Cecil Gaines faced what seemed like insurmountable pain and anguish to advance from the son of a sharecropping slave to a professional black domestic. The longtime butler also shared positive memories of Bill Clinton (Quite a rascal, that one, always chasing the skirts), but spoke less kindly of George W (Never could figure how a man with his lack of wits got as far as he did, pardon me for saying so.). One of The Butlers few episodes of broad comedy comes when President Lyndon Johnson (an appropriately boisterous Liev Schrieber) barks orders at his staff while sitting on the toilet with the door open, capping it all off by asking Cecil to pass him a glass of prune juice. Cecil is hired as butler just as soon as black matre d Freddie Fallows (Colman Domingo) confirms that he is not actively political and is experienced in his field. 25 Feb/23. And who had one son who served honorably in Vietnam and never made a peep of protest through the pre- and post-civil rights era?" His character is a composite of all those who participated in sit-ins; rode the bus during the Freedom Rides; walked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and later became members of the Black Panther Party. Looking for info on THOR FORSYTHE GAINES born Jan 31, 1890. The Butler tells the story of Cecil Gaines, a black man who rose to become White House butler and served eight presidents, witnessing some of the most tumultuous events in 20th-century America,. ^ a b Haygood, Wil Photos by Kevin Clark/The Washington Post and courtesy The Weinstein Co. A few days after Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, the Washington Post published an article about a black butler who served in the White House for 34 years, under eight presidents, from Truman to Reagan. Gaines was born on April 9, 1943 to Cecil Reginald Montgomery and Margaret Gaines Montgomery in Anniston, Alabama. The film ends with Cecil returning to the White House to meet President Obama. "[4], Allen and other workers who served presidents were featured in a 32-minute documentary, Workers at the White House, directed by Marjorie Hunt and released on a 2009 DVD, White House Workers: Traditions and Memories by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.[10]. At the time, America was entangled in the Cold War with the Soviet Union and their communist allies. silly copyright claims made by Warner Bros, attack and burning of a Freedom Riders bus in 1961, veto the sanctions against apartheid-ridden South Africa. Louis, the older son in The Butler and a Freedom Rider and early member of the Black Panther Party, is the lens through which much of the film's depiction of the civil rights movement is. Cecil Gaines : . Cecil ends up attending the protest, after deciding to retire from being a butler. While Daniels had some input as to the script, Strong is credited as the sole writer. I thought me and the president, we were on good terms, but he turned out to be a real bastard from hell, pardon me for saying so., After the election, according to Gaines, the president he was cursing and swearing and kicking the furniture in the Oval Office, looking for someone to blame for his defeat. He started in the White House in 1952 as a "pantry man", a job which involved basic tasks such as dish washing, stocking and cleaning silverware. No. Michael Reagan then went on to list a number of biographical tidbits about his late father that he accused Strong of dismissing, including the fact that the president appointed African-Americans to positions of power when he was governor of California. Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013) and Steven Spielberg's Lincoln (2012) might appear to tackle vastly different themes on the . Cecil was an Uncle Tom, Louis believed, a simpering servant who refused to fight for change. (Theyre played by Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey.) Eugene Allen, who worked in the White [3] Danny Strong's screenplay was inspired by the 2008 Washington Post article. In real life, Jackie insisted on wearing the suit for the swearing in of Lyndon B. Johnson that took place aboard Air Force One, the same flight that transported her husband John F. Kennedy's body back to Washington, D.C. The Butler true story reveals that Eugene Allen was working in the White House kitchen on the day that President Kennedy was assassinated. Sadly, Helene did not witness the election. Todd graduated from Pinecrest High School and continued his studies at North Ca THE FILM: Click an image to view Blu-ray screenshot with 1080p resolution. Colombians at the Feria de las Culturas Amigas in Mexico City. There is no photo or video of Cecil Gaines.Be the first to share a memory to pay tribute. No. And heres how this made-for-TV nightmare shouldve ended. Heres how its described in Haygoods profile: In the film, on the other hand, Cecils discomfort at sitting among the white elite is made clear through voiceover, as he describes feeling like an outsider and a traitor to his black colleagues who are now serving him. It's considered the number one house in the world. His request is denied, and he accepts this. [1] He worked as a waiter for many years, in "whites-only resorts and country clubs", including The Homestead resort in Hot Springs, Virginia, and a club in Washington.[4]. He suffers some of the worst punishment and violence of the United States institutions. [11] The film departs from the facts of Allen's life. released on a 2009 DVD, White House Workers: Traditions and Memories by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Who is the real Louis Gaines? Allen learned of a job at a country club in Washington, D.C., a fact that aligns with Cecils move to the nations capital. Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker) was a sharecropper's son who grew up as a domestic servant for the white family that accidentally killed him in the 1920s. He worked for the family as a house boy doing chores such as washing dishes. [7], The story had an immediate impact. He never imagined he'd be working somewhere as nice as this, the most famous home in the country. When he spoke to Haygood about his childhood, There was nary a hint of bitterness in his voice about his upbringing. Allen left the plantation in hopes of finding better work, as Cecil doesbut unlike his fictional counterpart, he never broke into a hotel restaurant to steal food. It was a brief meeting, but one that Obama later remarked was a thrill.. Civil rights include freedom of speech, of the press, and of religion. ", "I feel great about Forest portraying my father," says Charles Allen. Entertainment Television, LLC A Division of NBCUniversal. Eugene Charles Allen (July 14, 1919 March 31, 2010)[2] was an American waiter and butler who worked for the US government at the White House for 34 years until he retired as the head butler in 1986. The Butler (2013) David Oyelowo as Louis Gaines. The latter penned a scathing editorial for conservative website Newsmax titled "The Butler from Another Planet," in which he blasted the historical drama's suggestion that his father was racist. Aug 16, 2013. If the liberals in Hollywoodand Washingtonever start looking at people the way he did, the country will be a lot better off," Reagan wrote. Thomas Gaines 2/26/12. -The Butler Featurette, Writer Wil Haygood had a hunch that Barack Obama would win the 2008 U.S. presidential election. The butlers family (Answered 2023). Starring Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Terrence Howard, Mariah Carey, Copyright 2023 HistoryvsHollywood.com, CTF Media, We were hoping to capture the essence of Eugene Allen, and I think we did. cecil gaines salarydoes keegan allen have a child 26th February 2023 / in west warwick viewpoint / by / in west warwick viewpoint / by Years later, he again asks for a raise, and when he is turned down a second time, he tells his supervisor that he spoke to President Reagan personally, and that Reagan insists on the raise himself. Loosely based on the real-life of Eugene Allen, the film stars Forest Whitaker as Cecil Gaines, an African-American who eyewitnesses notable events of the 20th century during his 34-year tenure serving as a White House butler. Gaines served in the early twentieth century with the last of the Buffalo Soldiers, the nineteenth century regiments commissioned immediately after the Civil War. All rights reserved. The importance of saying "I love you" during COVID-19, Effective ways of dealing with the grieving process, Solutions to show your sympathy safely during the Covid-19 pandemic. Lihat dokumen lengkap (68 Halaman - 1.57MB). No spam, just the good stuff. "There you go again, Hollywood. This movie was filming about the life of a sharecropper's son, Cecil Gaines' life. Malcolm`s radical ideas is what he is known for and what will always be remembered for as being one of the main leaders in the Civil Rights Movement. The film The Butler demonstrates how blacks fought through the . When Westfall returns, Cecils father shows his anger, and Westfall shoots him dead in front of Cecil and the other plantation workers. During the time period of 1954-1968 African Americans tried to fight for racial equality. The central character, Cecil Gaines, is only loosely based on the real Allen. Unable to learn a thing. "I wasn't even looking for a job," Allen admits (The Washington Post). So as time went by, Cecil became the butler for the president. Reagan's hesitation to issue sanctions arose in part because he did not want to disrupt America's anti-communist alliance with the country, not because he thought apartheid in South Africa was okay. Who was Louis Gaines? Some people who are Latino/Latina are also Hispanic and some Hispanics are also Latino/Latina but some people are only one or the other. He goes beyond respecting. Among others are the right to own property and to receive fair and equal treatment from the government, other persons, and private groups (Bruce Murphy). He became junior butler under President Kennedy, and says . 1214 Words; 5 Pages; Decent Essays . It ended with the story of how the couple intended to vote for Obama together but Helene died just before the election, They talked about praying to help Barack Obama get to the White House. I was the one who taught little John John how to salute like that., Gaines trimmed Lyndon Johnsons ear hairs as a full butler and remembers rewinding Richard Nixons tape recording machine every evening. on Forest's performance in the movie and The presidents that had Cecil as their butler would ask him what would he think would be best for him and the others that were the same like Cecil. ", But what particularly rankled Reagan was the movie's insinuation that his father wanted to veto sanctions on apartheid South Africa when, in actuality, he said "it had to do with the geopolitics of the Cold War. Leave a sympathy message to the family on the memorial page of Cecil Gaines to pay them a last tribute. they like to follow their own heart, not minding the consequences. [9], Allen died of kidney failure at the Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park, Maryland on March 31, 2010.[2]. Civil rights include freedom of speech, of the press, and of religion. (Theyre played by Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey.) While Allen doesnt confirm this story, Johnson reportedly employed the toilet tactic often as an intimidationand time-savingtool. Louis was a radical, Cecil thought, a hotheaded young man who pushed the system too hard. Cecil and Gloria have two sons named Louis and Charlie What is the first question that the White House matre d' (Freddie Fallows) asks Cecil when he interviews him? No, she was not an alcoholic. Write your message of sympathy today. Seeing him standing there, it's been worth it all. The Butler, from The Weinstein Co. and starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, is based on Eugene Allen, a White House butler who served eight presidents from 1952 to 1986. asked Reagan. The Butler director Lee Daniels and screenwriter Danny Strong injected these events into the movie in order to create the fear that builds subservience into Cecil's DNA. This did, in fact, happen to Allen, but the cinematic version unfolds quite differently. Nancy Reagan interrupts him, informing him that he and his wife are coming to the state dinner as guests of President Reagan and myself. Cecil attends with Gloria; the pride that fills her eyes is one of the films biggest tear-jerking moments. A unique and lasting tribute for a loved one. Cecil Gaines is the main character of the movie whose father tragically died at the hands of his employer in the cotton fields of the state of Georgia. Sign up to receive only the most important updates straight to your inbox. At an elevation of 11,995 feet above sea level, the site holds the distinction of being the largest and highest salt flat in the world. Cecil Gaines: Now you need to stop that, you know that ain't right. Louis, whos ashamed that his father is content with serving white people, is himself present for several important historical moments, including the attack and burning of a Freedom Riders bus in 1961; hes also imprisoned in the same jail as Martin Luther King, Jr. after a protest. The sanctions would have also impacted the least affluent in the country first, who were mainly the blacks there. In "The Butler", Forest Whitaker lends his features to Cecil Gaines, an employee of the White House who has spent nearly thirty years in the halls of the residence. Cyclist. Because The Butler is a historical drama, you brace yourself for the brutal moments you know are coming nextsuch as the Kennedy assassination. Louis, who's ashamed that his father is content with serving white people, is himself present for several important historical moments, including the attack and burning of a Freedom Riders bus in. Cecil was the only African American butler that was actually close with the presidents. 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louis gaines son of cecil gaines