Hollywood Beat

Sidney Poitier – An Icon Among Icons

Music mogul Quincy Jones presented the ICON Award for Artistic Excellence to his long-time buddy Sidney Poitier.  These two legends have been friends for over six decades, and considered themselves Brothers.  In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field.  In his 60 year career, he has starred in such socially conscience hits as The Defiant Ones, A Patch of Blue and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and was named among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time by the American Film Institute.

He has been honored by President Obama, Queen Elizabeth II, and the Kennedy Center (to name a few) and recently was lauded by UCLA Longevity Center at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Others receiving the prestigious Icon Awards included Jane and Terry Semel (CEO of Windsor Media & former CEO of Yahoo & Warner Brothers).  The Semels have endowed the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, which is engaged in the study of the brain and its disorders.  Jane recently produced the highly successful Public Service Announcement that addressed health issues of today’s youth.  She enlisted the help of Hollywood A-list actresses to narrate including Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry and Jennifer Lopez.

Peter Whybrow, M.D. and Shlomo Rechnitz and Steve Rechnitz were also honored for their generosity, commitment and myriad contributions to our community.

Special guests that evening included Morgan Freeman (who considers Poitier as his mentor) and Author and former ‘first daughter” Patti Davis, as fit and feisty as ever!.

Do you know that she recently posed nude in MORE Magazine at age 58?

Speaking of fit and feisty, Grammy Award winning singer Natalie Cole (who had Hepatitis C, and required a kidney transplant) looked and sounded fabulous as usual.

It was a special kind of evening, full of love, admiration and dedication to improving and enhancing the lives of us all through research and education.

Quincy Jones, Morgan Freeman an Honoree Sidney Poitier at Icon Awards

Natalie Cole and Director of UCLA Longevity Center, Dr. Gary Small

Guest speaker, Author and former “first daughter” Patti Davis