Tributes have been paid to Hollywood star Sidney Poitier after his death at the age of 94.
The Bahamian-American actor was known for films including In the Heat Of The Night, Blackboard Jungle and Guess Who's Coming To Dinner - and was the first black man to win the Oscar for best actor.
His death was reported by local media in the Bahamas.
Read more: Celtic Connections: Organisers forced to cancel shows due to Covid restrictions
Jeffrey Wright, Whoopi Goldberg and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were among those paying tribute.
Bond star Wright said: "Sidney Poitier. What a landmark actor. One of a kind. What a beautiful, gracious, warm, genuinely regal man. RIP, Sir. With love."
Goldberg quoted the lyrics to the song To Sir With Love, which soundtracked Poitier's 1967 film. Poitier starred in the film with Scots singer Lulu who also had a hit with the title song.
She said: "If you wanted the sky i would write across the sky in letters that would soar a thousand feet high.. To Sir... with Love. Sir Sidney Poitier R.I.P. He showed us how to reach for the stars."
Gordon-Levitt described him as an "An absolute legend. One of the greats".
Best known for his work during the 50s and 60s, Poitier helped pave the way for generations of African-American actors.
Born to Bahamian parents in 1927 while they were visiting Miami to sell tomatoes, his premature arrival meant he gained US citizenship as well as Bahamian.
Poitier grew up in the Bahamas, which was then a British colony.
He returned to America aged 15 and worked in a string of low-paid jobs including as a dishwasher, before lying about his age and joining the Army to fight during the Second World War.
He later joined the American Negro Theatre, which had been set up as a community project in Harlem in 1940.
His first major role came in Aristophanes' comedy Lysistrata in 1946 but by 1949 he had moved away from theatre and into film.
His breakthrough came in Blackboard Jungle in 1955, playing a rebellious but musically talented pupil in an inner-city school.
Three years later, he was nominated for an Oscar and won a Bafta for his performance in The Defiant Ones, about two escaped prisoners, one white and one black, who are shackled together and must work with each other to achieve freedom.
In 1963, he was awarded an Oscar for Lilies Of The Field and became the first black winner of the best actor trophy.
He was awarded an honorary knighthood in 1974.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel