Sidney Poitier was the first African American to win the prestigious and the most sought after Academy Award.
He won the Best Actor award for his role in “Lilies of the Field” in 1964.
Fifty years later, Poitier made the grand appearance with famed actress Angelina Jolie to present the best director award for “Gravity” to Alfonso Cuaron, the first Latino director to win this award.
12 Years a Slave made its own Oscar history by winning a couple of awards including the Best Picture.
I met Sidney Poitier way back in the Tanzanian capital of Dar es Salaam in 1967 where he had come for the premier of his another great movie, “Guess Who is Coming to Dinner”.
This comedydrama starred Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn and was about a young white woman who had a whirlwind romance with a young, idealistic black physician she met while holidaying in Hawaii. She returns home with a new fiancé.
When this movie was made, interracial marriage was illegal in 17 states.
I was a young reporter when this picture with the American actor, now 87, when a professional press photographer and a good friend, Adarsh Nayar, took this picture.
Earlier from Sultan Jessa: Former Tanzanian MP and Deputy Mayor of Moshi Passes Away
Also read: SULTAN JESSA: Oscars 2014 – what a show!
Ismailimail 