While Sidney Poitier became well-known for his film career, he didn't leave theater behind. He continued to appear in plays and in 1959, he landed the starring role in "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry (via Britannica). His performance earned him critical acclaim, and he went on to star in the show's screen adaptation.
In 1963, Poitier played the ex-GI, Homer Smith, in the film "Lilies of the Field." With his performance, he became the first Black actor to win an award for Best Actor, and the second to win an Academy Award (via History). He continued to take on roles that addressed racism throughout the 1970s, and in 1972, he made his directorial debut with the film "Buck and Preacher" (via Britannica). Though the movie didn't receive great box office ratings or reviews, subsequent films he directed were big hits, including "Stir Crazy" with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor.
In 2001, Poitier received an honorary Academy Award in recognition of "his remarkable accomplishments as an artist and as a human being," per the Academy Award Acceptance Speech Database. "I arrived in Hollywood at the age of twenty-two in a time different than today's," he said in his acceptance speech. "Back then, no route had been established for where I was hoping to go ... Yet, here I am this evening at the end of a journey that in 1949 would have been considered almost impossible."
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