Katharine Houghton facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Katharine Houghton
Houghton as a guest star on Judd, for the Defense, 1968
Born	Katharine Houghton Grant (1945-03-10) March 10, 1945 (age 80) Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Alma mater	Sarah Lawrence College
Occupation	Actress, playwright
Years active	1965–present
Spouse(s)	Ken Jenkins ​ (m. 1970)​
Parent(s)	Ellsworth Grant Marion Hepburn
Relatives	Katharine Martha Houghton Hepburn (grandmother) Katharine Hepburn (aunt) Schuyler Grant (niece)
Family	Houghton

Katharine Houghton (born Katharine Houghton Grant; March 10, 1945) is an American actress and playwright. She is known for playing Joanna "Joey" Drayton in the 1967 movie Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. In this film, her character brings her Black fiancé home to meet her parents. Her aunt, Katharine Hepburn, played her character's mother in the movie. Katharine Houghton was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her acting in this role. She also played Kanna, the grandmother of Katara and Sokka, in the 2010 movie The Last Airbender.

Early life

Katharine Houghton was born in Hartford, Connecticut. She was the second child of Marion Hepburn and Ellsworth Grant. She went to Kingswood-Oxford School and then to Sarah Lawrence College. There, she studied philosophy and art. Houghton was named after her grandmother, Katharine Martha Houghton Hepburn. Her grandmother was a famous suffragist and reformer from Connecticut.

Her aunt, Katharine Hepburn, was a very famous actress. She helped Katharine Houghton start her acting career. Later, Houghton's niece, Schuyler Grant, also became an actress.

Career

Acting roles

Houghton' first movie was Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). She played Joanna Drayton, the daughter, alongside Sidney Poitier. She tried out for the part and believed her aunt, who was also in the movie, helped her get the role. During filming, the director, Stanley Kramer, wanted her character to seem more like an ordinary and sweet girl. A film critic from Variety magazine, Arthur D. Murphy, praised Houghton's acting. He wrote that she was "an attractive, talented girl."

After Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Houghton often got offers to play characters in interracial relationships. However, she decided to leave Hollywood because the movie scripts were not very exciting. She explained, "I turned down these projects and returned to the theater." She then acted in over 60 plays on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in other theaters across the United States. In 1970, she won the Theatre World Award for her performance in the play A Scent of Flowers. She returned to movie acting in 1988 in the comedy-drama Mr. North.

Writing plays and stories

Katharine Houghton has also written many plays. By 1990, she had written nine plays that were performed Off-Broadway and in regional theaters. In 1975, she wrote a children's story called "The Wizard's Daughter." This story was included in a book called Two Beastly Tales. Her older brother, John Grant, wrote the second story in the book.

In the early 1980s, Houghton wrote and starred in a one-woman show. It was called To Heaven in a Swing. This show told the story of Louisa May Alcott's life with her father. She also co-wrote a one-act play called Buddha. This play looked at a power struggle between a man and a woman. It was later published in The Best Short Plays of 1988–1989.

Her musical Bookends first opened in New Jersey in 2007. It was inspired by two rare book dealers, Leona Rostenberg and Madeleine Stern. Houghton had met them while researching Louisa May Alcott. The musical was very popular and brought the theater its highest ticket sales ever.

Filmography

Film

Television

See also

In Spanish: Katharine Houghton para niños

• Houghton family