Sydney Tamiia Poitier ( ; born November 15, 1973) is an American-Canadian television and film actress.
Early life and family Born in Los Angeles, Poitier is the daughter of Bahamian-American actor Sidney Poitier and Canadian actress Joanna Shimkus. Her mother is of Lithuanian Jewish and Irish Catholic descent. She has an older sister. She also has four older half-sisters from her father's first marriage.
Poitier attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts where she earned a bachelor's degree in acting. She also studied at Stella Adler Studio of Acting.
Poitier and her husband, musician Dorian Heartsong, have one child together, a daughter born in 2015.
Career Poitier began her career of acting in the late 1990s. In 2001, she landed her first role on television in the NBC drama series First Years. The series was canceled after three episodes. In 2003, she starred in the UPN sitcom Abby. That series was also canceled during its first season. Later that same year, she had a recurring role in Joan of Arcadia, where she played Rebecca Askew, the love interest of Joan's older brother, Kevin (Jason Ritter). She was also a regular on the first season of Veronica Mars. However, she left the show after only appearing in four episodes because of budget cuts.
In 2007, Poitier starred in Death Proof, director Quentin Tarantino's segment of the movie Grindhouse, as radio DJ Jungle Julia. The next year, she had a co-starring role in the new Knight Rider series, as FBI Agent Carrie Rivai. In 2011, she guest-starred on two episodes of Private Practice.
Poitier starred as Detective Sam Shaw in the Canadian crime comedy series Carter, which ran for two seasons in 2018 and 2019.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes1998Park DaySophia Johnson1999True CrimeJane March2001MacArthur ParkLindaHappy BirthdayHannah2004Hellena Handbasket2005Nine LivesVanessa2006Hood of HorrorWanda2007Death ProofJungle JuliaThe ListCecile2008BluesDee2008Knight RiderCarrie Rivai2010Yard SaleKate ButlerShortPage 36Miss Gray2011Big TweetBig Tweet's Girl2012Zoey2013Dina Gerger2014FlawedJana Conley2015Too LateVeronicaNight of the Living Dead: Darkest DawnTami (voice)2017ClinicalClara
Television Year Title Role Notes1998Free of EdenNicole TurnerTV film1999Noah's ArkRuthTV miniseries2001First YearsRiley KesslerMain role2003Dr. Leslie Coburn"The Placebo Effect"AbbyAbigail 'Abby' WalkerMain role2003–04Joan of ArcadiaRebecca AskewRecurring role (season 1)2004Veronica MarsMallory Dent"Credit Where Credit's Due", "You Think You Know Somebody", "Return of the Kane", "The Girl Next Door"2006Grey's AnatomyDeborah Fleiss"17 Seconds"2008–09Knight RiderCarrie RivaiMain role2011Supah NinjasKatherine / Katara"Katara"Private PracticeMichelle"Love and Lies", "Step One"2012Hawaii Five-0Grace Tilwell"I Ka Wa Mamua"KendraLeslieWeb series2014Chicago P.D.Det. Mia SumnersRecurring role (season 1)2018HomecomingLydia Belfast4 episodes Credited as Sydney Poitier-Heartsong. 2018-2019CarterDet. Sam ShawMain role 2025Common Side EffectsCecily (voice)Recurring role
References
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