Cyril Poitier; Actor’s Older Brother

Cyril Poitier, 80, the older brother who helped raise actor Sidney Poitier. Cyril Poitier, the oldest of eight brothers and sisters, was born on Cat Island, Bahamas. He moved to Miami in 1929 and raised 10 children. The Poitiers took in Sidney, a disruptive 15-year-old sent to his big brother to be straightened out. “I was very strict with him. He’d always look up to me, listened to my advice,” Cyril Poitier said in 1964 after his brother won an Academy Award for his role in “Lilies of the Field.” Poitier held several jobs over the years, from handyman to bellman to luggage carrier at Miami International Airport. He also played bit roles in his brother’s movies “Let’s Do It Again,” “Piece of the Action” and “Uptown Saturday Night.” In Miami on Nov. 13.