#barrois

Portrait of a Man, Barrois, ca. 1790, European Paintings

Bequest of Ella Church Strobell, 1917 Size: Diameter 2 3/4 in. (67 mm) Medium: Ivory

Octavia Spencer stars as Madam C.J. Walker. Media photo.

    by Naomi Richard

    After much anticipation, Netflix announced the title and premiere date for its upcoming Madam C.J. Walker limited series starring Academy Award® winner Octavia Spencer. The four-part series “Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C. J. Walker” will debut on March 20, 2020.

    Octavia Spencer stars as Madam C.J. Walker, the trailblazing African American haircare entrepreneur who was America’s first female self-made millionaire. Inspired by the book, On Her Own Ground written by Walker’s great-great-granddaughter A’Lelia Bundles, the Netflix original series, Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C. J. Walker brings the uplifting story of this cultural icon to the screen for the first time.

   Against all odds, Walker overcame post-slavery racial and gender biases, personal betrayals, and business rivalries to build a ground-breaking brand that revolutionized black haircare, as she simultaneously fought for social change. The four-part limited series also stars Blair Underwood as her husband C.J. Walker; Tiffany Haddish as her daughter Leila; Carmen Ejogo as Walker’s business rival Addie Monroe; Garrett Morris as Walker’s father-in-law; Kevin Carroll as her longtime lawyer Ransom; and Bill Bellamy as Ransom’s cousin Sweetness.

    Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C. J. Walker was created by Nicole Jefferson Asher with co-showrunners Elle Johnson & Janine Sherman Barrois, directed by Kasi Lemmons and DeMane Davis, and executive produced by Barrois, Johnson, Maverick Carter, Jamal Henderson, Eric Oberland, Christine Holder, Mark Holder, Kasi Lemmons, LeBron James and Octavia Spencer.

    Netflix today is the world's leading streaming entertainment service, with over 158 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Netflix also delivers original content covering all spectrums of diversity, providing a strong platform for stories to be told and for African-American writers to display their authentic talent.

Ligny-en-Barrois.

Portrait of a Man by Barrois, European Paintings

Bequest of Ella Church Strobell, 1917 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Medium: Ivory