<P> The plot of the film was inspired by the real - life story of David Hampton , a con man and robber who managed to convince a number of people in the 1980s that he was the son of actor Sidney Poitier . The writer John Guare was a friend of Inger McCabe Elliott and her husband Osborn Elliott . In October 1983 , Hampton came to the Elliott 's New York apartment and they allowed him to spend the night . The next morning , Inger found Hampton in bed with another man and later called the police . The Elliotts told Guare about the story and it inspired him to write the play years later . </P>
what is the movie about six degrees of separation
the real - life story of David Hampton , a con man and robber who managed to convince a number of people in the 1980s that he was the son of actor Sidney Poitier