NEWSHollywood Icon Sidney Poitier's Cause Of Death Revealed
Hollywood icon Sidney Poitier reportedly died from a combination of heart failure, Alzheimer's dementia and prostate cancer.
According to his death certificate obtained by TMZ, the beloved actor died at age 94 at his home in Beverly Hills earlier this month. The document listed Poitier's career as an actor with an impressive 76 years of experience in the industry.
As OK! reported, the Bahamian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office confirmed his tragic passing on January 7.
Not only did Poitier break boundaries with his roles in films such as To Sir, With Love, In the Heat of the Night and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, but he was also the first Black man to take home an Oscar for Best Actor for the 1963 film Lilies of the Field.
Prior to his milestone win, Poitier was the first African-American to be nominated for Best Actor in 1959 for his work in The Defiant Ones, which also earned him a Golden Globe win and a BAFTA Award.
Hollywood tributes immediately started flooding in following news of his passing, with his daughter, Sydney Poitier, paying a special tribute to the Miami native. "My grief is because I lost my dad, but it is also because the world lost so much goodness," she heartbreakingly wrote in an Instagram post last week. "He was like a lighthouse. Warm and bright. No matter the storms whipping around him, he stood unwavering shining his light."
Poitier shares daughters Anika, 49, and Sydney, 48, with wife Joanna Shimkus, whom was his co-star inThe Lost Man (1969). The two tied the knot in January 1976 following his first marriage to ex-wife Juanita Hardy. The former flames were together for 15 years and share four children.
Nearly 20 years after Poitier met his second wife, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and slowed down his career. His final film appearance was a 2001 TV movie, The Last Brickmaker in America.
After taking a step back from Hollywood life, Poitier devoted his final years to his family. "The world knows him as this iconic legendary figure," Sydney previously said of the late actor, "But he’s also a really, really good dad."
