Backstairs at the White House
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Robert Vaughn
Jan Sterling
Anna Mathias
Harry Morgan
Brendan Dillon
Bebe Drake
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
A lovingly filmed version of the book by Lillian Rogers Parks, the crippled seamstress-maid who, along with her mother, served for fifty-two years as a White House domestic during eight presidential administrations. A mixture of pop history of the Twentieth Century and the private lives of the various First Families (as portrayed by an all-star cast) as seen through the eyes of the various maids and butlers, played by many of the same black actors who had appeared in and "died" in the initial "Roots" and thus were not available for the sequel to that miniseries that, in a programming "coincidence," premiered in part against "Backstairs at the White House". There were eleven Emmy Award nominations for the film: Outstanding Limited Series, Best Actress (Olivia Cole), Best Actor (Louis Gossett, Jr.), Best Supporting Actress (both Eileen Heckart and Celeste Holm), Best Supporting Actor (both Ed Flanders and Robert Vaughn), Outstanding Teleplay (Part 1),
Outstanding Teleplay (Part 1), Outstanding Art Direction/ Set Decoration (Part 1), and two other technical awards. These made "Backstage at the White House" the single most honored program of the 1978-79 TV season.
Cast
Robert Vaughn
Jan Sterling
Anna Mathias
Harry Morgan
Brendan Dillon
Bebe Drake
Nancy Morgan
William Quinn
James A Watson
Ron Kelly
Helena Carroll
Harrison Page
Matthew Beard
Lee Grant
Gerry Black
Betty A. Bridges
Ed Flanders
Kim Hunter
George Kennedy
Marged Wakeley
Emmaline Henry
Kevin Hooks
Marilyn Chris
David Downing
John Randolph
Olivia Cole
Barry Sullivan
Tania Johnson
Leslie Uggams
Bill Barrett
John Anderson
Dan Mason
Ford Rainey
Tom Clancy
Francis X Mccarthy
Ron Recasner
Lee Kessler
Ann Doran
Noble Willingham
Henry Sanders
Cloris Leachman
Paul Winfield
Louis Gossett
Bill Overton
Woodrow Parfrey
Richard Roat
Carson Sipes
Harry Townes
Dana Wynter
Celeste Holm
Kathleen Doyle
Hari Rhodes
Julie Harris
Guy Christopher
Bibi Besch
Joe Lowry
Estelle Parsons
Robert Hooks
Eileen Heckart
Tom Scott
Claire Bloom
Leslie Nielsen
Diane Shalet
Victor Buono
James Crittenden
Louise Latham
Andrew Duggan
Barbara Barrie
Heather Angel
Larry Gates
Crew
Gwen Bagni
Paul Dubov
Ed Friendly
Susan Germaine
Richard Y Haman
Lola Kemp
Paul Lamastra
Frances Spatz Leighton
Vivian Mcateer
Anne Mcculley
Robert L Morrison
Michael O'herlihy
Lillian Rogers Parks
Roy E Peterson
Morton Stevens
Bill Thomas
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Aired in United States February 12, 1979
Aired in United States February 19, 1979
Aired in United States February 5, 1979
Aired in United States January 29, 1979
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