Sidney Poitier Was Born a Fighter

Since he was born two months premature, at only three pounds, in February 1927, Sidney Poitier was a stoical early starter. The youngest of eight children, he grew up between the Bahamas and Miami, where his farmer parents sold tomatoes. At 13, he was punched by a cyclist and always vowed to track him down. At 16, Poitier moved to New York, where he worked as a dishwasher and lied about his age to get into the army, but soon faked insanity to be discharged. Having taught himself to read, he won a place at the American Negro Theatre. Tone deaf, he focused on his elocution and modulated his Bahamian accent to a slow, crisp delivery based on newsreaders. 

From “The Defiant One” by Ed Cripps for The Rake; Image from Lilies of the Field, for which he won an Oscar 

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