Sidney Poitier, beloved ‘icon’ and first black best actor Oscar winner, dead at 94

Hugh Jackman has posted a stunning throwback photo of some of the biggest names in Hollywood as he paid tribute to legendary actor Sidney Poitier.

Sidney Poitier speaking at the 2016 Carousel Of Hope Ball in Beverly Hills, California. Picture: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP.

Aussie star Hugh Jackman has posted a stunning throwback photo showing Sidney Poitier surrounded by some of the biggest names in Hollywood at an intimate dinner party in a poignant tribute to the legendary actor.

The undated image shows a smiling Poitier being flanked by Oprah Winfrey as he sits between Barbra Streisand and his wife Joahnna Shimkus at a long dinner table.

John Travolta and his late wife Kelly Preston are seen hugging legendary music producer Quincy Jones, a lifelong friend of Poitier’s.

TV personality Gayle King is pictured alongside Jackman, his wife Deborra-Lee Furness and Streisand’s husband James Brolin.

Hugh Jackman's incredible throwback image showing Sidney Poitier with Hollywood A-listers.

Fashion designer Donna Karan rounds out the dinner party’s guest list.

It is not clear when or where the picture was taken, but the pooch on dog lover Streisand’s lap hints that it may have been a dinner held at the singer’s residence.

Jackman wrote: “It was here, with this amazing group of friends, that Deb and I met the exceptionally kind hearted, smart, cheeky Sidney Poitier.

“A life well lived. A man well loved.”

Aussie actor Naomi Watts commented: “Wow. How many legends in one picture?!? Rip Sidney Poitier”.

Jackman’s tribute comes as the biggest stars of political and public life paid tribute to the trailblazing Poitier.

The Oscar winner, who broke down racial barriers and was one of the most celebrated and distinguished actors in Hollywood history, died on Thursday aged 94 in the Bahamas.

Poitier, who held dual US and Bahamian nationality, was “an icon, a hero, a mentor, a fighter, a national treasure,” Bahamas Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper said on his official Facebook page on Friday, local time. His cause of death has yet to be revealed.

Sidney Poitier and Angelina Jolie speak backstage during the Oscars held at Dolby Theatre on March 2, 2014 in Hollywood, California. Picture: Christopher Polk/Getty Images.

The renowned actor, director and activist was acclaimed for his stirring performances in classic films including Patch of Blue, To Sir, With Love, In the Heat of the Night, and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.

In 1963, he won Best Actor at the Academy Awards for his portrayal of an ex-serviceman who helps East German nuns build a chapel in Lilies of the Field. He was the first black person to ever win an Oscar and remained so until Denzel Washington in 2002.

A note and flowers are seen on Sidney Poitier's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Picture: AFP

Poitier, who rejected film roles based on offensive racial stereotypes, earned acclaim for portraying proud, intelligent men during his groundbreaking career which spanned decades.

“I felt very much as if I were representing 15, 18 million people with every move I made,” Poitier once wrote about the experience of being the only black person on a movie set.

Whoopi Goldberg wrote on Twitter: “He showed us how to reach for the stars.”

President Barack Obama presents the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom to Sidney Poitier Picture: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Tyler Perry on Instagram wrote: “The grace and class that this man has shown throughout his entire life, the example he set for me, not only as a Black man but as a human being will never be forgotten.”

Emmy-winning actor Jeffrey Wright lauded Poitier as “one of a kind” and referenced the classic film “To Sir With Love” in a tribute tweet.

“What a landmark actor. One of a kind. What a beautiful, gracious, warm, genuinely regal man,” Wright wrote.

“RIP, Sir. With love.”

“Rest in power beautiful human being and actor Sir Sydney Poitier,” Rosanna Arquette tweeted.

Barack Obama added: “Through his groundbreaking roles and singular talent, Sidney Poitier epitomised dignity and grace, revealing the power of movies to bring us closer together. He also opened doors for a generation of actors. ”Kiwi actor Sam Neill chimed in: “What an actor. What a life. What a man.”

Sidney Poitier, Bernie Hamilton and Leon Bibb walk down the street in a scene from the film 'The Lost Man', 1969. Picture: Universal/Getty Images

While Russell Crowe simply wrote: “Mr Poitier. Mr Tibbs. RIP Sidney.

His trailblazing career, the subject of an upcoming Broadway show announced last month, stemmed from humble beginnings. According to PBS, Poitier moved to New York City at age 16 after living in the Bahamas for several years with his family. In the Big Apple, he found work as a janitor at the American Negro Theater in exchange for acting lessons. From there, he took up acting roles in plays for the next several years until his film debut in the racially charged film No Way Out.

American actor Sidney Poitier on the set of the film 'Duel at Diablo', 1966. Picture: Ernst Haas/Getty Images

As racial attitudes evolved during the civil rights era and segregation laws were challenged and fell, Poitier was the performer to whom a cautious industry turned for stories of progress.

The Miami-born star earned his first Academy Award nomination in 1959 for his work in The Defiant Ones in which he played an escaped convict who befriends a racist white prisoner (Tony Curtis)”. The nomination was significant as he was the first African-American to be nominated for Best Actor. That role also earned him a Golden Globe win and a BAFTA Award.

Katharine Houghton and Sidney Poitier in Guess Who's Coming To Dinner.

Poitier broke even more barriers in 1963 with his hit film Lilies of the Field and subsequent Academy Award.

That same year, Poitier received an honorary Oscar “in recognition of his remarkable accomplishments as an artist and as a human”.

Debates about diversity in Hollywood inevitably turn to the story of Poitier. With his handsome, flawless face; intense stare and disciplined style, he was for years not just the most popular Black movie star, but the only one, AP reports.

Sidney Poitier receives an Oscar presented by Anne Bancroft in Santa Monica, California, on April 13, 1964. He won Best Performance by an Actor for his role in the 1963 film Lilies of the Field.

“I made films when the only other Black on the lot was the shoeshine boy,” he recalled in a 1988 Newsweek interview.

“I was kind of the lone guy in town.”

Poitier penned two autobiographies. This Life” published in 1980, detailed his childhood and his troubled romantic life.

1954-Ruby Dee, Sidney Poitier and Diana Sands in "A Rasin in the Sun"

He released several more works; The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (2007); and, Life Beyond Measure: Letters to My Great-Granddaughter (2008).

“As I entered this world, I would leave behind the nurturing of my family and my home, but in another sense I would take their protection with me,” he wrote in Measure of a Man.

“The lessons I had learned, the feelings of groundedness and belonging that have been woven into my character there, would be my companions on the journey.”