Although Katharine Houghton has very much enjoyed acting in films and TV, she has found working in the theatre to be the most challenging and satisfying.
NEW YORK, NY, October 17, 2018 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Katharine Houghton with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Miss Houghton celebrates many years' experience in her professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes she has accrued in her field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Miss Houghton has had the great pleasure of playing leading roles in over sixty productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in regional theatres. In 2011 she had the honor of creating the part of "Amanda" in Tennessee Williams' little known play, The Pretty Trap, an early and comic version of his "The Glass Menagerie." It premiered Off-Broadway at the Acorn, Theatre Row. Her classical roles have included: Portia (The Merchant of Venice), Kate (The Taming of the Shrew), Nina (The Seagull), Yelena (Uncle Vanya), Hedda (Hedda Gabler), Nora (A Doll's House), Barbara (Major Barbara), Laura (The Glass Menagerie), and Catherine (Suddenly, Last Summer). On Broadway she acted in Our Town, The Front Page with Robert Ryan, and A Very Rich Woman, directed by Garson Kanin. She won the Theatre World award for her performance in A Scent of Flowers Off-Broadway in 1969 directed by Brian Murray.
In the 1970s, as a co-founding member with Ken Jenkins of the Pilgrim Repertory Co., Miss Houghton acted in tours of "Dear Liar," "Shakespeare for Lovers and Others," and "America Speaks," all produced with grants from the Kentucky Arts Commission (1971-1972), the South Carolina Arts Commission (1972), the Mississippi Arts Commission (1973), and the Connecticut Arts Commission (1974). She has very much enjoyed working with students as a guest artist at half a dozen colleges or universities.
She performed her one-woman show To Heaven in a Swing, The Last Day in the Life of Louisa May Alcott at the American Place Theatre, [1983] the York Theatre [1984] and at Barnard College, [1985] as well as at Houston, Amherst, the Ivoryton Playhouse, CT, the Orchard House in Concord, MA and various other regional theatres. Her play, Best Kept Secret, A Dangerous Liaison In The Cold War, was performed at the Unicorn Theatre at the Berkshire Theatre Festival, New Jersey Repertory Co., and the School House Theatre in Croton, NY. (1998-2001.)
Five of her one acts – Buddha, On the Shady Side, The Wrong Number, Mortal Friends, The Marry Month of May - were produced at the West Bank Downstairs Theatre Bar on 42nd St. in New York City in the 1980s. Another one act, Phone Play, premiered at 44th St. Playhouse [1988] Pentad Productions. Her musical, Bookends, premiered at New Jersey Repertory Co. [2007], received rave notices, and garnered the highest box office sales for the theatre in their eleven year history at that time. Since then, it has twice been part of the York Theatre's Developmental Reading Series. Her play Buddha, was published in Best Short Plays of 1988.
She has acted in ten films, most recently "The Last Airbender," [2010] directed by M. Night Shyamalan. She is best known for playing the ingénue in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? directed by Stanley Kramer. Other films include Kinsey, Ethan Frome, Mr. North, The Night We Never Met, Billy Bathgate, and The Gardener.
On television she was the grown-up Nabby Adams in the award-winning Adams' Chronicles. She has appeared in both featured and guest roles in several TV series and soap operas, including All My Children and One Life to Live. In 2017 she played Elizabeth Wharton in two episodes of the TV series Mr. Mercedes, based on the Stephen King novel.
She has appeared on the following talk shows: Merv Griffin, David Frost, and Larry King Live.
In 1975, Miss Houghton wrote a children's story, "The Wizard's Daughter," which appears in the book "Two Beastly Tales," along with "Kids & Dragon," written by her older brother, J. B. Grant. Both stories are illustrated by artist Joan Patchen.
Miss Houghton has presented lectures at venues across the country, including the 2001 and 2008 Fall Concert and Lectures Series at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where she presented "Katharine X Three" and "Saucy Gamine, Reluctant Penitent, and Glorious Victor," a review of her aunt's roller coaster ride in Hollywood as reflected in three of her films. At Hartford's Wadsworth Atheneum [1999] and at the Cosmopolitan Club of New York [2002] she presented "My Grandmother's House Near the River." At New York's Small Press Center benefit [1998] and at Edith Wharton's handsome home "The Mount," Lenox, MA, she presented "The Secret Life of Louisa May Alcott" as part of their "Women of Achievement Lecture Series" [2002]. In 2003 she presented 'The First and Second Kit" at the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame.
As an adolescent Miss Houghton was crippled from an autoimmune disease after contracting Rheumatic Fever. She thought an academic career would be the only path she could pursue. At Sarah Lawrence College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1965, various young independent filmmakers wanted to cast her in their films. She was afraid at first to accept the challenge, but her advisor strongly recommended she do so because she thought it would free her from the image she had of herself as an invalid. Her advisor was correct. Not only did the choice lead to a joyful and fascinating life, it restored her good health.
Although Miss Houghton has very much enjoyed acting in films and TV, she has found working in the theatre to be the most challenging and satisfying, especially acting in the plays of Shakespeare, Shaw, and Chekhov. She has been very blessed to go through life with a small circle of gifted and loving friends and family.
Miss Houghton is proud to be a member of three unions: the Actors Equity Association, the Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, as well as the Dramatist Guild of America.
She has previously been featured in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Entertainment, Who's Who in the East and Who's Who of American Women.
In recognition of outstanding contributions to her profession and the Marquis Who's Who community, Katharine Houghton has been featured on the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement website. Please visit www.ltachievers.com for more information about this honor.
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