The Butler: A Witness to History (12 page)

Charles Allen in Vietnam. Back in America, his father, Eugene Allen, is busy serving LBJ, who sent the Allens’ only son to war.

The King of Pop visits the White House; Eugene Allen in rear at right.

Eugene Allen was the first butler in the history of the White House to be invited to a state dinner.

In 1986, West German chancellor Helmut Kohl greets Eugene Allen. Not a White House butler on this night, but a White House special guest.

The Allens were longtime watchers of
The Price Is Right.

In nearly half a century of serving others, a moment of personal relaxation.

On January 20, 2009, Eugene Allen braved the frigid temperatures in Washington, DC, to finish the final lap of his amazing journey—the historic inauguration of Barack Obama, the nation’s first black president, who had invited him.

Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey as Cecil and Gloria Gaines, the characters inspired by Eugene and Helene Allen.

Director Lee Daniels with Oprah Winfrey as Gloria.

The White House staff, played by Lenny Kravitz, Forest Whitaker, and Cuba Gooding Jr.

Re-creating the segregation of the 1960s.

David Oyelowo as Gaines’s son, Louis, being arrested for participating in the 1960s sit-ins.

Protesters are hosed down by police.