Perry recalled he and Sidney being the only Black cast members on the movie and told how his co-star would embrace his “brother,”a man who shined shoes at the Hollywood studio.
He said: “When I worked with him, the only Black people on the lot was our cast and the shoeshine man, and I remember him speaking and tipping the shoeshine man and embracing that person.
“I was a little boy and I could recognize we’re the only Black people here. And Poitier, he didn’t forget that man that was shining shoes as we walked around the lot. But Poitier recognized that the shoeshine man was his brother, was his mankind.”
Another of the legendary actor’s former co-stars, Lulu Kennedy-Cairns — who made her movie debut in their 1967 drama To Sir, with Love has also paid a touching tribute.
Sharing a photo of the pair in the film together, she wrote on Instagram: “Sidney you were my friend, my teacher, my inspiration … ‘Sir rises above the fray and leads by example’ … this was how you lived your life. You empowered and educated us do we could choose to follow your lead.”
Poitier’s death was confirmed by Fred Mitchell, the minister of foreign affairs for the Bahamas on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022.
