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Sidney Poitier. 
The star of “In the Heat of the Night” and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” has been enjoying retirement for quite some time. He turned 90 this year, and The Hollywood Reporter was invited to his birthday party; the actor was photographed with four generations of his family.

“The Jackal,” a 1997 thriller starring Richard Gere and Bruce Willis, was the last real film project of Poitier’s. Since then, he has been an activist and was even a diplomat to Japan for the Bahamas until 2007.

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Poitier received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, in 2009. According to his family, he can light up any room he walks into even now. “He’s one of the most eloquent curse-word users,” his godson Mike Jordan told THR at his birthday party. His grandson Etienne Gouraige added, “He knows how to make a room explode.”

Sidney Poitier broke down major barriers through his work in cinema and created some of the most memorable characters in film, such as Mr. Tibbs. Though it’s apparently unlikely, his return in some way to film would be an absolute pleasure. (click on page 5 for the rest of the story)[lz_pagination]