Watch: Sidney Poitier on the Role He Refused to Take
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Sidney Poitier died in January 2022, a household name revered for transcending racial barriers through his powerful roles in American cinema in the 1950s and ’60s. Speaking to Oprah on The Oprah Winfrey Show during their first (of many) meetings in 2000, the Bahamian American actor took audiences back to a time in his career before he was a legend–back when he was a struggling actor.
When this story took place, Poitier had one daughter and a second on the way. He was in dire need of a job. Yet, when a well-paying job came around that didn’t align with his values, Poitier turned down the role.
As Poitier explains, the part was of a young man in a 1955 noir movie called The Phenix City Story. In the film, the young man witnesses a murder. Attempting to shut him up, the people who committed the murder take drastic action: They kill his child and throw her body onto his front lawn. Despite the horrible situation, it was what the character did next that didn’t sit right with Poitier.
“This guy, an average person—his response was nothing. He didn’t do anything about that. And I told them that I couldn’t play that, because that man was a father. And knowing my father and remembering my father, I didn’t want to have that kind of record on my plate. I just simply decided not to do it,” Poitier said.
Still, by turning down the $700 role to honor his father, Poitier also acknowledges he put his own family in a difficult situation. “At the time, my second child was about to be born. I had no money. I was working in a restaurant,” Poiter recalled, visibly emotional. Poitier ended up taking out a $75 loan using his household furniture as collateral.
The story doesn’t end here. Six months later, when Poitier was making ends meet while working at a restaurant, he received a call at work from the agent Marty Bomb, who first offered him the part. Bomb asked him to come down to his office, and they had a career-altering exchange.
“He looked at me for the longest time, and he said, “You know, I’ve been thinking about you for all these months.’ He said, ‘There was $750 you could have used. I know you needed the money.’ And he said, ‘Why didn't you take the job?’”
According to Poitier, his commitment to himself was attractive to Bomb. “He said, ‘Well, in any case, I think you’re crazy. Therefore, anyone as crazy as you are, I would like to be his agent,” Poitier said. Poitier and Bomb worked together for the next 50 years.
Later, Poitier exercised the power of the word no when it came to roles he considered demeaning. “I was here under my own terms, and I knew I had no power to influence except the power to say no,” Poitier told the L.A. Times. in 1998. “I didn’t come into this business for the fame and fortune and all of that. I had points to make to myself and to the world on behalf of myself and my family.”
This is one inspiring, wisdom-filled anecdote of many that Poitier shared with Oprah throughout the years. To commemorate his legacy and celebrate his life, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) will be airing reruns of Oprah’s extensive conversations with Poitier.
How to Watch OWN’s Sidney Poitier Programming
The Oprah Winfrey Show: Sidney Poitier Measure of a Man
Sunday, January 9 at 1:00 p.m. ET/PT and 8:00 p.m. ET/PT
Original Air Date: April 7, 2000
Watch Oprah in conversation with Poitier about his memoir The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography and memories from his life and career—including the aforementioned story.
The Oprah Winfrey Show: Dinner of a Lifetime with Sidney Poitier
Sunday, January 9 at 2:00 p.m. ET/PT and 7:00 p.m. ET/PT
Original Air Date: March 28, 2007
Oprah hosts a star-studded dinner for Sidney Poitier where they discuss his book The Measure of a Man, which she named an Oprah’s Book Club pick.
To Sir, With Love
Sunday, January 9 at 3:00 p.m. ET/PT
Release Date: June 14, 1967
In this 1967 feature film, Poitier plays a novice teacher clashing with a class of rowdy students in London’s tough East End.
Oprah Winfrey Presents: Legends Who Paved the Way
Sunday, January 9 at 5:30 p.m. ET/PT
Original Air Date: January 18, 2015
Oprah Winfrey hosts a gala of events celebrating the film Selma and honoring other men and women who made history by participating in the civil rights movement.
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