Sydney Tamiia Poitier

Sydney Tamiia Poitier (/ˈpwɑːtj/ PWAH-tyay; born 1973/1974) is an American-Canadian television and film actress.

Sydney Tamiia Poitier
Poitier at premiere of Grindhouse in Austin, Texas in 2007
Born1973 or 1974 (age 50–51)[1]
Other namesSydney Poitier Heartsong
Alma mater
OccupationActress
Years active1998–present
Spouse
Dorian Heartsong
(m. 2012)
Children1
Parents

Early life and family

Born in Los Angeles on November 15, 1973, Poitier is the daughter of Bahamian-American actor Sidney Poitier and Canadian actress Joanna Shimkus.[2] Her mother is of Lithuanian Jewish[3] and Irish Catholic descent.[4] She has an older sister, Anika. She also has four older half-sisters, Beverly, Pamela, Sherri, and Gina, from her father's first marriage.[5]

Poitier attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts where she earned a bachelor's degree in acting.[2] She also studied at Stella Adler Studio of Acting.[6][7]

Poitier and her husband, musician Dorian Heartsong, have one child together, a daughter born in 2015. [8]

Career

Poitier began her career of acting in the late 1990s. In 2001, she landed her first role on television in the NBC drama series First Years. The series was canceled after three episodes. In 2003, she starred in the UPN sitcom Abby. That series was also canceled during its first season. Later that same year, she had a recurring role in Joan of Arcadia, where she played Rebecca Askew, the love interest of Joan's older brother, Kevin (Jason Ritter). She was also a regular on the first season of Veronica Mars.[9] However, she left the show after only appearing in four episodes because of budget cuts.

In 2007, Poitier starred in Death Proof, director Quentin Tarantino's segment of the movie Grindhouse, as radio DJ Jungle Julia. The next year, she had a co-starring role in the new Knight Rider series, as FBI Agent Carrie Rivai.[1] In 2011, she guest-starred on two episodes of Private Practice.

Poitier starred as Detective Sam Shaw in the Canadian crime comedy series Carter, which ran for two seasons in 2018 and 2019.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1998Park DaySophia Johnson
1999True CrimeJane March
2001MacArthur ParkLinda
Happy BirthdayHannah
2004The Devil CatsHellena Handbasket
2005Nine LivesVanessa
2006Hood of HorrorWanda
2007Death ProofJungle Julia
The ListCecile
2008BluesDee
2008Knight RiderCarrie Rivai
2010Yard SaleKate ButlerShort
Page 36Miss Gray
2011Big TweetBig Tweet's Girl
2012The Shooting Star SalesmanZoey
2013The MouseketeerDina Gerger
2014FlawedJana Conley
2015Too LateVeronica
Night of the Living Dead: Darkest DawnTami (voice)
2017ClinicalClara

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1998Free of EdenNicole TurnerTV film
1999Noah's ArkRuthTV miniseries
2001First YearsRiley KesslerMain role
2003The Twilight ZoneDr. Leslie Coburn"The Placebo Effect"
AbbyAbigail 'Abby' WalkerMain role
2003–04Joan of ArcadiaRebecca AskewRecurring role (season 1)
2004Veronica MarsMallory Dent"Credit Where Credit's Due", "You Think You Know Somebody", "Return of the Kane", "The Girl Next Door"
2006Grey's AnatomyDeborah Fleiss"17 Seconds"
2008–09Knight RiderCarrie RivaiMain role
2011Supah NinjasKatherine / Katara"Katara"
Private PracticeMichelle"Love and Lies", "Step One"
2012Hawaii Five-0Grace Tilwell"I Ka Wa Mamua"
KendraLeslieWeb series
2014Chicago P.D.Det. Mia SumnersRecurring role (season 1)
2018HomecomingLydia Belfast4 episodes
Credited as Sydney Poitier-Heartsong.
2018-2019CarterDet. Sam ShawMain role

References