| REEL FACE: | REAL FACE: |
Octavia Spencer
Born: May 25, 1972 Birthplace: Montgomery, Alabama, USA | Madam C.J. Walker (born Sarah Breedlove)
Born: December 23, 1867 Birthplace: Delta, Louisiana, USA Death: May 25, 1919, Irvington-on-Hudson, New York, USA (kidney failure from high blood pressure) |
Tiffany Haddish
Born: December 3, 1979 Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA | A'Lelia Walker
Born: June 6, 1885 Birthplace: Vicksburg, Mississippi, USA Death: August 17, 1931, Long Branch, New Jersey, USA (cerebral hemorrhage due to high blood pressure) |
Carmen Ejogo
Born: October 22, 1973 Birthplace: Kensington, London, England, UK | Annie Malone
Born: August 9, 1877 Birthplace: Metropolis, Illinois, USA Death: May 10, 1957, Chicago, Illinois, USA (stroke) Renamed Addie Munroe in the Series |
Yes. Born Sarah Breedlove on December 23, 1867 in the vicinity of Delta, Louisiana, she was one of Owen and Minerva Breedlove's six children and the first to be born into freedom after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. The Self Made true story reveals that Sarah's parents and her older siblings had been owned by Robert W. Burney on his plantation in Madison Parish, Louisiana. Her father had been a farm laborer and her mother a laundress. Her mother died in 1872 when Sarah was just four years old, most likely from cholera. Her father passed away roughly one year later. To learn more about Sarah's childhood, read her great-great-granddaughter A'Lelia Bundles' biography On Her Own Ground, which provided the basis for the Netflix series Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker.
Yes. After her first husband, Moses McWilliams, died in 1887, Sarah moved to St. Louis where three of her brothers were living. According to her great-great granddaughter A'Lelia Bundles' biography Self Made (originally titled On Her Own Ground), it was there that she learned about hair care from her three brothers who were barbers.
According to the Netflix Self Made true story, in order to combat hair loss and promote a healthy scalp, Sarah Breedlove, who became known as Madam C.J. Walker, concocted a hair grower similar to that of Annie Malone's, her former employer. It contained a mixture of beeswax, coconut oil, sulfur, copper sulfate, and violet extract perfume to cover the odor of the sulfur. She started by selling her treatment door to door when she was living in Denver, Colorado.
Yes. Sarah married Charles Joseph Walker in January 1906. They had met while Sarah was working as a laundress in St. Louis, washing clothes in the homes of wealthy Whites and earning very little money. Charles is portrayed by Blair Underwood in the Netflix limited series Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker. The marriage lasted six years. During that time, Sarah Breedlove became known as Madam C.J. Walker. Like in the Netflix series, Charles worked on the business with her, including helping her to put ads in Black newspapers. They divorced in 1912.
Sarah changed her name to "Madam C.J. Walker" at the urging of her husband at the time, Charles Joseph (C.J.) Walker. He felt the name was more recognizable. It also benefitted him in that it connected his name to her products.
Like in the Netflix series, the Self Made true story confirms that her business expanded well beyond her miracle hair grower. She released a variety of other products, including a shampoo. She established a factory in Indianapolis, a beauty school, and a salon. She expanded throughout much of the United States, and after her business flourished, she sold her products in Central America and the Caribbean. She employed a plethora of women, training them as sales representatives and hairstylists.
Not likely. Self Made depicts Madam C.J. Walker's daughter A'Lelia in a relationship with a photographer named Esther. There was no real-life Esther. "What is portrayed in the series is certainly not something that really happened," says her great-granddaughter and namesake A'Lelia Bundles. "And it certainly wasn't a source of conflict with [her] mother." The series is certain about A'Lelia's sexuality, but the real-life details of her dating history are mostly unknown. We do know that she had three failed marriages. Bundles says that she did find evidence that A'Lelia may have been in a relationship with a woman after her third marriage ended, but she was never known to identify as bisexual or lesbian. Bundles described the woman as "a person who was a longtime friend of hers." What we do know for sure is that A'Lelia was supportive of the LGBTQ+ community. She had queer friends and hosted parties that they attended. -OprahMag.com