Sir Sidney Poitier - the first black man to win the Academy Award for Best Actor - has died in the Bahamas at the age of 94.
In a career stretching back to the 1940s, Poitier was known for films such as The Defiant Ones, A Raisin In The Sun, To Sir, With Love, In The Heat of The Night and Lillies In The Field - the latter of which saw him win the landmark Oscar in 1964.
Confirming the news of the actor's death, Bahamas deputy prime minister Chester Cooper said that he was "conflicted with great sadness and a sense of celebration when I learned of the passing of Sir Sidney Poitier".
"Sadness that he would no longer be here to tell him how much he means to us," he added, "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."
Poitier is survived by his wife of 46 years, Joanna, and his six daughters.
Neil Wilkes
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