Sidney Poitier, first Black man to win Best Actor Oscar, dead at 94

Actor Sidney Poitier arrives on the red carpet for the 86th Academy Awards on March 2nd, 2014 in Hollywood, California.
Actor Sidney Poitier arrives on the red carpet for the 86th Academy Awards on March 2nd, 2014 in Hollywood, California. Photo credit ALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images

NEW YORK (WINS) — Legendary actor Sidney Poitier has died, Bahamian Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell announced Friday. He was 94.

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"We've lost a great a Bahamian and I've lost a personal friend," Mitchell said about the Bahamian-American actor.

Poitier appeared in several films, including Guess Who’s Coming to DinnerIn the Heat of the Night, and Lilies of the Field, the latter of which he won a Best Actor Oscar, a first for a Black man.

Bahamas' Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper said he was "conflicted with great sadness and a sense of celebration when I learned of the passing of Sir Sindey Poitier."

Cooper explained, "Sadness that he would no longer be here to tell him how much he means to us, but celebration that he did so much to show the world that those from the humblest beginnings can change the world and that we gave him his flowers while he was with us."

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Featured Image Photo Credit: ALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images