Sidney Poitier passed away on January 6th…We celebrate Sidney Poitier who lived his life with dignity …from his early years growing up in poverty with his family on Cat Island, Bahamas…. to New York City by the time he was 16 years old… then to Hollywood and the Big Screen…
Here at DearWiseWomen.com we look at personal relationships from a unique point of view. Personality traits are determined on the day we are born, we evaluate the relationship dynamics in families, between friends, or any group of people based on their Birthday Cards…our “Relationship Blast”.
Let’s delve deeper into the Birthday Cards of Sidney Poitier , his two wives and dear friend Harry Belafonte to see what they tell us. Then we continue our conversation on our YouTube channel…please follow our link to subscribe, like and share…leave us comments…we greatly appreciate you…
All Fives are restless…they dislike routines and anything that they feel limits their freedom. However they also usually have a strong desire to accomplish something of value in their lives. Some Fives feel conflicted and have a hard time finding the right career. All Fives can reap the benefits of being Fives once they understand that their inherent restlessness is a positive trait that affords them a multitude of choices in life…not a negative trait that confuses them. …
Five of ♦️ are inherently spiritual and have a strong Neptune influence…this gives them both the desire and ability to help others in their life’s work.
Jacks are the young members of the Royal Family in our deck of cards…they are charming, witty creative, romantic and always youthful. They are usually not interested in the responsibilities that are bestowed on Kings & Queens. …all Jacks have the ability to mature into the King or Queen of their respective suit…but they often ignore it…most Jacks just want to have fun.
Jack of ♦️ are extremely persuasive which compliments their other traits…sharp, clever, independent and artistic…these traits make them very successful with groups of people. They are the strongest salespeople in the deck..making them great entertainers and promoters. Sidney Poitier had double Jack of ♦️…making the Jack influence very strong.
Like the Five of ♦️, Jack of ♦️value their freedom and gravitate to professions that allow them the ability to be on the go.
Sidney Poitier certainly exemplified both the Five of ♦️ and Jack of ♦️ characteristics…Relocating from the Bahamas to NY to California along with his desire to become an actor, despite setbacks early on was a great choice for this charismatic gentle man. Take a look at all the movies he was in…portraying so many different characters was the perfect career for him…winning an Oscar in 1963 for his performance in Lilies of the Field gave him the ability to choose his roles carefully since it was personally important to him to respect his heritage and not play roles that demeaned the black man.
There are many stories about Sidney refusing the role of Porgy in the 1959 musical adaptation of the 1935 opera. , despite being offered $75K. He wanted no part of playing Porgy, feeling that this role was debasing the black man and the black community.
Suffice it to say, he was outsmarted by Samuel Goldwyn who made him feel threatened into play the part of Porgy. If he continued to refuse the part of Porgy, he knew that he would be denied the role he really wanted to play…that of Noah Cullen in the 1958 movie “The Defiant Ones”…which ironically was released before Porgy and Bess.
Goldwyn should have been more aware of Karma…since it certainly hit back quickly…Porgy and Bess was Goldwyn’s last movie. It opened briefly in 1959 to mixed reviews, yet over time it did okay…the music…especially the song Summertime has lived on.
I read that Sidney was tone deaf and wondered how he starred in a musical…there must have been other actors that could have played Porgy. Harry Belafonte refused to play Porgy and told Sidney that he was disappointed that Sidney accepted the role. As for the singing… it was dubbed…with no credit listed…Robert McFerrin sang for Poitier.
Poitier failed his first audition at the American Negro Theater due to his poor reading skills. He was fortunate to meet an older Jewish man at his dishwasher job …this man would sit with him and they would read the newspaper together. Sidney knew he had to improve his reading if he wanted to succeed as an actor…not only did he need to read the words on a script, he needed to understand punctuation…periods… commas…colons…semi-colons, etc. Mastering reading and losing his Bahamian accent took work…his determination paid off and he reaped the rewards of his hard work …no more failed auditions…that was his first big step to his successful acting career.
Donna’s Fun Fact: Sidney Poitier was a dishwasher at Al & Syd’s BBQ on Broadway, where many struggling actors washed dishes, held tabs, and went for auditions… “I know this because I met Aunt Syd latter in life, and always knew this story. Aunt Syd’s apartment was filled with treasured paintings, lost art of the time. Many of us were lost in the 70’s… trying to find our way. Fast/Slow forward to 2013, I noticed a Salvador Dali in a museum and recalled seeing it on Aunt Syd’s wall. This moment inspired my conversations with Aunt Syd’s niece Susan and our friend Randee…reminiscing about the brief but formative years living in the same apartment building in Queens, NY. We were finding our way through the Highschool years.. often taking the subway to NYC.. Lauren Bacall was Aunt Syd’s dear friend. Aunt Syd’s card’s were the 8 of ❤️ & 6 of ♠️. Which makes perfect sense to me now. It was a her emotional & powerful heart that always made us feel welcome, intrigued and safe.”
Fun Facts:
1963- Sidney was the 1st Black Man to win an Oscar for Best Actor in a Lead Role for his performance in “Lilies in the Field”
1967- Mega year for Sidney…he starred in three important movies…elevating him to true Movie Star status. ”In the Heat of The Night”, “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner” and ”To Sir With Love”
1967- Sidney Poitier became the first black actor to have his handprints and footprints immortalized in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater
1974- He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth…he really was “Sir Sidney Poitier”.
1994- Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
1997- 2007 Bahamian Ambassador to Japan
2000- Grammy for his spoken word album, “The Measure of a Man- a spiritual autobiography “
2002- Honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement
2007- “Measure of a Man- a Spiritual Autobiography “ on Oprah’s Book Club List
2009 – Received the “Medal of Freedom” by President Obama …the highest civilian honor in the US…
It's always in the cards... 