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Summary
Netflix’sSelf Madetells the true level of Madam C.J. Walker , but not everything in the four - part , limited - run serial really happen . Based on the biographyOn Her Own Groundwritten by her great - great - granddaughter A’Lelia Bundles , the miniseries does take some familiarity with reality . In actual life , Madam C.J. Walker ( born Sarah Breedlove ) was indeed a pioneer businesswoman . She worked her way from nothing to running the Walker Manufacturing Company , a haircare empire . According toGuinness World Records , she was America ’s first self - made female African - American millionaire .
well bed for herAcademy Award - winning purpose inThe aid , Octavia Spencerstars as Madam C.J. Walker inSelf Made , alongside a supporting cast include Tiffany Haddish , Blair Underwood , Carmen Ejogo , Kevin Carroll , Garrett Morris , and J. Alphonse Nicholson . In the serial , Walker ’s rise to fortune begins in 1908 in St. Louis , which is already inaccurate , because she was n’t dwell in that metropolis then . The serial change a few pocket-sized details for the rice beer of good storytelling , but then there are more significant alterations to the life of Madame C.J. Walker inSelf Madethat are authoritative to piece out .
Netflix ’s Self Made is base on the true story of Madam C.J. Walker . Here are side - by - side looks at the actors and the real citizenry they impersonate .
Madam C.J. Walker’s Feud With Addie Monroe
Self Made ’s Addie Monroe was Annie Turnbo Malone in tangible life . Malone was as every bit an entrepreneurial force as Madam C.J. Walker , perhaps even more so , moot the latter had stolen the former ’s original " hair raiser " pattern . She was also a self - made millionaire , with an calculate $ 14 million empire by 1920 . That success is never brought up in the series , which portrays her as an outright villain .
While Madam C.J. Walker did really get into the haircare business work on for Malone , it was in 1904 , not four twelvemonth afterwards as the show suggests . She was a sales agent for Malone ’s " The Great Wonderful Hair Grower" . Self Madeputs forth that the two had a fall out over Madam Walker ’s smell , with Addie telling her she was not the type of woman she require represent her product . While there seems to have been some divergence in real sprightliness , there is no evidence that it was over Madam Walker ’s appearance .
The real inspiration for Addie also did not chase after Madam Walker all over America , move from metropolis to metropolis in attempt to destroy her clientele . She was established in St. Louis and last out there until moving to Chicago after a divorce in 1927 .
The Netflix movie Lost Girls details a real life miss individual story flex execution mystery story . This is the true story of what bump .
Denver And Marriage To C.J. Walker
Charles Joseph Walker , better known as C.J. , was Madam C.J. Walker ’s third married man , a detail not foreground inSelf Made . She had antecedently been married to Moses McWilliams , who fathered her girl Lelia and give out just two years later . She then wed John Davis in 1894 , but that union ended in divorce .
It was n’t until 1906 , when Madam C.J. Walker was hold up in Denver , that she married C.J. , who worked in ad . It was also in Denver that she commence producing her own hair agriculturalist . Self Madecompletely cuts the metropolis of Denver out of the movie . The Walkers are portray as married and inhabit in St. Louis before move to Indianapolis .
Divorce From C.J. Walker
The tangible timeline of the Walkers ' relationship is not accurately reflected inSelf Made . C.J. was not by Madam C.J. Walker ’s side for her move to Indianapolis , which is a polar plot decimal point in the show . The couple disjoint in 1910 , according to theNational Women ’s History Museum . It was only after her marriage to C.J. end that she take her business to Indianapolis and build a factory . He just was n’t around for much of the Walker Manufacturing Company ’s winner .
Self Made ’s allegement that C.J. cheated on Madam C.J. Walker with one of her employees is true , but the show go out out that he was also an alky , which also led to troubles between them . Their human relationship fell apart quickly . Madam C.J. Walker , however , did not drag out their divorce as is depicted in the serial publication . She apace ended their marriage ceremony , with Freeman Ransom , Madam C.J. Walker ’s longtime lawyer , facilitate it from her end .
Protests By Madam Walker’s Sales Agents
As Madam C.J. Walker micturate moves to get her Glossine haircare product onto drugstore shelves , Self Madeshows her employees protest outside a gala at her mansion in New York ’s Westchester County . disquieted that their job would be eliminated if the product they sell was easier to get by chitchat a workshop , they go for banners emblazoned with slogan like " Help Us help oneself Ourselves " and " Sales Agents merit Respect " while chanting " No drugstore ! Save Glossine ! "
There were most likely no such unionised protest in material living , but sales agents did present Madam Walker with a postulation . It explained that they did not feel that they had " the right shelter from you by placing your goods in the pharmacy , " and that it was causing their own gross revenue to wane , according toNewsweek . InSelf Made , Madam Walker tries reasoning with her staff member , before consulting her neighbour John D. Rockefeller for business advice . In the death , she come up the protestors and gets them to agree to stand up by her side .
The real Madam C.J. Walker was not one to be challenged , though . She reportedly imperil to break off working with any agent who did not embrace her slipway . While it is true that Rockefeller did have a home nearby to Madam Walker ’s genuine Villa Lewaro estate in Westchester County , there is nothing that intimate they ever interacted .
Lelia Walker’s Lesbian Relationship
Lelia Walker , who change her first name to A’Lelia , was Madam C.J. Walker ’s actual daughter . She remain very tight to her mother throughout her living and take over as president of the Walker Manufacturing Company after her mother exit in 1919 . InSelf Madeshe splice and disjoint John Robinson , which is a straight fact . During that marriage , she is evidence growing very close to a woman named Esther , a hairstylist . The two are depicted happily picnicking together and tarry on a bed . There is a substantial suggestion that they are engage in a pansy human relationship and that Madam C.J. Walker was stridently against it .
Esther is a fictional character , and there is no evidence that the substantial Lelia was a tribade . She was a frequenter of the art and laminitis of The Dark Tower , a ethnical beauty salon in Harlem welcome to the LGBTQ+ community . A’Lelia Bundles , author ofSelf Made ’s original source material , sustain the quick attitude of A’Lelia Walker . " She had many friend who were queer . She was comfortable , they were very comfortable in her place , " said Bundles inO Magazine . But Bundles also suggests that the real charwoman whom Lelia was instigate by may have sire tight to a longtime female friend after the oddment of her third union .
