Sydney Tamiia Poitier ( ; born November 15, 1973) is an American-Canadian television and film actress.

Early life and family

Born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, Poitier is the daughter of Bahamian-American actor

Sidney Poitier Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was a Bahamian-American actor, film director, activist, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. Among his ot ...

and Canadian actress Joanna Shimkus. Her mother is of

Lithuanian Jewish {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Litvaks , image = , caption = , poptime = , region1 = {{flag, Lithuania , pop1 = 2,800 , region2 = {{flag, South Africa , pop2 = 6 ...

and Irish Catholic descent. She has an older sister, Anika. She also has four older half-sisters, Beverly, Pamela, Sherri, and Gina, from her father's first marriage. Poitier attended NYU's

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

where she earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in acting. She also studied at Stella Adler Studio of Acting. Poitier and her husband, musician Dorian Heartsong, have one child together, a daughter born in 2015.

Career

Poitier began her career of acting in the late 1990s. In 2001, she landed her first role on television in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

drama series '' First Years''. The series was canceled after three episodes. In 2003, she starred in the UPN sitcom '' Abby''. That series was also canceled during its first season. Later that same year, she had a recurring role in ''

Joan of Arcadia ''Joan of Arcadia'' is an American fantasy family drama television series telling the story of teenager Joan Girardi ( Amber Tamblyn), who sees and speaks with God and performs tasks she is given. The series originally aired on Fridays on CBS f ...

'', where she played Rebecca Askew, the love interest of Joan's older brother, Kevin (

Jason Ritter Jason Morgan Ritter (born February 17, 1980) is an American actor. The son of actors John Ritter and Nancy Morgan, he is known for his work in television series such as ''Joan of Arcadia'' (2003–2005), ''Gravity Falls'' (2012–2016), '' Anot ...

). She was also a regular on the first season of ''

Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen neo-noir Mystery fiction, mystery Drama (film and television), drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas (writer), Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional city, fictional town of Ne ...

''. However, she left the show after only appearing in four episodes because of budget cuts. In 2007, Poitier starred in ''

Death Proof ''Death Proof'' is a 2007 American slasher film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Kurt Russell as a Stunt performer, stuntman who murders young women with modified cars he says are "death-proof". Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito ...

'', director

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...

's segment of the movie '' Grindhouse'', as radio DJ Jungle Julia. The next year, she had a co-starring role in the new '' Knight Rider'' series, as FBI Agent Carrie Rivai. In 2011, she guest-starred on two episodes of '' Private Practice''. Poitier starred as Detective Sam Shaw in the Canadian crime comedy series '' Carter'', which ran for two seasons in 2018 and 2019.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poitier, Sydney Tamiia 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Los Angeles African-American Jews American film actresses American people of Bahamian descent American people of Canadian descent American people of Haitian descent American people of Irish descent American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent American television actresses 20th-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian actresses Canadian film actresses Canadian people of Bahamian descent Canadian people of American descent Canadian people of Haitian descent Canadian people of Irish descent Canadian people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Canadian expatriate actresses in the United States Canadian television actresses Living people Stella Adler Studio of Acting alumni Tisch School of the Arts alumni Year of birth missing (living people)