Now this is one father who will do anything for his daughters.
With Father’s Day just around the corner, Oscar-winning actor Sidney Poitier, 86, recently sat down with the two youngest of his six daughters, Sydney Tamiia and Anika, and granddaughter Paloma for an exclusive portrait for The Hollywood Reporter magazine — and to talk about his family.
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During the conversation, his daughters shared a surprising revelation about their childhood.
“We would put barrettes in his hair and then we’d make him call room service,” Sydney, 39, revealed. “So room service would come and he’d have to open the door with pink barrettes and lipstick on.” At this, their father drew his jacket over his head in mock horror.
Still, Poitier didn’t let his daughters run over him.
“He was pretty strict,” she added.
Explained Poitier: “My mother was a certain kind of woman, and my dad was a certain kind of person. They had a view of life they passed on to me — everything that they had learned and they hoped I would carry it with me into my adulthood.”
Anika, 41, added that she cherishes those values, which she is now passing on to her own young daughter Paloma, the youngest of Poitier’s five grandchildren (he also has three great-grandchildren).
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Poitier also went on to praise his daughters, who have gone on to appear in film and TV (Sydney recently was seen on Hawaii Five-0, while Anika is now a film director). But the two women acknowledged that their dad would have preferred them to pursue other professions — “doctors, lawyers, anything” other than actresses.
“We’re blessed to have him as a dad,” Sydney said. “The world knows him as this iconic, legendary, historical figure. But he’s also just a really, really good dad.”
Quipped Poitier, with a laugh: “I want you to put all of that in writing.”
