There was a miniseries in 1979 that’s never been released on video, but I remember it as being very good. (I last saw it when it was broadcast on cable about 10 years ago). It was based on two non-fiction books by Lillian Rogers Parks, a second generation maid at the White House and was called Backstairs at the White House. Her mother entered service during the Taft (Victor Buono) administration, worked under Wilson (Robert Vaughn), the Hardings (George Kennedy & Celeste Holm) whose knock-down-drag-out marital problems they witnessed, the Coolidges (Ed Flanders/Lee Grant), Hoovers (Larry Gates/Jan Sterling), FDR & Eleanor (John Anderson/Eileen Heckert), the Trumans (Harry Morgan and Estelle Parsons) and the Eisenhowers (Andrew Duggan/Barbara Barrie). It’s a great snapshot at the presidents at home and as a kid I learned a lot about the human side of history from it. Some things I remember:
*Taft holding young Lillian and her brother on his massive lap when he finds them in the kitchen during one of his secret icebox raids (he was supposed to be on a diet)
*Lillian’s mother (Maggie) adored the first Mrs. Wilson (Kim Hunter) but refused to accept the second (Claire Bloom) until after Woodrow had his massive stroke and it became clear Mrs. Wilson was the president
*The Hardings knock-down drag-out fights
*Silent Cal’s emotional break down after the death of his son
*Hoover’s wife was an imperious bitch who trained the domestic staff to recognize her hand signals (approach, clear, leave, etc.) so she wouldn’t have to speak to them
*The staff (mostly black) loved FDR and even helped hide his mistresses, but surprisingly didn’t like Eleanor. (FDR and Lillian had a bond because like him she suffered from polio; Eleanor insisted that all of the butlers be the same height, which cost some of them their job [the short ones who couldn’t use padding in their shoes] during the Depression and the rest of the domestics never forgave this.)
*The Trumans down hominess, and the scandal of his mother being shown to the Lincoln bedroom (she grew up Confederate), the near dilapidation of the White House that caused its complete gutting and renovation, the attempt on his life by Puerto Rican nationalists at Blair House {that had him hiding behind a chair with a pistol to protect his family}, etc.
*Eisenhower’s massive heart-attack (the public never knew how serious it was) and the staff’s unanimous hatred for Mamie (a condescending faultfinding micromanaging shrew)
Lillian retired just before JFK’s inauguration.
This show needs to be put on video.
