| Occupation Actress Name Joanna Shimkus | Role Actress Spouse Sidney Poitier (m. 1976) | |
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| Born 30 October 1943 (age 79) (1943-10-30) Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Children Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Anika Poitier Movies The Last Adventure, The Virgin and the Gypsy, The Lost Man, Boom!, The Marriage of a Young Similar People Sidney Poitier, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Anika Poitier, Robert Enrico, Juanita Hardy | ||
Joanna shimkus tribute
Joanna Shimkus, Lady Poitier (born 30 October 1943), is a Canadian former actress and is married to Bahamian-American actor and diplomat Sir Sidney Poitier.
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Joanna shimkus
Life and career
Shimkus was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to a Lithuanian-Jewish father and a mother of Irish descent. Her father worked for the Royal Canadian Navy. She attended a convent school and was brought up in Montreal, Quebec. She went to Paris at age nineteen, where she worked as a fashion model and soon attracted the attention of movie people on the lookout for new talent.
She made her debut in 1964, in Jean Aurel's film De l'amour. She was then noticed by film director Robert Enrico, who selected her to appear in three of his films; Les aventuriers (1967), opposite Alain Delon and Lino Ventura, Tante Zita (1968) and Ho! (1968).
She also appeared in Joseph Losey's film Boom! (1968), opposite Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and The Lost Man (1969), opposite Sidney Poitier. Her film career continued until the early 1970s, including roles in L'Invitée (1969), The Virgin and the Gypsy (1970), The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker (1971) and A Time for Loving (1972).
She married Sidney Poitier in 1976, and they have two daughters: Anika and Sydney Tamiia, who is also an actress. Shimkus has three grandchildren; two from Anika and one from Sydney Tamiia.