Backstairs at the White House

1 9 7 9 (USA)
1 x 180 minute episode
3 x 120 minute episodes

This excellent nine-hour miniseries from NBC (an adaptation of the 1961 best-seller by former White House maid Lillian Rogers Parks) covered 52 years and the terms of eight American presidents – from Taft to Eisenhower – and aired over four consecutive Mondays from 29 January 1979.

The debut three-hour episode began with Lillian’s mother, Maggie (Olivia Cole), starting work at the White House in 1911 when William and Nellie Taft (Victor Buono and Julie Harris) were in the White House – or, as the unhappy Taft called it, “the great White Jail”.

Lillian (Leslie Uggams) eventually overcame a physical disability (polio) to become a staff member at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue herself, and it is through Lillian and Maggie’s eyes – and those of their colleagues in the White House servants’ quarters – that we witnessed the successive presidencies:  William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Dwight D. Eisenhower

The Presidents and their first ladies were superbly portrayed throughout: Woodrow Wilson (Robert Vaughan) had two wives, Ellen (Kim Hunter) and Edith (Claire Bloom), and although his first wife Ellen was better-liked, it was Edith who took over Wilson’s office quietly when he suffered a health collapse in the fight for the League of Nations.

Dimwitted (and corrupt) Warren G. Harding (George Kennedy) and his wife Florence (Celeste Holms) learned that his administration had more holes in it than swiss cheese when his infidelities were revealed. Following his death – and years of scandal and gossip – the quiet dignity of President Calvin Coolidge (Ed Flanders) was a welcome relief.

Coolidge was portrayed as an honest, businesslike president who was very much in love with his wife Grace (Lee Grant) and heartbroken about the death of his younger son Calvin Jr. from blood poisoning in a freak accident.

The calm was followed by the stern Herbert Hoover (Larry Gates) and the Great Depression.

The atmosphere moved from gloom to gaiety as Hoover was defeated by Franklin D Roosevelt (John Anderson), but the relaxed family feeling in the White House ended abruptly with the outbreak of World War II.

Lillian was temporarily dismissed when President Harry Truman (Harry Morgan) moved his family to Blair house but was rehired and served through the two terms of Dwight D Eisenhower (Andrew Duggan).

The White House living quarters were meticulously recreated on a Hollywood sound stage.

Backstairs at the White House received a mammoth 11 Emmy nominations, nosing out Roots and Centennial. It won one of the categories – “Outstanding Achievement in Makeup”.

Lillian Rogers
Leslie Uggams
Maggie Rogers
Olivia Cole
Houseman Levi Mercer
Louis Gossett Jr.
Doorman and Presidential Barber John Mays
Robert Hooks
Doorman Jackson
Bill Overton
Butler Dixon
David Downing
Mrs Florence Harding1
Celeste Holm
President Warren G. Harding
George Kennedy
President Calvin Coolidge
Ed Flanders
Mrs Grace Coolidge
Lee Grant
President Herbert Hoover
Larry Gates
Mrs Lou Hoover
Jan Sterling
Mrs Eleanor Roosevelt
Eileen Heckart
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
John Anderson
President Harry S. Truman
Harry Morgan
Mrs Bess Truman
Estelle Parsons
Mrs Mamie Eisenhower
Barbara Barrie
President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Andrew Duggan
Ike Hoover
Leslie Nielsen
Butler Coates
Hari Rhodes
Roach
Tom Scott
Moira
Kathleen Doyle
Emmett Rogers Jr.
Kevin Hooks
First Maid Annie Gilhooley
Helena Carroll
Houseman Fraser
James A. Watson Jr.
Housekeeper Nesbitt
Louise Latham
Chief Usher Crim
Richard Roat
Mrs Jaffray
Cloris Leachman
President William Howard Taft
Victor Buono
Mrs Ellen Wilson
Kim Hunter
Mrs Edith Galt Wilson
Claire Bloom
Housekeeper Long
Diane Shalet
Senator Fall
John Randolph
Prettyman
Gerry Black
Sevilla
Bebe Drake
Housekeeper Walker
Marged Wakeley
Emmett Rogers Sr
Paul Winfield
Mrs Helen ‘Nellie’ Taft
Julie Harris
Attorney General Harry Daugherty
Barry Sullivan
President Woodrow Wilson
Robert Vaughn
Margaret Truman
Nancy Morgan
Ellen Truman
Ann Doran
Mrs Wallace
Heather Angel
Wheatley Parks
Harrison Page

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