Merrick here...


Columbia is ramping up a biopic about the life of Eugene Allen - a White House butler for 34 years. The studio has optioned Allen's "life rights" (that sound like a deal with The Devil, doesn't it?) and THIS recently published Washington Post article about Allen (authored by by Wil Haygood).

Allen started at the White House as a "pantry man" in 1952 when blacks weren't allowed to use public restrooms in his native Virginia. He served presidents as racial history was being made, from Brown v. Board of Education to the 1963 march on Washington to the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and President John F. Kennedy.

Allen left the job in 1986, when Ronald Reagan was in office.

Allen and his wife of 65 years talked and marveled at the fact that a black man could be president. But on Election Day, Allen cast his vote alone; his wife died the day before.

...says THIS ARTICLE in Hollywood Reporter.

Allen worked in the White House over multiple administrations (Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan), and through some of America's most turbulent & politically charged years (the end of The Korean War, the 60s, Viet Nam, The Cold War, multiple assassinations of political/cultural leaders, etc). This could be a fascinating ride through wild times, told from an intriguing perspective.

It's usually hard enough to cast one U.S> president convincingly. Assuming the personages of historical significance mentioned above make some sort of appearance here, this could be a casting nightmare.

Laura Ziskin (producer of the SPIDER-MAN films) will produce.