He acted in the first production of "A Raisin in the Sun" on Broadway in 1959, and later starred in the movie version released in 1961. He was also in "The Bedford Incident" (1965), and "A Patch of Blue" (1965) co-starring Elizabeth Hartman and Shelley Winters. In 1967, he was the most successful actor at the box office, with three successful movies, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"; "To Sir, with Love" and "In the Heat of the Night". The last movie featured his most successful character, Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania detective.