ABOUT THE SERIES Beginning with his attention-grabbing role in the 1955 drama THE BLACKBOARD JUNGLE and continuing on through a career that included multiple Oscar nominations (including a win for LILIES OF THE FIELD in 1963), a knighthood, a Presidential Medal of Freedom and other honors, actor-director Sidney Poitier was always one of the most compelling figures in American film both in front of and behind the camera. He became a star opposite Tony Curtis in THE DEFIANT ONES in 1958 and made history five years later as the first black actor to win a Best Actor Academy Award; throughout the 1960s he was not only one of the most artistically accomplished but most popular movie stars in the world, peaking in 1967 with three classics (IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, TO SIR, WITH LOVE, and GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER). He turned to directing in 1972 with the groundbreaking Western BUCK AND THE PREACHER and went on to helm some of the most beloved comedies of the 1970s and 1980s, including UPTOWN SATURDAY NIGHT and STIR CRAZY. An activist whose work was marked by intelligence, taste, and a profound sense of purpose, Poitier served as an inspiration for generations of artists including Denzel Washington, who paid tribute to Poitier when he won an Oscar for TRAINING DAY the same year that Poitier received a Lifetime Achievement Award. The American Cinematheque will honor Poitier with a selection of his finest works, including the early Sydney Pollack gem THE SLENDER THREAD, A RAISIN IN THE SUN, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT and its sequel THEY CALL ME MISTER TIBBS!, and the THE BLACKBOARD JUNGLE. Program Notes by Jim Hemphill.