Per the NASA website, the characters of Al Harrison (Kevin Costner), Vivian Mitchell (Kirsten Dunst), and Paul Stafford (Jim Parsons) are all composites, meant to represent attitudes of the time — and, in Harrison's case, the NASA hierarchy at large — rather than any specific historical figures.Aug 11, 2021
The visual blog Information is Beautiful deduced that, while taking creative license into account, the film was 74% accurate when compared to real-life events, summarizing that "the crux of the story is true, [and] any events that didn't actually happen are at least illustrative of how things really were".
Based on a true story, Hidden Figures follows the events of the U.S. and Russian race to put the first man in orbit. Behind the scenes of one of the greatest operations in U.S. history, a group of African-American women (played by Taraji P.Jan 30, 2017
So, before he flew Friendship 7, Glenn insisted that an employee named Katherine Johnson double-check the math. “Call her,” Glenn said. “And if she says the computer is right, I'll take it.” Much of the world learned that story—and the fact that Johnson even existed—more than a half-century later, when Taraji P.Feb 15, 2021
101 years (1918–2020)Katherine Johnson / Age at death
Katherine is a Russian spy. What did Russia put in the satellite they sent into space?
5. Is the movie character Paul Stafford based on an actual NASA employee? The character Paul Stafford (played by Jim Parsons) is a composite of a number of engineers with whom Katherine Johnson worked. In her time with the Space Task Group there was considerable turnover of personnel.Aug 3, 2017
Al Harrison was not a real person, but a fictionalized composite of three NASA directors at Langley during the time.Jan 12, 2017
Johnson was a prodigy, to say the least. She graduated from high school at just 14. Afterwards, Johnson intended to study French and English at West Virginia State. But her professor W.W. Schiefflin Claytor—a trailblazing Black mathematician in his own right—encouraged her to explore her talent for STEM instead.Feb 24, 2020
Not only did their personalities clash, but Glenn was outspoken about how he disagreed with some of the astronauts' alleged infidelity, which would have included Shepard. Things between them were likely only made worse when they were selected as lead astronaut and alternate for the first Mercury flight.Oct 10, 2020
18Johnson excelled in her studies and graduated summa cum laude from State in 1937 at the age of 18 with bachelor's degrees in mathematics and French.
Why does Al Harrison (Katherine's boss) get annoyed with her? He got annoyed at her because she is always not there when he needs here 18. What does he do about it? He took down the sign by the restroom that said whites and made it for colors and whites.