Joanna Shimkus – The Truth About the Wife of the Late Sidney Poitier

Joanna Shimkus is a Canadian film actress, best known as the wife of the late actor Sidney Poitier. She is best known for her works in The Virgin and the Gypsy (1970), Zita (1968) and The Uninvited (1969).

Joanna was married to Sydney for 46 years, until the actor’s death. Before that, the couple dated for more than five years. They started dating in 1968 while working together on Robert Alan Arthur’s The Lost Man. The couple maintained intimacy in their personal life.

How old is Joanna Shimkus?

Joanna Marie Shimkus was born on October 30, 1943 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She is 79 years old in 2022. Given her date of birth, her astrological sign appears to be Scorpio. She grew up in Montreal, a metropolitan area of ​​Quebec, Canada.

His parents

Shimkus was born into a military family. His father, Joseph Shimkus, was a naval officer in the Royal Canadian Navy. However, she was never brought up with the belief that she should do what her parents did.

Her mother, Marie Petrie and her father supported her in her chosen profession. She received immense support from her parents even when she talked about becoming an actress.

His education

Talking about her upbringing, the actress attended a convent school. However, not much is known other than this fact. Although she is a celebrity, she has managed to keep her personal life out of the limelight.

Joanna Shimkus made her acting debut in 1964

Joanna chose to act for her career. Her first role on the big screen was in a film called De l’amour in 1964. However, she had also directed a short film, Montparnasse-Levallois by Jean-Luc Godard in 1963.

His first film brought many directors to recognize his talent. Subsequently, renowned director Robert Enrico liked his acting and offered him roles in three of his films simultaneously.

From 1963, Joanna actively pursued her acting career until 1972. Adventurers, Ho!, Boom!, The Lost Man, The Virgin, The Gypsy, A Time for Loving and The Marriage of -a Young Stockbroker are some of the films she is working on. on. She also worked with her husband. Joanna worked with her husband, Sidney Poitier, on The Lost Man, released in 1969.

She had a great impact on the film industry, but for unknown reasons she decided to leave the industry in 1972. It was only after nearly four decades that we would see the actress again. She returned to the entertainment industry in 2010. Then she left for good in 2018.

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Joanna Shimkus is also an interior designer

During her absence from acting, Shimkus began her career as an interior designer and sculptor. Although she did not reveal the details of her work, she renovated her own house in Beverly Hills.

She designed the house with the aim of making it both beautiful and comfortable. She used the antique pieces she and her husband collected on their travels to decorate her home. Likewise, she believes the Beverly Hills home reflects their passion for the world, from its rugs to its artwork.

While her children were young, Joanna studied sculpture with Artis Lane. She sold her own sculptures of Hounsou and used several of his creations as decorations in her place. She also incorporates her teacher’s work, the sculpture of actor Djimon Hounsou, into her living room.

Joanna Shimkus was married to Sidney Poitier for more than four decades

In January 1976, Joanna married Bahamian-American actor Sidney Poiter. She was the actor’s second wife. Before her, Sidney was married to a woman named Juanita Hardy. The couple have been married for 15 years and have four daughters together.

Of her relationship, Joanna said: ‘I grew up in Canada and never really had any prejudices – it’s not like America. I never had those feelings. And we never had a problem, actually. We might lead a very quiet life. Maybe it’s just like that; I do not really know. But I never really saw him as a black man. I mean, I know he’s black, but I just saw him as a man, and he was just a wonderful person, an amazing human being.

She added: “What drew me to him the most, I think, was his integrity and his honesty and his loyalty to his family. He’s just an amazing human being. He’s just a good, “good, good person. And he’s cute too, yes! And he was particularly handsome back then. He still is so now, but he was very, very attractive back then.”

Her husband died of heart failure

The couple shared more than four decades of romance until the death of Sidney Poitier at the age of 94. Sidney Poitier breathed his last at his home in California on the evening of January 6, 2022. According to the death certificate, heart failure was the cause. of death, which also indicates that he was an Alzheimer’s patient.

His daughter Sydney Poitier shared heartfelt words after his death via her Instagram under the username @sydneypoitierheartsong, where she wrote: ‘My grief is because I lost my father, but it’s also because the world has lost so much goodness. I will miss you more than words can express, dad. She added “I will feel you in the warmth of the sun on my back, I will hear you in the wind in the trees, and I will seek you among the stars, where you will surely be. I love you.”

His eldest daughter Anika wrote an essay which was published by The Hollywood Reporter, which mentioned that she will miss the times she spent with her dearest father.

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His two daughters are actresses

Anika Poitier (born February 29, 1972), the couple’s eldest daughter, loved the arts from an early age, which is why she studied them at the American University in Paris. She entered the industry with her first film, Swordfish. The Devil Cats is the movie she starred in, directed and wrote the story in. Some of his films are Black Irish, Sidney, Yard Sale and Myth America. She is married to actor Leandro Pari Dimoriva and has two children with him.

Sydney Tamiia Poitier (November 15, 1973), the youngest daughter in the family, also followed in her parents’ footsteps and chose acting as her career. She started her acting career in 1998. First Years, Abby, Joan of Arcadia, Veronica Mars, Death Proof, Grindhouse, Knight Rider, Private Practice and Carter are some of the film series she has worked on.

She now lives with her husband, Dorian Heartsong, whom she married in 2012, and her daughter, A’Zalia Delancey Coffey.

Joanna Shimkus net worth

As of 2022, Joanna Shimkus has an estimated net worth of around $4 million. On the other hand, her late husband Sidney Poitier had a net worth of $20 million. The couple made most of their fortune from the entertainment industry.

Sidney also owned a home in Beverly Hills, California. Currently, the house is worth $10 million.

Body measurements

Joanna is 1.72 meters tall and weighs around 62 kg.

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