# Joanna Shimkus
**Joanna Shimkus** (born 1943) is a Canadian actress, model, and producer known for French and international films of the 1960s and early 1970s, including *Les Aventuriers* (1967), *Tante Zita* (1968), and *The Virgin and the Gypsy* (1970)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0793705/). She is also known as the widow of the actor [Sidney Poitier](https://www.edgepedia.org/sidney-poitier), whom she married in 1976, and as the mother of the actress [Sydney Tamiia Poitier](https://www.edgepedia.org/sydney-tamiia-poitier)[2](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne_gen_cpersonne%3D2187.html) • [3](https://entities.oclc.org/worldcat/entity/E39PBJg4ptqbvpKmQKt6Cg384q.html).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1943, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0793705/) |
| Professions | Actress, model, and producer; the Bibliothèque nationale de France authority record also lists her as a singer[4](https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark%3A/12148/cb14043908h) |
| Breakthrough role | Laetitia in Robert Enrico's *Les Aventuriers* (1967), opposite Alain Delon and Lino Ventura[5](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-2187/filmographie/) |
| Best-known films | *Tante Zita* (1968) and *The Virgin and the Gypsy* (1970)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0793705/) |
| Screen career | Active 1964 to the early 1970s, with later acting credits in 2010 and 2018[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0793705/) |
| Marriage | Married Sidney Poitier on 23 January 1976; the marriage lasted until his death in 2022[2](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne_gen_cpersonne%3D2187.html) • [6](https://as.com/us/us/2022/01/19/tikitakas/1642547948_651440.html) |
| Children | Two daughters, Sydney Tamiia and Anika[7](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/joanna-shimkus.html) |
| Producing | Executive producer (*productrice déléguée*) of *Sidney: son héritage* (2022)[5](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-2187/filmographie/) |
## Early life
Shimkus was born in [Halifax, Nova Scotia](https://www.edgepedia.org/halifax-nova-scotia)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0793705/). In a 1998 interview recorded for the PBS *American Masters* documentary *Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light*, she described spending her first years in Halifax with her grandmother, partly because of a ruptured appendix in infancy, before joining her parents in Montreal at about age four[8](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/joanna-schimkus-poitier/). She grew up in Quebec as the daughter of an Irish-Canadian mother and a Jewish-Lithuanian father[7](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/joanna-shimkus.html).
Her parents both worked for the department store Eaton's: her mother managed the cosmetics department, and her father, a former sailor and an orphan, eventually managed shipping and packing for Eaton's of Canada in Montreal[8](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/joanna-schimkus-poitier/). She attended Catholic girls' schools, including a convent high school[8](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/joanna-schimkus-poitier/). She began working at about 13, earning two dollars and fifty cents an hour in the store's sales department, and posed for newspaper advertisements shot by the store's in-house photographer[8](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/joanna-schimkus-poitier/).
## Modeling in Paris
After high school, a French photographer visiting Montreal saw pictures of her and invited her to Paris for the couture collections. The trip was planned to last three weeks; she stayed seven years[8](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/joanna-schimkus-poitier/). She worked in photography rather than runway modeling, for *Elle* and *Vogue*, with photographers including [David Bailey](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-bailey), Brian Duffy, and Donovan[8](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/joanna-schimkus-poitier/). By the age of 19 she had established herself as a fashion model in Paris, and filmmakers began approaching her for roles[9](https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/joanna-shimkus-44385.php).
## Film career
Shimkus made her film debut in Jean Aurel's *De l'amour* (1964), playing Sophie in a cast that included [Anna Karina](https://www.edgepedia.org/anna-karina), Elsa Martinelli, and Michel Piccoli[9](https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/joanna-shimkus-44385.php). She appeared the next year in the anthology *Paris vu par...* (1965), playing Monika in [Jean-Luc Godard](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-luc-godard)'s "Montparnasse-Levallois" segment; in her recollection, Godard saw her photograph in *Elle* and asked her to take part in the film, in which several directors each showed Paris as they observed it[5](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-2187/filmographie/) • [8](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/joanna-schimkus-poitier/).
**Breakthrough.** Her starring role came as Laetitia in Robert Enrico's adventure film *Les Aventuriers* (1967), opposite [Alain Delon](https://www.edgepedia.org/alain-delon) and Lino Ventura; AlloCiné records that she became a star thanks to the 1967 film[2](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne_gen_cpersonne%3D2187.html) • [5](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-2187/filmographie/). Enrico directed her in three films in the late 1960s[7](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/joanna-shimkus.html): *Les Aventuriers*, *Tante Zita* (1968), in which she played Annie, and *Ho!* (1968), in which she played Bénédicte opposite [Jean-Paul Belmondo](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-paul-belmondo)[5](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-2187/filmographie/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0793705/).
**International work.** She also appeared in the 1968 British film *Boom!*, with [Elizabeth Taylor](https://www.edgepedia.org/elizabeth-taylor) and [Richard Burton](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-burton), as Miss Black[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0793705/). Her English-language roles included Anne in *The Uninvited* (1969) and Cathy Ellis in *The Lost Man* (1969), opposite Sidney Poitier[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0793705/). She played Yvette in *The Virgin and the Gypsy* (1970), an adaptation of the [D. H. Lawrence](https://www.edgepedia.org/d-h-lawrence) novella, with Franco Nero[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0793705/) • [9](https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/joanna-shimkus-44385.php). *The Virgin and the Gypsy* screened out of competition at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival, and *Les Aventuriers* was shown in the Cannes Classics section in 2006[10](https://www.festival-cannes.com/p/joanna-shimkus/).
Her final screen roles of the period were Lisa Alren in *The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker* (1971) and Joan McLaine in *Time for Loving* (1972)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0793705/). In her 1998 interview she counted eleven films in all and described *The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker* as the last film she made[8](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/joanna-schimkus-poitier/).
## Marriage to Sidney Poitier
Shimkus met Sidney Poitier while making *The Lost Man* (1969)[7](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/joanna-shimkus.html). In her 1998 interview she recalled that they became friends first, that she had never seen any of his films before being cast, and that she decided a family life mattered more to her than a career, since she did not believe two acting egos could share the same space when his was the larger[8](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/joanna-schimkus-poitier/). She said it took him eight years and two children to marry her[8](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/joanna-schimkus-poitier/).
The wedding took place at their home on 23 January 1976, with about thirty guests and [Harry Belafonte](https://www.edgepedia.org/harry-belafonte) as best man; she described deciding to marry after a nurse at their pediatrician's office questioned whether she was really the mother of her own children[2](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne_gen_cpersonne%3D2187.html) • [8](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/joanna-schimkus-poitier/). The marriage produced two daughters, Sydney Tamiia and Anika[7](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/joanna-shimkus.html). She described her family as "Sydney and my two girls and his four girls", referring to Poitier's daughters from his first marriage, and said she kept a close relationship with his first wife, Juanita[8](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/joanna-schimkus-poitier/). She did not act during the years she raised the children[8](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/joanna-schimkus-poitier/). Poitier died in 2022 and was survived by his wife Joanna Shimkus Poitier[6](https://as.com/us/us/2022/01/19/tikitakas/1642547948_651440.html).
## Return to film
Shimkus returned to acting decades after her retirement, playing The Boss in the short film *Yard Sale* (2010) and Margaret Winters in the television movie *The Force* (2018)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0793705/). In 2022 she was executive producer of *Sidney: son héritage*, a film about Poitier released that September[5](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-2187/filmographie/).
## A short career, a long association
Shimkus's acting career lasted roughly a decade, from her 1964 debut to the early 1970s, and produced about eleven films[8](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/joanna-schimkus-poitier/). Her association with Poitier lasted far longer: they met in 1969, married in 1976, and remained together until his death in 2022[2](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne_gen_cpersonne%3D2187.html) • [6](https://as.com/us/us/2022/01/19/tikitakas/1642547948_651440.html). Her name has continued to appear in film records through that marriage, through the Cannes re-screenings of her two best-known films, and through her 2022 producing credit[5](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-2187/filmographie/) • [10](https://www.festival-cannes.com/p/joanna-shimkus/).
## References
1. [Joanna Shimkus, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0793705/)
2. [Joanna Shimkus, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne_gen_cpersonne%3D2187.html)
3. [Joanna Shimkus, WorldCat Entities](https://entities.oclc.org/worldcat/entity/E39PBJg4ptqbvpKmQKt6Cg384q.html)
4. [Notice de personne "Shimkus, Joanna (1943-....)", Bibliothèque nationale de France](https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark%3A/12148/cb14043908h)
5. [Joanna Shimkus: Filmographie, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-2187/filmographie/)
6. [Revelan la causa de muerte del actor Sidney Poitier, AS](https://as.com/us/us/2022/01/19/tikitakas/1642547948_651440.html)
7. [Joanna Shimkus, Famous Birthdays](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/joanna-shimkus.html)
8. [Joanna Schimkus Poitier interview, American Masters Digital Archive, PBS (October 6, 1998)](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/joanna-schimkus-poitier/)
9. [Joanna Shimkus Biography, The Famous People](https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/joanna-shimkus-44385.php)
10. [Joanna SHIMKUS, Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/p/joanna-shimkus/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Canadian actors › Surnames R to S*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license