Sidney Poitier is known for his role as Detective Virgil Tibbs (Mr. Tibbs) in the movie "In the Heat of the Night (1967)".

He played Noah Cullen in the movie "The Defiant Ones (1958)", Homer Smith in "Lilies of the Field (1963)", Dr. John Wade Prentice in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)", Lt. Virgil Tibbs in "They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970)", Warren Stantin in "Shoot to Kill (1988)", Donald Crease in "Sneakers (1992)" and FBI Deputy Director Carter Preston in "The Jackal (1997)".

Some other movies he appeared in are "Sepia Cinderella (1947)", "No Way Out (1950)", "Cry, the Beloved Country (1951)", "Red Ball Express (1952)", "Go Man Go (1954)", "Blackboard Jungle (1955)", "Good-bye, My Lady (1956)", "Edge of the City (1957)", "Something of Value (1957)", "Band of Angels (1957)", "The Mark of the Hawk (1957)", "Our Virgin Island (1958)", "Porgy and Bless (1959)", "All the Young Men (1960)", "A Raisin in the Sun (1961)", "Paris Blus (1961)", "Pressure Point (1962)", "The Long Shps (1964)", "The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)", "The Bedford Incident (1965)", "The Slender Thread (1965)", "A Patch of Blue (1965)", "Duel at Diablo (1966)", "To Sir, with Love (1967)", "For Love of Ivy (1968)", "The Lost Man (1969)", "Brother John 1971)", "The Organization (1971)", "Buck and the Preacher (1972)", "A Warm December (1973)", "Uptown Saturday Night (1974)", "The Wilby Conspiracy (1975)", "Let's Do It Again (1975)", "A Piece of the Action (1977)", "Little Nikita (1988)", "To Sir, with Love II (1996)", "Mandela and de Klerk (1997)", "Free of Eden (1998)", "David and Lisa (1998)", "The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn (1999)" and "The Last Brickmaker in America (2001)".

He appeared on TV shows like "CBS Television Workshop", "Omnibus", Ponds Theater", "Repertory Theatre", "Separate But Equal (1991)" and "Children of the Dust (1995)".

In 1964 he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Homer Smith in the movie "Lilies of the Field (1963)".

And in 2002 he received the Academy Honorary Award "in recognition of his brilliant services to screenwriters, performers and the art of the motion picture."

Happy Birthday!