However, Poitier’s most groundbreaking achievement as an actor came with the 1967 mystery drama In the Heat of the Night, in which Poitier plays Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia police detective who teams ...

Arrested initially — and ironically — on the assumption that a Negro, out late at night ... on the film map, and extended his ties with Mirisch for five more pix, including “Heat.” ...

The film received widespread critical acclaim and won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, at the 40th Academy Awards in 1968. In the Heat of the Night is directed by Norman Jewison and ...

Oscar-nominated film director and producer Norman Jewison, who steered the 1967 racial drama “In the Heat of the Night” to a best picture Oscar and also helmed such popular films as ...

James had made a single brief appearance on a TV series before Norman Jewison cast him as the killer Ralph in 1967’s In the Heat of the Night, starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger. The film ...

Walter Mirisch, former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and Oscar-winning producer for In the Heat of the Night ... powerful impact on the film community and the ...

Norman Jewison, a prolific and much-honored producer-director whose films ranged from the romantic comedy “Moonstruck” to the drama “In the Heat of the Night,” which won a best picture ...

“Every time a film deals with racism ... He drew upon his experiences for 1967’s “In the Heat of the Night,” starring Rod Steiger as a white racist small-town sheriff and Sidney Poitier ...