“Introduce yourselves to her!”
I was having a breakfast interview in 1997 with Sidney Poitier at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel when two rather sleazy Hollywood types interrupted our conversation proffering their hands to the legendary actor. Poitier stood up and shook their hands while these two men began to blither on about the first Black actor to win a competitive Oscar for 1963’s “Lilies of the Field” and was the top box office draw in 1968. Finally, Poitier stopped them, pointed to me and in his best Virgil Tibbs voice uttered that command. They quickly shook my hand, and the conversation was soon over.
I interviewed Poitier four times from 1991-98 when I was at the Los Angeles Times. They were more than just conversations about a certain project or event. We had two-hour plus chats revolving numerous subjects including education and racism. These encounters were life changing. In fact, after our...
I was having a breakfast interview in 1997 with Sidney Poitier at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel when two rather sleazy Hollywood types interrupted our conversation proffering their hands to the legendary actor. Poitier stood up and shook their hands while these two men began to blither on about the first Black actor to win a competitive Oscar for 1963’s “Lilies of the Field” and was the top box office draw in 1968. Finally, Poitier stopped them, pointed to me and in his best Virgil Tibbs voice uttered that command. They quickly shook my hand, and the conversation was soon over.
I interviewed Poitier four times from 1991-98 when I was at the Los Angeles Times. They were more than just conversations about a certain project or event. We had two-hour plus chats revolving numerous subjects including education and racism. These encounters were life changing. In fact, after our...
- 9/28/2022
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
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