Sidney Poitier

Academy Award-winning actor who was the first African-American Hollywood actor to be a leading man. His films, many of which address race, include The Defiant Ones (1958), Lilies of the Field (1963) and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). Other critically-acclaimed roles include films A Raisin in the Sun (1961), A Patch of Blue (1965), The Slender Thread (1965), To Sir, with Love (1967) andIn the Heat of the Night (1967).