Who is Travis Younger in A Raisin in the Sun?

Sidney Poitier inspired those whom he worked with, including Stephen Perry. The now 73-year-old actor was just a young boy when he co-starred alongside the late Hollywood icon -- who died Thursday at the age of 94 -- in 1961's A Raisin in the Sun.

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Sidney Poitier Dies at 94
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What does Travis Younger represent?
What type of character is Travis Younger?
How old is Travis Younger in A Raisin in the Sun?
Who was the little boy in a raisin in the sun?

Perry portrayed Travis Younger, the son of Poitier's character, Walter Lee Younger, and recalled how the legendary actor inspired everyone on set, and made all feel welcomed.

"I've been knowing him a long time, over 62 years," Perry tells ET. "I have great memories, a couple of them. I was so honored when he invited me to USC to be a part of his being honored by the school and he asked me to be a part of his history, I'll never forget that."

"And when we would meet on the set, whatever time of day or evening, when we saw each other, we would act like cowboys, since I was a little guy," he continues. "And we would draw our imaginary pistols at each other. So I would always remember that as well."

Perry also remembers a powerful and poignant moment between him and Poitier while walking through the Hollywood studios.

"When I worked with him, the only Black people on the lot was our cast and the shoeshine man, and I remember him speaking and tipping the shoeshine man and embracing that person. I was a little boy and I could recognize we're the only Black people here," he reflects. "And Poitier, he didn't forget that man that was shining shoes as we walked around the lot. But Poitier recognized that the shoeshine man was his brother, was his mankind."

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That respect translated to his work on set and how he treated his fellow cast members, Perry adds. "He [had quite a sense of humor]. He made it comfortable for me with his sense of humor and warmth. I felt hugged, I felt his arm around my shoulder," he says. "I always felt a part of the cast."

As for Perry's first impression of Poitier, it was, "I'd like to be him when I grow up."

"Just a consummate professional. I was a kid, there were a cast of people who were there before me, and Sidney made me feel welcomed to that group of people," he shares. "I was the new kid in the cast as well, for him to embrace me like he did, certainly I knew that I was the new kid. They made me feel welcome."

Perry says he not only learned to be a professional from Poitier -- from always be on time, to know your lines and be honorable -- but he also had much admiration for him, especially seeing how Poitier made a name for himself after growing up poor in the Bahamas.

"He came from such a deprived upbringing in the Caribbean that he pulled himself up like no one that I've ever met before," Perry expresses, touching on Poitier's legacy. "This man's struggle was more different than anybody that you or I know. [He] struggled to make it and be accepted. He came here with a dialect from another country and he learned to read and speak English the way we speak it in America. He studied hard to change that dialect…Hollywood, Broadway, had very little to offer and I could just remember him talking to me about how poor he was and what the struggle was like."

An honor to work alongside such a beloved actor and activist, Perry notes that their relationship was that of father and son.

"Well, little old for a father now, but certainly growing up it was a father-son relationship," he cracks. "He and Sammy Davis Jr. watched out for me, they made me comfortable. We're talking 60 years ago and these were two of the biggest stars, Black stars in Hollywood, and both of them took me as their adopted sons."

For more on Poitier and his incredible legacy, see below.

Sidney Poitier Dies at 94

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Stars We've Lost in 2022

Clearly, Travis is spoiled. In the first scene of the play, we watch him cleverly get what he wants (the fifty cents his teacher has told him to bring to school) from his father after his mother has emphatically stated that they just don’t have fifty cents. Earlier, Travis said that he could get it from his grandmother, which implies that she gives him whatever he asks for.

In spite of his manipulative nature, however, Travis is a likeable child because, although he might be mischievous at times, he is always mannerly. He seems sheltered and overprotected by the numerous adults in the household, yet he is a “street kid,” drawn to the life of his ghetto neighborhood. In Act I, Scene 2, Travis and his neighborhood pals are chasing a large rat for “sport.” (This scene was omitted from the original stage production and also from the original screenplay.)

Travis shows remarkable maturity by requesting permission to make some money by “bagging groceries” at the local supermarket. He is not so spoiled nor so pampered that he shirks responsibility. This scene contains, perhaps, another of Hansberry’s attempts to pay homage to the “children of the poor,” those whom she admired for their “spirit of independence.”

What does Travis Younger represent?

By far the youngest member of his family (stage directions describe him as ten or eleven years old), Travis represents the future of the Younger family. Hansberry drops some not-too-subtle symbolism on us when we hear that one of Travis's favorite pastimes is playing with rats.

What type of character is Travis Younger?

Travis is a good-natured and persistent young boy who, for the most part, obeys his parents and grandmother. Travis is excited by the prospect of moving into the Youngers' new house.