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The Butler (full title Lee Daniels' The Butler) is a 2013 American historical drama film directed and co-produced by Lee Daniels and with a screenplay by Danny Strong. It is inspired by Wil Haygood's Washington Post article "A Butler Well Served by This Election". Loosely based on the real life of Eugene Allen, who worked in the White House for decades, the film stars Forest Whitaker as Cecil Gaines, an African-American who is a witness of notable political and social events of the 20th century during his 34-year tenure serving as a White House butler. In addition to Whitaker, the film's all-star cast also features Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey, John Cusack, Nelsan Ellis, Jane Fonda, Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, Minka Kelly, Elijah Kelley, Lenny Kravitz, James Marsden, David Oyelowo, Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Redgrave, Alan Rickman, Liev Schreiber, Robin Williams, and Clarence Williams III. It was the last film produced by Laura Ziskin, who died on June 12, 2011, and it was also the final film appearance of Clarence Williams III, who retired from acting in 2018 and died on June 4, 2021. The film was theatrically released by the Weinstein Company on August 16, 2013, to mostly positive reviews from critics, with many praising the cast but criticizing the historical accuracy. The film was a commercial success, grossing over $177 million worldwide against a budget of $30 million. Plot In 2009, an elderly Cecil Gaines recounts his life story while waiting at the White House to meet the newly inaugurated president. Born and raised on a cotton plantation in Macon, Georgia to sharecroppers, in 1926 when he was seven, the owner rapes his mother Hattie; his father, Earl, confronts him and is killed. Cecil is taken in by the estate's caretaker, who trains him to be a house servant. In 1937, at 18, Cecil leaves the plantation. Desperately hungry, he breaks into a hotel pastry shop. The elderly master-servant Maynard takes pity on him and gives him a job. Cecil learns advanced serving and interpersonal skills from Maynard, who later recommends Cecil for a position in a Washington, D.C., hotel. While working there, Cecil meets and marries Gloria, and the couple have two sons: Louis and Charlie. In 1957, Cecil is hired by the White House during Dwight D. Eisenhower's administration. White House maître d'hôtel Freddie Fallows introduces him to head butler Carter Wilson and co-worker James Holloway. Cecil witnesses Eisenhower's reluctance to use troops to enforce school desegregation, then his resolve to uphold the law by racially integrating Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas. Louis, the elder son, becomes a university student at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, although Cecil feels the South is too volatile. Louis joins the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) activist James Lawson's student program, which leads to a nonviolent sit-in at a segregated diner, where he is arrested. Gloria, who feels Cecil puts his job ahead of her, descends into alcoholism. In 1961, after John F. Kennedy's inauguration, Louis and others are attacked by members of the Ku Klux Klan while on a freedom ride to Birmingham, Alabama. Louis participates in the 1963 Birmingham Children's Crusade, where dogs and water cannons are used to stop the marchers, an action which inspires Kennedy to deliver a national address proposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964. After Kennedy is assassinated, his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, enacts the legislation. As a goodwill gesture, Jackie Kennedy gives Cecil one of the former president's neckties. Louis participates in the 1965 Selma Voting Rights Movement, which inspires Johnson to demand that Congress enact the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. Johnson also gives Cecil a tie bar. In the late 1960s, after civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, Louis tells his family that he has joined the Black Panthers. Cecil orders Louis and his girlfriend to leave his house. Louis is again arrested. Cecil becomes aware of President Richard Nixon's plans to suppress the Black Panthers. Charlie confides to Louis that he plans to join the war in Vietnam. After enlisting, he is killed and buried at Arlington National Cemetery. When the Black Panthers resort to violence, Louis leaves the organization and returns to college, earning his master's degree in political science and eventually running for a seat in Congress, although Cecil continues to hold resentment against him. Cecil repeatedly approaches his supervisor at the White House over the unequal pay and career advancement provided to the black White House staff. With President Ronald Reagan's support, Cecil prevails, his reputation growing to the point that he and his wife are invited by the Reagans to be guests at a state dinner. Cecil becomes uncomfortable with the class divisions in the White House. After witnessing Reagan's refusal to support economic sanctions against Apartheid South Africa, he resigns. Gloria encourages Cecil to mend his relationship with Louis. Realizing his son's actions are heroic, he joins him at a protest against South African apartheid; they are arrested and jailed together. In 2008, Gloria dies shortly before Barack Obama is elected as the nation's first black president. Two months, two weeks and one day later, Cecil prepares to meet the newly inaugurated President, wearing the articles he received from Kennedy and Johnson. White House Chief Usher Stephen W. Rochon approaches him, telling him the president is ready and preparing to show him the way to the Oval Office. Cecil tells him that he knows the way and walks down the hall to the office. Cast Forest Whitaker as Cecil Gaines, the film's main character, who dedicates his life to becoming a professional domestic worker. Michael Rainey Jr. and Aml Ameen portray Cecil at ages 7 and 18. Gaines' private life Oprah Winfrey as Gloria Gaines, Cecil Gaines' wife. David Oyelowo as Louis Gaines, the Gaines' elder son. Elijah Kelley as Charlie Gaines, the Gaines' younger son. Isaac White portrays him at age 10. Alex Pettyfer as Thomas Westfall, the brutal plantation owner who kills Earl after raping Hattie. David Banner as Earl Gaines, Cecil's father. Mariah Carey as Hattie Pearl, Cecil's mother. Terrence Howard as Howard, the Gaines' neighbor who romantically pursues Gloria. Adriane Lenox as Gina, Howard's wife. Yaya DaCosta as Carol Hammie, Louis' girlfriend. Vanessa Redgrave as Annabeth Westfall, a matron on the plantation. Clarence Williams III as Maynard, an elderly man who mentors a young Cecil and introduces him to his profession. White House co-workers Cuba Gooding Jr. as Carter Wilson, the fast-talking head butler at the White House, with whom Cecil forms a close friendship. Lenny Kravitz as James Holloway, a co-worker butler of Cecil's at the White House. Colman Domingo as Freddie Fallows, the White House maitre d' who hires Cecil. White House historical figures Robin Williams as Dwight D. Eis.... Discover the Danny Steele Todd Whitaker popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Danny Steele Todd Whitaker books.