Music legend Quincy Jones has paid tribute to trailblazing actor and activist Sidney Poitier in a lengthy remembrance on Twitter. “We were joined at the hip from our times scraping to get by, coming up in New York in the ’50s, to achieving all of our dreams & working together in Hollywood,” Jones wrote, “to standing up to use our voices in support of the things that truly mattered.” According to Jones, Poitier possessed a quality of “regalness” that surpassed ruling members of royalty. The pair of longtime friends remained close throughout their rise to prominence in the film and TV industry. Beginning with the 1965 thriller The Slender Thread, Jones composed and arranged music for several movies starring Poitier, including the Oscar-winning In the Heat of the Night. In 1996, Poitier presented the Best Picture category at the Jones-produced 68th Academy Awards ceremony. “Through thick & thin we shared the highest peaks & the lowest valleys of life together,” Jones tweeted. “I will miss you forever my dear brother … & when I feel like my soul needs to smile, I will think of you & our decades of memories shared together.” Read his full tribute below.
1/6 I couldn’t even begin this morning…Losing my dearest of brothers, Sidney Poitier, is like losing a piece of myself. We were joined at the hip from our times scraping to get by, coming up in New York in the 50’s, to achieving all of our dreams & working together in Hollywood
— Quincy Jones (@QuincyDJones) January 8, 20222/6 to standing up to use our voices in support of the things that truly mattered. And through it all, it will be the countless hours we spent traveling the world, eating, laughing, & talking into the wee hours, that I will treasure the most.
— Quincy Jones (@QuincyDJones) January 8, 20223/6 Sidney had an aura of royalty & regalness about him unlike any that I had ever seen before or after. And I’ve known Counts & Dukes & Heads of State. It was a royal stature that sucked the air out of the room when he walked into it, & left the ladies swooning in his wake.
— Quincy Jones (@QuincyDJones) January 8, 20224/6 It was a regalness that no mere actor could ever conjure, so you knew it was bestowed unto him by a higher power & could never be replicated. And it won’t be.
— Quincy Jones (@QuincyDJones) January 8, 20225/6 From those dues-paying days in New York to having you present the Best Picture category when I produced the Academy Awards in 1996, you were always there for me Sidney. Through thick & thin we shared the highest peaks & the lowest valleys of life together.
— Quincy Jones (@QuincyDJones) January 8, 20226/6 You were there for me during the darkest moments of my life, always in my corner rooting for me. I will miss you forever my dear brother…& when I feel like my soul needs to smile, I will think of you & our decades of memories shared together. pic.twitter.com/B23WxvnE3w
— Quincy Jones (@QuincyDJones) January 8, 2022Related
Quincy Jones Remembers ‘My Dear Brother’ Sidney PoitierncG1vNJzZmivp6x7t8HLrayrnV6YvK57kWlpa2dgZnyywcinmrJlmqS7pr%2BMqZiyq12pv6qu1K2cZqyfYrGmrdFmmaunpJ2ys3nSopunnalivbC106Kcq2aYqbqt