Eugene Allen
Eugene "Gene" Allen (born July 14, 1919 in Scottsville , Virginia or Buckingham , Virginia, † March 31, 2010 in Takoma Park , Maryland ) was an American butler . He served eight different presidents in the White House from 1952 to 1986 . His life forms the basis for the film The Butler .
Life
Eugene Allen was a waiter at a resort in Hot Springs , Virginia, and then a country club in Washington. In 1952 he was employed in the White House: first he washed dishes and polished the silverware for an annual salary of US $ 2,400 (with an average earnings of US $ 3,400 a year at the time). He slowly worked his way up and eventually became Head Butler in 1980. Until his retirement in 1986, he served eight Presidents Harry S. Truman , Dwight D. Eisenhower , John F. Kennedy , Lyndon B. Johnson , Richard Nixon , Gerald Ford , Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan . The latter even invited him and his wife to a state banquet when Helmut Kohl was a guest.
When the African-American Allen started working in the White House, racial segregation was still in force in the United States , which Lyndon B. Johnson abolished with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 . Towards the end of his life Allen was able to witness the election of Barack Obama as the first black US president, to whose inauguration on January 20, 2009 he was invited as a VIP guest.
Allen had been married to Helene since 1943, who died on November 3, 2008 at the age of 86. He himself died of kidney failure on March 31, 2010 at Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park, Maryland. He left behind the son Charles, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Web links
- Wil Haygood: A Butler Well Served by This Election , washingtonpost.com, Nov. 7, 2008
- Wil Haygood: Eugene Allen, White House butler for 8 presidents, dies at 90 , washingtonpost.com, April 2, 2010
- Rupert Cornwell: Eugene Allen: White House butler who worked for eight US presidents , independent.co.uk, April 7, 2010
- Wolfgang Stuflesser: The film "The Butler" in the USA. The story of black and white ( memento from August 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), tagesschau.de, August 17, 2013
Individual evidence
- ^ Wil Haygood: Eugene Allen, White House butler for 8 presidents, dies at 90 , washingtonpost.com, April 2, 2010
- ^ Rupert Cornwell: Eugene Allen: White House butler who worked for eight US presidents. independent.co.uk, April 7, 2010
- ^ Background on the official website of the film The Butler
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Allen, Eugene |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Allen, Gene |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American butler |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 14, 1919 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Scottsville , Virginia or Buckingham , Virginia |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 31, 2010 |
| Place of death | Takoma Park , Maryland |