back in �*69, because sidney poitier, of course, was the first black man to win an oscar for male leadayed, again, the sorts of respectful roles. and larry neal said of poitier, "there is no sense in being a million—dollar shoeshine boy." and ijust wonder, when you hear people saying that sort of thing about poitier, whether you worry that some people might say that about some of your roles? i think that's haiku, distorted haiku poetry. i don't understand it. i don't understand that comment, whoever he is. sidney, iwould more compare to... ..the cowboy. oh, god. john wayne? no, no. oh, no, no. no. john wayne wasn't a cowboy. he was a football player. which cowboy do you mean? the one... # do not forsake me, oh, my darling... # who's that guy? anyway. but...go on. a guy who only played good guy roles, right? and that's sidney also, only good guy roles. he didn't want to...put his image on a screen, where young black people would come in and say, "oh, i could be a drug pusher." "i can be a gangster." he wanted them to say, "i can be a psychologist." "i can be a lawyer." "i can be a cop."

. - "in the heat of the night," sidney poitier was playing a black man who was strong, who was smart,e just trying to clarify some of the evidence. was mr. colbert ever in this greenhouse? say, last night about midnight. - this is 1968, you don't have black men hitting white men in movies and getting away with it, and living to tell the tale, anyway. and he does. - there was a time, when i could have had you shot. - sydney poitier completely holds his own, not just as an actor, but as the character, virgil tibbs. at its core, it's a murder-mystery, but it's also about the way america's starting to change. - the winner is: "in the heat of the night," walter murch. [cheers and applause] [rousing militaristic music] - in south vietnam today, about 20,000 allied troops are pushing through on the ground to khe sanh, the outpost held by 5,000 marines and now accessible only by air. - all of this is bound for khe sanh. tons of ammunition and supplies, to be parachuted in to the marines tomorrow. - have you been here 2 1/2 months since the heavy shelling's been going on? - i got here-- i arri

he got his start around the same time as sidney poitier and harry belafonte, when leading roles wereot available for black actors. his early parts came on broadway, before jones moved on to films. he went on to win two tony awards, two emmy awards, an honorary academy award, and a grammy -- what's called an egot. but it was perhaps his voice that resonated the most for fans , from his famous this is cnn to mustafa in "the lion king," to of course darth vader in star wars. our, if you only knew the power of the dark. obi wan never told you what happened to your father. >> he told you enough. he told me you killed him. >> no. i am your father. amna: the power of jones's voice was all the more astonishing given his early battle with a stutter. in 2014 jones sat down with jeffrey brown to look discuss that and how the characters he connected with the most also struggled with language. >> when i was a young boy on the farm, i used to wrassle hogs. ain't no hog get away from me yet. >> very simple people, people who don't articulate much, people like me who don't have language, who are ina

— a bee gee, working with sidney poitier and getting another one in america _ poitier and getting anotherer, is going to be. what do you want _ writer, is going to be. what do you want to— writer, is going to be. what do you want to do— writer, is going to be. what do you want to do a — writer, is going to be. what do you want to do a book for? just explain certain— want to do a book for? just explain certain things. it looks like you had a _ certain things. it looks like you had a very— certain things. it looks like you had a very fabulous and glossy life but there — had a very fabulous and glossy life but there have been hard times, as wett~ _ but there have been hard times, as wett~ att— but there have been hard times, as wett~ all of— but there have been hard times, as well. all of it in the next stop you promised — well. all of it in the next stop you promised us you will come back when it is out _ promised us you will come back when it is out we — promised us you will come back when it is out. we will talk again. brilliant _ it is out. we will talk again. brilliant. lovely to have y