The Measure of a Man Read online

Logan, Joshua

  Luce, Clare Booth

  Lulu

  Lysistrata

  Man Is Ten Feet Tall, A

  Mandela, Nelson

  Mankiewicz, Joseph

  Mann, Paul

  Margulis, Lynn

  Marshall, Thurgood

  Marshall, William

  Materialism

  Mayfield, Julian

  McDaniel, Hattie

  McNeil, Claudia

  McQueen, Butterfly

  Merrick, David

  Miami, Florida, Poitier in

  police car incident

  Micheaux, Oscar

  Mills, George

  Mirisch, Walter

  Moore, Juanita

  Moreland, Mantan

  Morrow, Vic

  Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

  Mysteries

  in Bahamas

  God as ultimate

  NAACP

  Nassau, New Providence Island, Bahamas

  Baron Smith and movie incident

  class structure

  Jumper church

  Poitier childhood in

  Poitier family moves to

  Poitier family poverty in

  racism in

  Nature

  Negro Actors Guild

  Nelson, Ralph

  New York, New York: Harlem

  Sidney Poitier arrives in

  theaters

  Theresa Hotel

  New York Times

  No Way Out

  One Hundred and Ten in the Shade

  Outsider: concept of

  daughter, Beverly Poitier, and

  Poitier as

  racism and

  Parenting: discipline

  divorce and

  materialism and

  Poitier and daughters

  Poitier’s parents

  values, clarity of and

  Patch of Blue, A

  Philco Playhouse

  Piece of the Action, A

  Pleasures, hedonism, or instant gratification

  Poitier, Beverly (daughter)

  Poitier, Caroline (aunt)

  Poitier, Cedric (brother)

  Poitier, Cyril (brother)

  Poitier, David (uncle)

  Poitier, Evelyn (mother): bush medicines and

  character and personality

  clothes-making

  discipline of children

  life on Cat Island

  marriage of

  Nassau move

  parents “Pa Tim” and “Mama Gina,”

  siblings Ya-Ya and Augusta

  Sidney’s birth and soothsayer’s prediction

  Sidney’s departure for Florida

  Sidney’s first film, sees

  Sidney’s swimming lesson

  stone selling

  survival tactic

  tomato farming

  Poitier, Juanita (first wife)

  Poitier, March (grandfather)

  Poitier, Pam (daughter)

  Poitier, Reginald James “Reggie” (father)

  character and personality

  death of, and inheritance

  discipline of children

  economic struggles of

  as father and provider

  life on Cat Island

  marriage

  Nassau move

  parents

  Sidney’s birth

  Sidney’s departure for Florida and

  Sidney’s first film, sees

  Sidney’s return to Bahamas and

  Sidney’s swimming lesson

  tomato farming

  Poitier, Sidney:

  ACTING CAREER: agent, acquiring

  box office success

  childhood ambitions

  craft and approach to

  directing

  dissention with Claudia McNeil

  first auditions

  first film No Way Out, family at

  first theatrical role

  focus of drama

  income from

  janitor job at American Negro Theatre in exchange for acting class

  lack of roles for

  looking for work

  mentors and teachers

  one-man show, desire to do

  Oscar for Best Actor

  pantomime and

  personal standards for

  power of performance and

  preparing for roles

  Raisin in the Sun and acting challenges

  television drama, A Man Is Ten Feet Tall

  on theatrical accidents

  troublemaker, branded as

  work, importance of

  see also FILMS, PLAYS (below)

  CHARACTER AND PERSONALITY: anger and

  charm

  contradictions in

  danger, reaction to at Catskills resort

  fear of failure

  forgiveness and

  identity, recognition of

  maturing of, New York City

  military, problems in and

  motto

  moving-on lifestyle

  as outsider

  personal standard of high achievement

  principles, adherence to

  prostate cancer and introspection

  psychoanalysis and

  risk-taking

  rogue tendencies

  role models, heroes, mentors

  self-esteem

  shaping of

  spending habits and care with money

  tolerance and

  work ethic of

  CHILDHOOD: birth and soothsayer’s prediction

  Cat Island

  chores

  clothes

  discipline

  education

  life’s lessons from Cat Island

  Miami

  Nassau, Bahamas

  poverty of

  rhythms of early life

  swimming “lesson,”

  EMPLOYMENT (OTHER THAN ACTING): construction

  delivery boy

  kitchen help

  restaurant (Ribs in the Ruff)

  FAMILY: ancestry

  brother (Cyril)

  daughters

  divorce from first wife

  father

  mother

  reunion with parents at age

  and guilt toward

  sister (Teddy)

  wife (first, Juanita)

  FILMS: All the Young Men

  Blackboard Jungle

  Cry, the Beloved Country

  The Defiant Ones

  Edge of the City

  Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

  In the Heat of the Night

  Lilies of the Field

  No Way Out

  A Patch of Blue

  Porgy and Bess

  Something of Value

  Stir Crazy (director)

  Sir, with Love

  NEW YORK CITY: arrival in

  black culture in

  Harlem and

  learning about

  racial acceptance in

  Raisin in the Sun and new kind of theater brought to Broadway

  self-improvement embarked upon

  “time of ashes” in

  winter in

  PLAYS: Anna Lucasta

  Lysistrata

  Raisin in the Sun

  POLITICS: contemporaries, influence of

  criticism of Poitier’s, by contemporaries

  Louise, relationship with

  loyalty oaths, refusing to sign

  in New York City

  social movements, heroes of

  RACISM: acting career and removal of barriers

  Atlanta restaurant incident

  Cat Island and lack of exposure to

  charm as survival tactic

  Defiant Ones, message of, and

  discussions with Louise and

  escape from Southern Jim Crowism

  first exposure to, Nassau

  in Hollywood

  livelihood, maintaining and

  i
n Miami

  outsider status and

  reaction, internal, to

  social conscience of filmmakers and

  social violence and

  theater and

  voting rights

  Whipper, Leigh, and

  RESIDENCES: Bahamas 1970s

  Beverly Hills

  Cat Island

  Harlem

  Miami

  Mt. Vernon, NY

  Nassau

  Pleasantville, NY

  Riverside Drive, NY

  SPIRITUALITY AND BELIEFS: discussion with Charley Blackwell

  educability of human beings

  evolution of

  false

  fate, luck, mysteries

  Gaia (Mother Earth) and

  grand consciousness or divine force

  interconnectedness of life

  Nature and

  knowing, innate

  organized religion and

  sensitivity panel (inherited talents and tendencies)

  VALUES: Acapulco brush with death and taking stock

  acting roles rejected or accepted and

  conveyed through acting

  environment and

  father’s teaching, “true measure of a man,”

  forgiveness

  integrity

  legacy through family

  reaching beyond human frailties

  Poitier, Sydney (daughter)

  Poitier, Teddy (sister)

  Porgy and Bess

  Poverty: American

  on Cat Island

  in Nassau, Bahamas

  Poitier family, economic struggles of

  syndrome

  Powell, Adam Clayton, Jr.

  Power versus powerless

  Promises, Promises

  Racism: acting, lack of roles for black actors, 1950s

  acting, stereotyped roles

  black artists traveling and

  black schools

  Cat Island, lack of

  charm, as survival tactic

  Defiant Ones, message of, and

  dreams and bonding

  genocide

  in Hollywood

  institutionalized

  Nassau, class structure

  Nassau, Poitier’s first exposure to

  Miami, Poitier’s confrontation with in

  parental lectures and

  Patch of Blue and

  politics and cultural conflict, 1950s

  reaction to Hilda Simms in television play

  segregation in Atlanta restaurant

  self-esteem and

  self-image and

  social conscience of filmmakers and

  student activism and

  wariness and

  Whipper, Leigh, and

  Raisin in the Sun

  Randolph, A. Philip

  Richards, Lloyd

  Risk: childhood on Cat Island and

  childhood in Nassau and

  learning about

  stretching one’s abilities and

  Robeson, Paul

  Rolle, Yorick

  Rose, Doris

  Rose, Philip

  Sagan, Carl

  Sands, Diana

  Sense memory

  Sensitivity panel (inherited talents and tendencies)

  Silvera, Frank

  Simms, Hilda

  Simplicity, virtue of

  on Cat Island

  See also Materialism

  Smith, Anna DeVere

  Smith, Will

  Snipes, Wesley

  Society, contemporary: courageous commitment, supporting

  cultural messages to children

  effect on children’s minds

  material prosperity of

  oppression in

  progress in

  Smith, Baron

  Spirituality: evolution of Poitier’s

  faith

  false beliefs

  fate, unseen forces, or mysteries

  Gaia (Mother Earth) and

  God

  hope and

  interconnectedness of life

  knowing, innate

  Nature and

  science and

  sensitivity panel (inherited talents and tendencies)

  speaking in tongues

  Staples, Brent

  Steiger, Rod

  Stir Crazy

  Susskind, David

  Sutton, Jojo

  Tap Dance Kid

  Terkel, Studs

  Theresa Hotel, New York

  “Time of ashes,”

  To Sir, with Love

  Tracy, Spencer

  United Artists

  Values; beyond materialism

  environment and

  father’s teaching, “true measure of a man,”

  honoring parents’

  Mandela and

  Poitier, loyalty oaths, refusing to sign

  Poitier’s primary

  Poitier’s work ethic

  reaching beyond human frailties

  relativity of

  work as means to convey

  Vietnam War

  Walker, Bill

  Wallace, George

  Washington, Denzel

  Waters, Ethel

  Whipper, Leigh

  White, Walter

  “Why Do White Folks Love Sidney Poitier So?,”

  Wilkins, Roy

  Winters, Shelley

  Wright, Richard

  Young, Whitney

  Zanuck, Darryl

  About the Author

  SIDNEY POITIER was the first—and remains the only—black actor to win the Academy Award for best actor for his outstanding performance in Lilies of the Field in 1963. His landmark films include The Defiant Ones, A Patch of Blue, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and To Sir, With Love. Among his many accolades, he has recently been selected as the thirty-sixth recipient of the Screen Actors Guild’s highest honor, the Life Achievement Award for an outstanding career and humanitarian accomplishment.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  Copyright

  THE MEASURE OF A MAN. Copyright © 2000 by Sidney Poitier. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  ePub edition January 2007 ISBN 9780061747489

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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