Watch Sidney Poitier's Historic Speech as Academy Awards' First Black Best Actor Winner

Sidney Poitier, who passed away Thursday at the age of 94, made history in 1964 when he became the first Black man—and first Bahamian—to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Lillies of the Field.

Before Poitier's win, Hattie McDaniel was the only Black person to win a competitive Oscar when she took home the Best Supporting Actress award for her role in 1939's Gone with the Wind. Additionally, James Baskett received an Honorary Academy Award for his performance as Uncle Remus in the Walt Disney production of Song of the South in 1948, which technically made him the first Black male to ever receive an Oscar.

"Because it is a long journey to this moment I am naturally indebted to countless numbers of people, principally among whom are Ralph Nelson, James Poe, William Barrett, Martin Baum, and of course the members of the Academy. For all of them, all I can say is a very special thank you," Poitier said in his speech on April 13, 1964, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

Poitier had actually been nominated for the award before for 1958's The Defiant Ones, which made him the first Black male actor to be nominated for a competitive Academy Award as best actor. (David Niven won the Oscar that year for his performance in Separate Tables.)

In 2002, Poitier received an Honorary Academy Award for his contributions to cinema, which was presented to him by Denzel Washington.

"Before Sidney, African American actors had to take supporting roles in major studio films that were easy to cut out in certain parts of the country. But you couldn't cut Sidney Poitier out of a Sidney Poitier picture," Washington said in a speech before presenting the award to Poitier. "He was the reason a movie got made: The first solo, above-the-title African American movie star."

Later that same night, Washington won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in Training Day, earning him the designation of being the second Black actor to win the award. He once again acknowledged Poitier.

"I'll always be chasing you, Sidney. I'll always be following in your footsteps," Washington said when accepting his Oscar. "There's nothing I would rather do, sir."

That night in 2002 also saw Halle Berry become the first Black actress to win the Academy Award for Best Actress for 2001's Monster's Ball.

Among Poitier's many other accomplishments, he was awarded Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1974 and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama in 2009.