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.

Houghton made her film debut in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) as the daughter Joanna Drayton opposite Sidney Poitier.

[2] Arthur D. Murphy, the chief film critic for Variety, praised Houghton's performance, writing she is "an attractive, talented girl who is off to a running start.

"[5] Because of the interracial kiss depicted in the film, Houghton and Kramer received hate mail and death threats.

In 1970, she won the Theatre World Award for her performance in the Off-Broadway play A Scent of Flowers (written by James Saunders).

She lectured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art again in June 2008, presenting "Saucy Gamine, Reluctant Penitent, and Glorious Victor", a review of her aunt's career in Hollywood as reflected in three of her films.

[8][10] 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.

[4][8] She also co-wrote a one-act play titled Buddha, exploring a psychological power struggle between a man and a woman.

It is loosely inspired by rare book dealers Leona Rostenberg and Madeleine Stern, whom Houghton had met while researching Alcott.