Sidney Poitier

To start off Black History Month - and because this is also Sidney Poitier's birthday month (he would have been 96), here is a truly iconic moment: In 1982, Mister Poitier, the first Black artist to win a Golden Globe for Best Actor in 1964 for Lilies of the Field, also was the first African American to receive the coveted Cecil B. deMille Award.

In 1982, Mister Sidney Poitier, the first Black artist to win a Golden Globe for Best Actor in 1964 for Lilies of the Field, also was the first African American to receive the coveted Cecil B. deMille Award.

A trailblazer for civil rights. A man of great dignity.

This iconic moment made us tear up! The legendary Sidney Poitier, himself a Cecil B. deMille-recipient honors Morgan Freeman with a little help from Dame Helen Mirren who added humor to the presentation.

Sidney Poitier, the most significant African-American actor and star in film history, has died on the morning of January 7, 2022, at the age of 94. It is impossible to overestimate Poitier’s role as a trailblazer for a more diverse and dignified portrayal of Blacks (and other minorities), and his powerful stature as a role model for future generations of Black actors, ranging from James Earl Jones to Morgan Freeman to Denzel Washington.

Beginning in 1952 when the Cecil B. deMille Award was presented to its namesake visionary director, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has awarded its most prestigious prize 69 times.