| Sidney Poitier (Virgil Tibbs) |
| Rod Steiger (Bill Gillepsie) |
| Warren Oates (Sam Wood) |
| Lee Grant (Leslie Colbert) |
| James Patterson (Purdy) |
| Quentin Dean (Delores Purdy) |
| Larry Gates (Eric Endicott) |
| William Schallert (Webb Schubert) |
| Beah Richards (Mme Bellamy) |
| Scott Wilson (Hervey Oberst) |
| Jack Teter (Philip Colbert) |
| Matt Clark (Packy Harrison) |
| Anthony James (Ralph Henshaw) |
| Kermit Murdock (H. E. Henderson) |
| Peter Whitney (George Courtney) |
| William Watson (Harold Courtney) |
| Timothy Scott (Shagbag Martin) |
| Fred Stewart (Le Dr Stuart) |