10 Classic "American" Actors You Won't Believe Are Actually Foreign

1. Sidney Poitier Sidney Poitier is the Jackie Robinson of Hollywood films, but that is not because he was the first black actor to appear on film, but because like Jackie Robinson, he was able to use his humility and grace to get past the typecast roles of playing a black stereotype character or appearing in all black musicals such as Carmen Jones. His roles were dignified as he ushered in a platform for African American actors such as Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington. All of this was achieved by a Barbados native. Poitier was perhaps one of the biggest components of the Civil Rights movement as he was the first winner of a Best Actor in a Leading Role Award at the Academy Awards for Lilies in the Field. But it was the type of performances that he played. He had the unfortunate mantle of the strong black personality in the world of prejudice. In Guess Who€™s Coming to Dinner, a movie about interracial relationships, he portrayed the perfect African American male to expose underlying prejudice. In In the Heat of the Night, he defiantly slapped the racist Rod Steiger back after he was slapped himself. All of these roles were a push for civil equality that showed truly how powerful the magic of cinema is both on a visceral and social level.