When we eventually reach the path to success, we owe it to those who assisted us get there. After all, very few individuals make it this far on their own. For many individuals, it was their high school instructors or their father who showed them how to drive.
He was a friendly waiter in a restaurant where Sidney Poitier used to work. Sidney Poitier, the late actor, died in January of this year, but not before sharing a moving anecdote from his upbringing.
He revealed everything. Poitier is a talented actress. He’s a well-known and acclaimed performer who created history in his youth.
Poitier made history in the 1960s by being the first black actor and Bahamian to receive an Academy Award.
In The Heat of the Night and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner are two of his flicks. Poitier couldn’t even read a screenplay when he was younger.
He learnt to read owing to a Jewish waiter he worked with.
Poitier would bring newspapers with him to his menial profession of washing dishes.
His coworkers interpreted this to indicate that he enjoyed reading the news. The actuality, however, was quite the contrary.
His coworker, an older Jewish guy, inquired about what was in the newspapers. Poitier informed him that he couldn’t even read them.
Since he can’t read very well, he can’t tell him what’s in the paper. He responded to the man.
The man asked if he would like him to read it. Poitier, of course, said yes.
Every night. Everyone has left, and he has been there with him week after week after week. He learnt a great deal. And then things occurred, he recounted, pushing back tears.
Poitier learnt about commas, syllables, and periods from this guy. He learnt how to pronounce words and how to pause between them. Everything. He was spared from illiteracy by becoming a renowned script-reading actor. All due to his old Jewish acquaintance.
It makes you wonder if that man witnessed Poitier grow into the cinematic star that he became.
Did he watch Poitier accepting those honors and say to himself, “Hey, that’s the man I taught to read!”
He collected the trophy for best actor at the 36th Academy Awards with elegance and mastery of his voice and words.
Poitier’s Jewish friend’s reading lessons made it possible, but he never got to thank him. According to the late actor, this was one of his greatest regrets
It was too late when he returned with the intention of saying thank you. Perhaps they met again after the actor died, and he eventually got to say thank you.
That’s a wonderful way of looking at things.
The most important message from his passing is to constantly appreciate the individuals who brought you where you are now.
Most of us are where we are because of the assistance of others. Don’t pass up the opportunity to thank them, like Poitier did. .
To hear Poitier narrate the moving story, watch the video below.
Sidney Poitier – the first Black man to win an Oscar for Best Actor, has died at age 94
— CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) January 7, 2022
In 2013, he spoke to Leslie Stahl for "Sunday Morning" and reflected back on the moment things began to happen in his career – when someone taught him to read https://t.co/VWCYyCGZc4 pic.twitter.com/Os5zcIEIko
