The Butler

The story

Cecil Gaines was a sharecropper's son who grew up in the 1920s as a domestic servant for the white family who casually destroyed his. Eventually striking out on his own, Cecil becomes a hotel valet of such efficiency and discreteness in the 1950s that he becomes a butler in the White House itself. There, Cecil would serve numerous US Presidents over the decades as a passive witness of history with the American Civil Rights Movement gaining momentum even as his family has troubles of its own. As his wife, Gloria, struggles with alcoholism and his defiant eldest son, Louis, strives for a just world, Cecil must decide whether he should take action in his own way.

Cast

F Forest WhitakerCecil Gaines O Oprah WinfreyGloria Gaines D David OyelowoLouis Gaines J John CusackRichard Nixon J Jane FondaNancy Reagan C Cuba Gooding Jr.Carter Wilson M Mariah CareyHattie Pearl T Terrence HowardHoward L Lenny KravitzJames Holloway A Aml AmeenCecil Gaines (15) M Michael Rainey Jr.Cecil Gaines (8) J James MarsdenJohn F. Kennedy

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A Alex PettyferThomas Westfall V Vanessa RedgraveAnnabeth Westfall A Alan RickmanRonald Reagan L Liev SchreiberLyndon B. Johnson R Robin WilliamsDwight H. Eisenhower Y Yaya DaCostaCarol Hammie D David BannerEarl Gaines C Colman DomingoFreddie Fallows N Nelsan EllisMartin Luther King Jr. N Nealla GordonSenator Kassebaum E Elijah KelleyCharlie Gaines (15-18) M Minka KellyJackie Kennedy A Adriane LenoxGina M Mo McRaeEldridge Huggins P Pernell WalkerLorraine J Jesse WilliamsRev. James Lawson C Clarence Williams IIIMaynard L LaJessie SmithAbraham J John P. FertittaMr. Jenkins J Jim GleasonR.D. Warner I Isaac WhiteCharlie Gaines (10) J Joe ChrestWhite Usher T Tyson FordElroy J James DuMontSherman Adams R Robert AberdeenHerbert Brownell O Olivia WashingtonOlivia M Margaret M. OwensWoolworth Diner Patron #1 E Eric DucoteWoolworth Diner Patron #2 C Chloe BarachCaroline Kennedy D Danny StrongFreedom Bus Journalist C Clara Hopkins DanielsFreedom Bus Rider D Dana GourrierHelen Holloway S Shirley PughMalcolm X Goer B Bill NewmanPastor C Colin WalkerJohn Ehrlichman A Alex ManetteBob Haldeman R Rusty RobertsonSenator Robertson S Stephen RiderAdmiral Rochon S Sam MaloneYoung Abraham (uncredited) T Tarra RiggsSophie Wilson (uncredited) X Xosha RoquemoreFoxy (uncredited)