SIDNEY POITIER - POITIER USED HIS LATE FATHER AS A SCRIPT ADVISOR

Legendary actor SIDNEY POITIER only starred in movies his father would approve of, even long after his dad died.
The Oscar winner stuck true to the family values his parents instilled in him, even when it meant persuading movie bosses to alter a scene in 1967 film In the Heat of the Night - so when his character is slapped, he slaps his attacker back.
The 81-year-old says, "(The scene) almost was not there. I said, 'I'll tell you what, I'll make this movie for you if you give me your absolute guarantee when he slaps me I slap him right back and you guarantee that it will play in every version of this movie.'
"And they thought about it and they said, 'Yes, we'll guarantee that.'
"I try not to do things that are against nature. I stayed away from films that didn't speak well of my values. I could only say yes to films if I passed it by my dad.
"I passed it by my father because I did not want ever to make a film that would not reflect positively on my father's life."
Poitier's new book Life Beyond Measure: Letters to My Great Granddaughter tells the actor's story of his struggle to beat the odds in Hollywood, eventually becoming the first black man to win the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1963.