189, 207, 230, 239, 241, 251–55, 261, 262, 268; African, 23; faith, 251–55; of Poitier, 24–25, 78–91, 251–55