Backstairs at the White House #2
Published on Nov 24, 2013
Backstairs at the White House is a 1979 NBC television miniseries based on the book My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House by Lillian Rogers Parks (with Frances Spatz Leighton). The series, produced by Ed Friendly Productions, is the story of behind-the-scenes workings of the White House and the relationship between the staff and the First Families.
This mini-series was nominated for 11 Emmy Awards including: 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.
The series was notable for its all-star cast: Leslie Uggams starred as Lillian Rogers Parks and Olivia Cole played her mother Maggie Rogers. Other White House staffers were played by Louis Gossett, Jr., Robert Hooks, Cloris Leachman, Leslie Nielsen, and Hari Rhodes. The first episode featured Paul Winfield as Emmett Rogers Sr.
CAST:
William Howard Taft - Victor Buono
Helen (Nellie) Taft - Julie Harris
Woodrow Wilson - Robert Vaughn
Ellen Axson Wilson - Kim Hunter
Edith Bolling Galt Wilson - Claire Bloom
Warren G. Harding - George Kennedy
Florence Harding - Celeste Holm
Calvin Coolidge - Ed Flanders
Grace Coolidge - Lee Grant
Herbert Hoover - Larry Gates
Lou Hoover - Jan Sterling
Franklin D. Roosevelt - John Anderson
Eleanor Roosevelt - Eileen Heckart
Harry S. Truman - Harry Morgan
Bess Truman - Estelle Parsons
Dwight D. Eisenhower - Andrew Duggan
Mamie Eisenhower - Barbara Barrie