Hollywood courting Thurmond's daughter

Strom Thurmond's daughter Essie Mae Washington-Williams, flanked by her daughter Wanda Terry and attorney Frank Wheaton, enjoys a light moment during her news conference in Columbia this week. {Owen Riley Jr. /Staff) e-mail this story

Several producers and publishers have contacted Essie Mae Washington-Williams' attorney, Frank Wheaton, including Craig Anderson, who produced a television mini-series on the romance between Thomas Jefferson and one of his slaves.

"I've heard from feature-film producers, television networks and I just completed a meeting with a book publisher," said Wheaton, an entertainment lawyer based in Los Angeles. "Prayerfully, we'll be able to come up with a story that is good for all of America and will reach a general audience as well as an audience that might be affected by similarities."

Williams announced earlier this week she was the secret daughter of Thurmond and a black maid. The Thurmond family has acknowledged her claim. The senator did not mention her in his will bequeathing gifts to his three other living children.

Anderson, a Tony-Award winning producer whose company has produced Emmy-nominated television movies and mini-series, said Friday he is interested in Williams' story because of her reference to Sally Hemings, the slave who was involved with Jefferson.

Williams told reporters Wednesday that "there are many stories like Sally Hemings' and mine. The unfortunate measure is that not everyone knows about these stories that helped to make America what it is today."

Since Williams drew the comparison, Anderson said, "I thought it would be interesting to see if she would be interested in a film along those lines."

Anderson's other credits include the 1995 television movie "The Piano Lesson," which earned an Emmy nomination for best movie; "Midwives," which earned Sissy Spacek a Screen Actors Guild award nomination; and the CBS remake of "On Golden Pond," broadcast live and starring Julie Andrews.

Wheaton said he respects Anderson's work.

"In this case, you pick and choose the individual or entity that suits her needs," Wheaton said. "We want someone who is sensitive and clear about what the story is about and certainly someone who is capable."

He said Williams does not want to restrict her options to one medium.

"I think this story is big enough to capture all mediums, books, television, in an epic form, as well as feature form at the movies," he said. "We're not excluding anyone."

Thurmond was 22 and Carrie Butler, a housekeeper in the Thurmond home and Williams' mother, was 16 when Williams was born in Aiken in 1925, she said. She was taken to Pennsylvania six months later and raised by an aunt and uncle, seeing her mother for the first time when she was 13. She said she first met Thurmond when she was 16.

Thurmond died June 26 at the age of 100 without ever publicly acknowledging Williams as his daughter.