... black doctor who treats a bigoted white criminal, in No Way Out (Joseph L. Mankiewicz. ) (1950). He was the second black actor to win an Academy Award (Hattie McDaniel had won a best supporting actress Oscar for Gone with the Wind in 1939) His role in (No Way Out) established a significant pattern both for Poitier himself and for the black actors who followed him; by refusing roles that played to a racial stereotype, Poitier pushed the restrictive boundaries set by Hollywood and made inroads into the American mainstream. In contrast to the films of the 50's and 60's films of the "blaxploitation" era cast black people in roles such as pimps, drug dealers and sexually promiscuous characters. Black people were given lead roles and often white people were portrayed in a negative way, often racist bigots in authoritative roles to reflect the injustices that black people often ...

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