First Lady prefers fashion designers for making her dresses, so Lillian is demoted to repairing linens and curtains. At times the Eisenhowers can be personable; the President asks Lillian to sample his home-made soup and the First Lady throws a surprise birthday party for her, but most of the time the old guard of Lillian, Mercer, and Mays feel unnoticed and underappreciated. Before she dies, Maggie tells Mercer, “You see that Lillian writes my book now.” Mercer and Lillian retire before the Kennedy administration takes office. On Lillian’s last day Housekeeper Walker asks what she is going to do now. Lillian replies, “I’m going to write a book.” Awards This mini-series was nominated for 11 Emmy Awards (winning in 1 category), 1 Golden Globe Award, and 1 Writers Guild of America Award. 31st Primetime Emmy Awards Won Outstanding Achievement in Make-up (Mark Bussan, Tommy Cole and Ron Walters). Nominations Outstanding Limited Series (Ed Friendly, Executive Producer; Ed Friendly, Producer; Michael O'Herlihy, Producer), Best Actress (Olivia Cole), Best Actor (Louis Gossett Jr.), Best Supporting Actress (Eileen Heckart), Best Supporting Actress (Celeste Holm), Best Supporting Actor (Ed Flanders), Best Supporting Actor (Robert Vaughn), Outstanding Teleplay (Part 1) (Gwen Bagni and Paul Dubov), Outstanding Art Direction/Set Decoration (Part 1) (Richard Y. Haman, Art Director; Anne D. McCulley, Set Decorator), Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling (Susan Germaine, Lola Kemp and Vivian McAteer) 37th Golden Globe Awards Nominations Best Television Series, Drama Writers Guild of America Award Won Multi-Part Long Form Series and/or Any Production of More Than Two Parts: Backstairs at the White House (teleplay by Gwen Bagni and Paul Dubov) Home media Acorn Media released the mini-series on Region 1 DVD on November 1, 2005. Filmverlag Fernsehjuwelen released the DVD in Germany (October 30, 2015) and Austria (December 2015) using the title Weißes Haus, Hintereingang. References External links Thomas, Robert McG. “Lillian Parks, 100, Dies; Had 'Backstairs' White House View.” New York Times 12 November 1997 NYTimes.com retrieved 25 April 2018 Barnes, Mike. “Olivia Cole, Actress in 'Roots' and 'Backstairs at the White House,' Dies at 75.” The Hollywood Reporter 24 January 2018 HollywoodReporter.com retrieved 25 April 2018 1979 films NBC original programming 1970s American television miniseries American biographical series Television shows based on books Cultural depictions of Woodrow Wilson Cultural depictions of William Howard Taft Cultural depictions of Franklin D. Roosevelt Cultural depictions of Eleanor Roosevelt Cultural depictions of Harry S. Truman Cultural