Sidney Poitier Paved a Path for LGBTQ+ Acceptance on Film
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, which starred Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Houghton, and Isabel Sanford, who would go on to play Louise Jefferson in The Jeffersons.I don’t think that there’s ever been a movie that affected me so deeply.
I’ve seen it several times since, and yes, it’s dated, but the premise about a woman (Houghton) bringing home a Black man (Poitier) she is going to marry, and the parents’ (Hepburn and Tracy) frustration about the whole situation, was a timeless classic.The movie was one of the first films to depict an interracial relationship; interracial marriage was illegal in 17 states only six months before the film was released.
I’ve seen most of Poitier’s movies, but this one sticks out. Poitier’s performance was steady and earnest. He was in his late 30s, a widower, and a doctor.
This was a rare depiction of a Black character on the big screen, as Black actors were more likely cast as maids or the help — like Sanford was in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.In fact, the very first Black actor to win an Oscar was Hattie McDaniel, who won Best Supporting Actress for playing a stereotypical Black maid in Gone With the Wind.
