The “mane (main) attraction” that has everyone talking right now is the much-anticipated Netflix flick, “On Her Own Ground,” based on the life of Madam C.J. Walker. Octavia Spencer, the Academy Award-winning actor, will star as the trailblazing Madam C.J. Walker, the hair care mogul broke barriers as America’s first Black self-made millionaire. The series, executive produced by Spencer and LeBron James, starts shooting in this summer.
As we eagerly await the announcement of a premiere date, here’s a little bit of the back story, courtesy of cosmeticsbusiness.com, an interview with Madam C.J. Walker’s great-great granddaughter, A’Lelia Bundles, and an AARP interview with Octavia Spencer.
Octavia Spencer will star as the historic beauty business woman and philanthropist Madam C.J. Walker (left).
Born in 1867 as Sarah Breedlove to former slaves, Walker became the first self-made female millionaire in the US and one of the most successful entrepreneurs of her time.
…the limited series [is] based on the book On Her Own Groundby Walker’s great-great-granddaughter A’Lelia Bundles.
Walker, inspired by her own struggle of hair loss, made her fortune by developing and marketing a direct-selling hair care business for African-American women.
Photo Credit: Wiki Commons / The Women’s Museum
She produced a tonic for the Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company that claimed to encourage hair growth as well as a line of products that would give [textured] hair a silky sheen.
According to Netflix, the series is the “untold and highly irreverent story of black hair care pioneer and mogul Madam C.J. Walker and how she overcame hostile turn-of-the-century America, epic rivalries, tumultuous marriages and some trifling family”.
