Sidney Poitier, first Black actor to win best actor Academy Award, dies at 94

Sidney Poitier has died aged 94. [Reuters]

Sidney Poitier, who broke through racial barriers as the first Black winner of the best actor Oscar for his role in "Lilies of the Field," and inspired a generation during the civil rights movement, has died at age 94, Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis said on Friday.

"It is with great sadness that I learned this morning of the passing of Sir Sidney Poitier," Davis said in a speech broadcast on Facebook. "But even as we mourn, we celebrate the life of a great Bahamian: a cultural icon, an actor and film director, an entrepreneur, civil and human rights activist and, latterly, a diplomat."