On April 13, 1964, Sidney Poitier became the first Black actor to win the Academy Award for best actor, earning the honor for his performance in “Lilies of the Field.”
Released in 1963 and directed by Ralph Nelson, the movie in which Poitier starred as Homer Smith, a traveling handyman whose car breaks down in the Arizona desert. Looking for water and help, Homer encounters a small group of East German nuns led by Mother Maria, played by Lilia Skala.
The sisters fled communist Europe and settled in the American Southwest, where they struggled to survive, yet despite language barriers and Homer’s reluctance, they persuaded him to help build a chapel.
Much of the film’s appeal came from the relationship between Homer and Mother Maria. Homer is independent, skeptical and unwilling to work for free while Mother Maria is stubborn, deeply faithful and convinced that Homer has been sent to them for a reason.
By the time “Lilies of the Field” was released, Poitier was already one of the most respected actors in American film. He had earned an earlier Oscar nomination for “The Defiant Ones” in 1958 and had built a reputation for portraying intelligent, dignified characters. No Black performer had ever won the Oscar for a leading role.
Poitier’s victory did not immediately transform Hollywood and in the decades that followed, opportunities for actors of color remained limited. Yet his achievement opened a door that had long been closed. and he went on to star in “In the Heat of the Night,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” and “To Sir, With Love,” becoming one of the defining screen actors of the 1960s.
In 2002, nearly four decades after becoming the first Black actor to win best actor, Poitier returned to the Oscar stage to receive an honorary Academy Award for his lifetime achievements. Presented by Denzel Washington at the 74th Academy Awards, the honor recognized Poitier’s “remarkable accomplishments as an artist and as a human being.”
The moment carried added weight because Washington won best actor later that same night for “Training Day,” becoming only the second Black actor to do so.
In his acceptance speech, Poitier recalled the barriers he faced entering Hollywood, saying that “no route had been established” for him to follow.
