There was a tense and antagonistic relationship between Sidney Poitier and Claudia McNeil during the making of this film. The tension between the actor and actress had first developed when they played these parts in the play on Broadway. McNeil felt that film should adopt her character's point-of-view, a stance supported by the Playwright Lorraine Hansberry, while Poitier believed his character's struggles should be the focal point of the film. The actor and actress' distaste for one another never quite diminished, and Poitier wrote many years later that he believed that McNeil hated him.
The play was originally brought to Sidney Poitier's attention by an old friend, Philip Rose, who would also produce the movie. The play was inspired by playwright Lorraine Hansberry's family's purchase of a house in an all-white Chicago neighborhood. (The community's reaction resulted in Hansberry vs. Lee, one of the most important housing cases to ever reach the Supreme Court.) Poitier was overwhelmed by the power of the material and was happy to play in it. It's been said that "A Raisin In The Sun" would never have been done if Poitier had not agreed to appear in it.
The Broadway production of "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theater in New York City on March 11, 1959, ran for five hundred thirty performances, and was nominated for the 1960 Tony Award (New York City) for the Best Play. Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Ruby Dee, Diana Sands, Ivan Dixon, Louis Gossett Jr., and John Fiedler re-created their stage roles for the movie version. A 1960 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play nomination went to Claudia McNeil.
Louis Gossett, Jr.'s film debut.