Sidney Poitier, Hollywood legend who was first Black man to win Best Actor Oscar, dies at 94

Sidney Poitier, the legendary star who was the first Black man to win the Oscar for Best Actor, has died at 94, Bahamas Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell confirmed to CBS News Friday. Mitchell was told of Poitier's death by the family but had no other details.

Poitier, who held dual U.S. and Bahamian nationality, was "an icon, a hero, a mentor, a fighter, a national treasure," Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper said on his official Facebook page.

Poitier's life was a series of "firsts." In 1958, he was the first Black actor nominated for an Oscar as Best Actor for his role as an escaped convict chained to Tony Curtis in "The Defiant Ones."