Actor’s Life in Spotlight in Disney’s Ovitz Trial

Guess who came to court Tuesday.

Oscar-winning actor Sidney Poitier took center stage in a Georgetown, Del., courtroom, testifying that his journey from “semi-literate tomato farmer” in the Bahamas to Hollywood icon made him uniquely qualified to serve for nine years as a Walt Disney Co. director.

“Nobody on the board has had my life,” Poitier said.

The 77-year-old star of such classics as “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “Lilies of the Field” and “To Sir, With Love” testified in a shareholder lawsuit that alleges that he and other directors rubber-stamped Chief Executive Michael Eisner’s 1995 hiring and 1996 firing of Michael Ovitz as president. The plaintiffs claim the mistake cost the Burbank company a severance package worth $140 million.

Speaking in a deep, dignified voice reminiscent of “In the Heat of the Night’s” Virgil Tibbs, Poitier echoed other directors, testifying that Ovitz’s firing was appropriate because “there was just too deep a mismatch.”

Poitier, whose tenure on the board ended last year, also said he believed it was within Eisner’s purview as chief executive to fire Ovitz without board approval.

But much of Poitier’s testimony in Delaware Chancery Court was an often emotional autobiography apparently aimed at countering criticisms that he was little more than a celebrity director. Disney has argued that Poitier was an invaluable addition to the company because of his knowledge of the business and his unique life.

Poitier described that life: menial jobs in Florida and New York, the humiliation of his first audition where he was told to return to dishwashing, and honing his speaking skills by listening to the radio. Ultimately, he was an understudy to Harry Belafonte, became one of Hollywood’s biggest box-office stars and won an Oscar for best actor.

“My education came from trial and error over 77 years,” Poitier said.