Sidney Poitier's Widow Joanna Shares His 'Inspiring' Legacy — and Jaw-Dropping Pickup Line! — in New Book (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Running Press; Berliner Studio

Sidney Poitier’s filmography speaks for itself. Over the course of his decades-long career, the Hollywood icon, whodied in 2022 at the age of 94, starred in classics likeA Raisin in the Sun,Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,To Sir, with LoveandIn the Heat of the Night, just to name a few.

But far from being merely an acclaimed actor, Poitier was also a trailblazer, breaking down barriers for Black performers in the movie business. In 1963, his performance inLilies of the Fieldearned him his second Academy Award nomination and his win that year made him the first Black man ever to take home an Oscar for Best Actor.

A young Sidney Poitier.The Sidney Poitier Estate

The Sidney Poitier Estate

Poitier’s widow,Joanna Poitier, compiled the material collected in the book, which she hopes will introduce a new generation to her late husband’s legacy.

“I just think that it’s something that hopefully young people will read and get some inspiration from,” Joanna tells PEOPLE. “We older people all know all about Sidney, but young people really don’t. So, I do hope that they pick it up and read it and are inspired, because he was a very inspiring, special man.”

After Poitier’s death in 2022, Joanna explains, she found a drawer full of his speeches while cleaning up his office. “I started reading them and I thought, you know, they’re all of his thoughts and observations on life and people,” she says. “And I thought maybe we should share them.”

“Reading all of them, I thought, ‘This is a waste if I don’t do something about it,’ ” she adds. “It was too good to waste.”

Joanna Poitier and Sidney Poitier.Berliner Studio

Berliner Studio

The book is divided into sections based around the themes of Poitier’s many speeches, which include musings on art, civil rights and the struggle for equality, memorials for friends and peers, advice for the next generation and tributes to some of Black Hollywood’s most influential voices.

Joanna says she finds Poitier’s words about friends likeQuincy JonesandDenzel Washingtonparticularly impactful. “All of his speeches directed towards friends were loving and caring and nurturing,” she says. “The people he was speaking about, they usually ended up being a little tearful or, you know, happy.”

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Running Press

A Note From Joanna Poitier

The next time I saw him was in Paris, where I had been living and working for several years. At the time I was engaged to an Englishman, so when Sidney showed up that summer, we simply spent time together as friends. He asked me to take him to the Louvre, but when I arrived at his hotel, La Trémoille, I found him still in his pajamas. Maybe he wasn’t the best at first impressions. He explained that he had overslept and invited me into his room to have lunch. I stayed, and we talked and talked. As I was leaving, he asked, “Did anyone ever say you have childbearing hips?” I thought,No, thank you.(That’s the worst thing you can say to a woman.) But we wound up going to the Louvre the next day.

It wasn’t until the filming ofThe Lost Manin Philadelphia that fall that I knew he was the one — and we were together for over fifty years.

Sidney Poitier and Joanna Shimkus Poitier in 1969’s ‘The Lost Man’.Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock

Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock

Sidney was really an amazing person, and the most interesting and intellectual man that I’ve ever known — and I’ve known quite a few. He was a freak about the cosmos, and he and Carl Sagan had a very nice relationship. Sidney was so intelligent, especially knowing that he only had two or three years of schooling and was totally self-taught. He was a special, unique guy. I don’t know why he picked me.

He was also prolific in his writing, an amazing thinker and speaker. In the last few years, I have been going through his many speeches. They are inspiring and full of wisdom, and I think other people should be able to enjoy them, too.

Reading through his words, it becomes clear that the most important thing for Sidney — beyond his family — was education. What he wanted most in life was for his children to be educated, probably because he never really had a formal education himself. He set up a trust for his daughters to go to college, and of course he publicly supported the great work of organizations like the United Negro College Fund and the Fulfillment Fund.

Sidney had the most soothing, relaxing, loving voice. He spoke very deliberately — a result of mimicking radio hosts when he was trying to break into acting in New York. His tone was so unique, not a typical American accent, not really Bahamian. Although we lived in the Bahamas for several years after we were married, I never heard his original accent. I never heard him raise his voice either, even with the children, and I know that he and I never really had any arguments.

Sidney Poitier and Joanna Poitier.The Sidney Poitier Estate

Today I feel protective of Sidney’s legacy, in part because he was very protective of it and very particular about doing any project. He would never do something just for the money — commercials, sponsorships, whatever. He wasn’t interested in making a ton of money. But he would agree to work on a film if he was impressed with the filmmaker’s work. In this way he was a very simple, genuine, honest human being. And very caring of everybody.

In short, he was the most wonderful man I have ever known — who was also the best father, most loving husband, and my best friend.

Sidney — I will always love you, beyond forever.

Your Joanna

source: people.com