The world is still processing the loss of one of the greatest actors of all time — the iconic Sidney Poitier . Over the course of his career, Sidney was an actor, director, as well as a civil rights leader.
He broke down barriers and opened the door for generations of young Black actors . Now, as a form of remembrance, fans are recalling an emotional story about a kind elderly Jewish man who taught Sidney to read as a boy.
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It’s safe to say that 2022 hasn’t exactly started off on a high note.
In a matter of only a few short weeks, fans and the entertainment world at large have suffered some truly tragic losses. These include the likes of Betty White, Bob Saget, and iconic film star — Sidney Poitier.
For those who remain unacquainted with Sidney’s work, he was originally hailed as Hollywood’s first Black movie star.
Sidney was also the first Black actor to receive an Academy Award for “Best Actor in a Leading Role” — which he won for his work in the film Lillies of the Field in 1963.
Before the legendary actor/director/civil rights leader made his breakthrough debut, he was a poor young Bahamian with a dream.
When Sidney first arrived in New York, his options for work were incredibly limited. In part, due to the fact that Sidney had never been taught how to read.
In an interview with Lesley Stahl of ‘CBS Sunday Morning’, Sidney recalled how a kind stranger changed his life forever.
At the time, Sidney was working in a diner as a dishwasher. One day, as he sat trying to decipher the newspaper headlines in vain, an elderly Jewish man approached him and asked what the news of the day was.
“I said to him, ‘I can’t tell you what’s new in the papers because I don’t read very well’,” Sidney recalled.
The elderly gentleman smiled and asked, “‘Would you like me to read with you?’ I said to him, ‘Yes, if you’d like to.'” From that point onward, Sidney’s life slowly started to change for the better .
“Every night after that he would come over and sit with me,” Sidney recalled with tears in his eyes.
“He would teach me what a comma is and why it exists, what periods are, what colons are, what dashes are,” Poitier explained . Slowly but surely Sidney’s reading began to improve.
“He would teach me that there are syllables and how to differentiate them in a single word and consequently, learn how to pronounce them,” Sidney said.
Sidney said, without exaggeration, that those reading lessons were life-changing. The more he learned, the more Sidney began to notice his career trajectory changing for the better.
Despite all the success Sidney eventually came to achieve, he still had one major regret.
“One of my great regrets in life is that I went on to be a very successful actor, and one day I tried to find him, but it was too late,” Sidney said remorsefully .
“I regret that I never had the opportunity to really thank him,” Sidney recalled on an episode of the ‘What It Takes’ podcast.
In the wake of Sidney’s death, a steady outpouring of thanks and appreciation has been reverberating all throughout Hollywood. Dozens of film stars, including Denzel Washington, have since made their thoughts and opinions on Sidney Poitier’s legacy known.
During an interview with ‘TODAY’, Denzel called Sidney Poitier “A beacon.”
“He was the one we all followed, and it was an honor to be able to call him a friend,” the Oscar-winning actor said — recalling his 40-year friendship with the fallen icon .
Fellow actress Lupita Nyong’o echoed Denzel’s statement by referring to Sidney Poitier as her hero.
Suffice it to say that without the efforts of the great Sidney Poitier, there would be no Denzel Washington; no Lupita Nyong’o. Sidney Poitier opened the door for hundreds of young Black actors and in doing so — changed the landscape of modern cinema forever and for the better.
