New PDF release: Sidney Poitier: Man, Actor, Icon

By Aram Goudsouzian

ISBN-10: 0807828432

ISBN-13: 9780807828434

ISBN-10: 0807875848

ISBN-13: 9780807875841

Within the first complete biography of actor Sidney Poitier, Aram Goudsouzian analyzes the existence and profession of a Hollywood legend, from his youth within the Bahamas to his 2002 Oscar for lifetime fulfillment. Poitier is a proficient actor, a good American luck tale, an exciting character, and a political image; his existence and occupation light up America's racial heritage. In such movies as Lilies of the sector, within the warmth of the evening, and bet who is Coming to Dinner, Poitier's middle-class, mannered, virtuous display personality contradicted triumphing movie stereotypes of blacks as half-wits, comedian servants, or oversexed threats. His monitor photo and public help of nonviolent integration assuaged the fears of a extensive political middle, and through 1968, Poitier was once voted America's favourite superstar. via cautious readings of each Poitier movie, Goudsouzian exhibits that Poitier's characters frequently made sacrifices for the nice of whites and barely displayed sexuality. because the purely black top guy in the course of the civil rights period, Poitier selected roles and public positions that negotiated the fight for dignity. by means of 1970, occasions had replaced and Poitier was once the objective of a backlash from movie critics and black radicals, because the new heroes of "blaxploitation" videos reversed the Poitier version. within the Seventies, Poitier shifted his massive abilities towards directing, starring in, and generating renowned video clips that hired many African american citizens, either off and on reveal. After an extended hiatus, he back to starring roles within the past due Nineteen Eighties. extra lately, the movie has reappraised his profession, and Poitier has acquired quite a few honors spotting his multi-faceted paintings for black equality in Hollywood. As this biography affirms, Poitier continues to be certainly one of American renowned culture's most suitable symbols of the chances for and bounds of racial equality.

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They tore white department store mannequins, limb by limb. Anger turned into anarchy. A black mob beat two British seamen leaving a 125th Street movie house. A glass bottle struck a 62-year-old woman. Crowds marched as far north as 135th Street, sparing only those storefronts with ‘‘colored store’’ or ‘‘negro’’ hastily scrawled upon them. ∂Ω Poitier was washing dishes downtown that night. He had heard about the riot, but nothing prepared him for the scene when he walked out of the subway station on 125th Street.

Between 1929 and 1935, Fetchit appeared in twenty-six films. He played servants, slaves, and foolish country bumpkins, and he exaggerated every aspect of his performance: oversized clothes, bright white teeth, black dialect, and an achingly slow walk. ‘‘Nothing fancy,’’ marveled a Hollywood fan magazine. ‘‘Nothing educated or emancipated. He typifies his race. All the traits and talents that legend gives to colored people are embodied in him. ’’ But his slothful image allowed for some sly subversions, too.

Gunfire continued and fires burned through the night, as Poitier nursed his injury. The bullet had torn through his lower calf without lodging inside him. He limped for a few weeks, with his only medicine liberal applications of Vaseline. ∑≤ The scar on Harlem was deeper: 6 dead, 700 injured, 600 arrested, and 4,500 windows smashed. In the following weeks, New Yorkers dissected the riot. White newspapers lamented the destruction. Black newspapers rebuked the looters, but pointed at the riot’s root causes.

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Sidney Poitier: Man, Actor, Icon by Aram Goudsouzian


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