Katharine Houghton (born Katharine Houghton Grant; March 10, 1945) is an American actress and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

. She portrayed Joanna "Joey" Drayton, a white woman who brings home her black fiancé to meet her parents, in the 1967 film ''

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner ''Guess Who's Coming to Dinner'' is a 1967 American romantic comedy-drama film produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, and written by William Rose. It stars Spencer Tracy (in his final role), Sidney Poitier, and Katharine Hepburn, and featur ...

''.

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...

, who played the mother of Houghton's character in the film, was Houghton's aunt. She is also known for her role as Kanna, Katara and Sokka’s grandmother in the film ''

The Last Airbender ''The Last Airbender'' is a 2010 American action-adventure fantasy film written, co-produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, produced by Nickelodeon Movies and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Based on the first season of the Nickelodeo ...

'' (2010).

Early life

Houghton was born in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, the second child of Marion Hepburn and Ellsworth Grant. She attended

Kingswood-Oxford School Kingswood Oxford School is a private school located in West Hartford, Connecticut instructing day students in grades 6 through 12 with a college preparatory curriculum. Originally two separate schools, Kingswood School and Oxford School for boys a ...

and

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York. The college models its approach to education after the Supervision system, Oxford/Cambridge system of one-on-one student-faculty tutorials. Sara ...

, where she majored in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

. Houghton was named after her maternal grandmother, Connecticut suffragist and reformer

Katharine Martha Houghton Hepburn Katharine Martha Houghton Hepburn (February 2, 1878 – March 17, 1951) was an American feminist social reformer and a leader of the suffrage movement in the United States. Hepburn served as president of the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Associ ...

. Her aunt,

, was instrumental in helping Houghton launch her career. The acting torch was later carried by Houghton's niece, actress Schuyler Grant.

Career

Acting

Houghton has played leading roles in over 60 productions on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

and in regional theatres across America. She won the Theatre World Award for her performance in ''A Scent of Flowers'' off Broadway in 1969. Houghton has presented lectures at venues across the country including the 2001 Fall Concert & Lectures Series at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

and at The Cosmopolitan Club. She lectured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art again in June 2008, presenting "Saucy

Gamine A gamine is a slim, often boyish, elegant young woman who is, or is perceived to be, mischievous, teasing or sexually appealing. The word ''gamine'' is a French word, the feminine form of ''gamin'', originally meaning urchin, waif or playful, ...

, Reluctant Penitent, and Glorious Victor", a review of her aunt's career in Hollywood as reflected in three of her films.

Writing

Houghton is also a

. In addition to writing her own plays, she has completed translations of others' works. Eleven of her plays have been produced. Her play ''Buddha'' was published in ''Best Short Plays of 1988.'' Her musical ''Bookends'' premiered at the

New Jersey Repertory Company New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

in summer of 2007, received rave notices, and garnered the theater the highest box office sales in their 11-year history. Since then it has twice been part of The York Theatre's Developmental Reading Series and is being redeveloped. In 1975, Houghton wrote a children's story, "The Wizard's Daughter", which is collected in the book ''Two Beastly Tales'', illustrated by Joan Patchen. The second story in the book is written by JB Grant, Houghton's elder brother.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Houghton, Katharine 1945 births 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Hartford, Connecticut American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Living people Sarah Lawrence College alumni