Oprah, Barack Obama and Morgan Freeman lead tributes to pioneering actor Sidney Poitier

Magnificent, extraordinary and gracious are only a few of the words used to describe one of the greatest actors of our time

The signature and handprints of late US actor Sidney Poitier in front of the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California. EPA / ETIENNE LAURENT

The demise of Hollywood’s first black A-list actor has left celebrities, politicians and personalities around the world saddened.

Tributes have poured in for the Oscar-winning actor who paved the way for black actors, normalising the very idea of having a black face in a lead role.

Oprah Winfrey led tributes on Instagram, sharing her sadness at the loss of Poitier, a man the TV personality said she “adored”.

“For me, the greatest of the 'Great Trees' has fallen: Sidney Poitier. My honour to have loved him as a mentor. Friend. Brother. Confidant. Wisdom teacher. The utmost, highest regard and praise for his most magnificent, gracious, eloquent life,” wrote Oprah on her Instagram account.

The Oprah Winfrey Network will pay tribute to the late actor with a day of special programming on Sunday that will include the actor’s 2000 and 2007 appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show, plus showing his groundbreaking 1967 film To Sir, with Love.

Viola Davis took to Instagram to share how Poitier influenced her own career, recalling a time when she and her husband had lunch with the actor.

"No words can describe how your work radically shifted my life,” wrote the star, who was the first black actor to achieve the "Triple Crown of Acting" with an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Tony's.

"The dignity, normalcy, strength, excellence and sheer electricity you brought to your roles showed us that we, as black folks, mattered!!!"

Octavia Spencer of The Help, Ma and The Witches remake in 2020, also paid tribute to Poitier on Instagram, remembering meeting him at an awards ceremony when she told the actor that she loved him.

On Twitter, Whoopi Goldberg recanted Lulu’s To Sir with Love lyrics, paying tribute to Poitier’s role in the hit British film where he played an immigrant teacher in a tough London school. The Oscar-winner said he had shown people how to reach for the stars.

Former US president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle also paid tribute to the pathbreaking actor, writing on Twitter that the star had “opened doors for a generation of actors” and posting an accompanying picture taken when Poitier received the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House in 2009.

Hollywood A-lister Halle Berry penned an emotional Twitter thread to Poitier.

Alongside a picture of her and the star, Berry wrote that he was an “iconic trailblazer” and recalled the day she first met him which the X-Men star said was “the only time in my life when I’ve been rendered speechless!

Denzel Washington, the second black man to win an Academy Award for Best Actor after Sidney Poitier took the first award for the same, told The Daily Beast that it had been “a privilege to call Sidney Poitier my friend.”

“He was a gentleman and opened doors for all of us that had been closed for years. God bless him and his family.”

Hollywood’s Tyler Perry wrote a touching tribute to the actor and director on Facebook saying his heart was broken.

“The grace and class that this man has shown throughout his entire life, the example he set for me, not only as a black man but as a human being will never be forgotten. There is no man in this business who has been more of a North Star for me than Sidney Poitier.”

Morgan Freeman, star of Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Glory, also paid tribute to his fellow actor. The star posted a picture of himself and Poitier on Twitter, writing that the late actor was his inspiration, guiding light and friend.