Sydney Tamiia Poitier ( ) is an American television and film actress.

Early life and family

Born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on November 15, 1973, Poitier is the daughter of the late Bahamian-American actor Sidney Poitier and Canadian actress

Joanna Shimkus Joanna Marie Poitier ( Shimkus; born 30 October 1943) is a Canadian film actress. She is the widow of actor Sidney Poitier and mother of actress Sydney Tamiia Poitier. Early life Joanna Marie Shimkus was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Josep ...

. Her mother is of

Lithuanian Jewish Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks () are Jews with roots in the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (covering present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, the northeastern Suwałki and Białystok regions of Poland, as well as adjacent area ...

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 New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

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, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

where she earned a

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

in acting. She also studied at

Stella Adler Studio of Acting The Stella Adler Studio of Acting (formerly Stella Adler Conservatory) is a prestigious acting school that was founded by actress and teacher Stella Adler.

. Poitier and her husband, musician Dorian Heartsong, have 1 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 English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

drama series ''

First Years ''First Years'' is an American legal drama that aired on NBC from March to April 2001. It is a remake of the British series ''This Life''. The series premiered on March 19, 2001, but was canceled after only three of the nine episodes produced ha ...

''. The series was canceled after three episodes. In 2003, she starred in the

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...

sitcom '' Abby''. That series was also canceled during its first season. Later that same year, she had a recurring role in '' Joan of Arcadia'', 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 and producer. He is known for his roles as Kevin Girardi in the television series ''Joan of Arcadia'', Ethan Haas in '' The Class'', Sean Walker in the NBC series '' The Event'', ...

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

Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen noir mystery drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California, and stars Kristen Bell as the eponymous character. The series prem ...

''. 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 action-thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Kurt Russell as a stuntman who murders young women with modified cars he purports to be "death-proof". Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito ...

'', director

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...

's segment of the movie ''

Grindhouse A grindhouse or action house is an American term for a theatre that mainly shows low-budget horror, splatter and exploitation films for adults. According to historian David Church, this theater type was named after the "grind policy", a fil ...

'', as radio DJ Jungle Julia. The next year, she had a co-starring role in the new ''

Knight Rider ''Knight Rider'' is an American entertainment franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The core of ''Knight Rider'' is its three television series: the original ''Knight Rider'' (1982–1986) and sequel series ''Team Knight Rider'' (1997–1998) ...

'' series, as FBI Agent Carrie Rivai. In 2011, she guest-starred on two episodes of ''

Private Practice Private practice may refer to: *Private sector practice **Practice of law In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiati ...

''. Poitier starred as Detective Sam Shaw in the Canadian crime comedy series ''

Carter Carter(s), or Carter's, Tha Carter, or The Carter(s), may refer to: Geography United States * Carter, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Carter, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Carter, Montana, a census-designated place * 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 Living people Stella Adler Studio of Acting alumni Tisch School of the Arts alumni Year of birth missing (living people)