A fter presenting the Oprah Winfrey-starring, Emmy nominated film “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” earlier this year, HBO is planning to bring another historically overlooked African-American female figure to the spotlight. According to Deadline, the cable network is setting its sights on racketeer Stephanie St. Clair.
HBO has joined forces with director Tim Story (“Fantastic Four”) and production company Zero Gravity Management to tell the story of “the woman who was an immigrant from the Caribbean and ended up running something known as the Policy Bank — which really was the precursor to the American lottery system.”
St. Clair’s wealth was deeply tied to organized crime, but “when mobsters Dutch Schultz and Lucky Luciano and a corrupt police force tried to take over her criminal enterprise, she fought fiercely against them and won those battles,” Deadline summarizes.
The project is based on Shirley Stewart’s book, “The World of Stephanie St. Clair: An Entrepreneur, Race Woman and Outlaw in Early Twentieth Century Harlem.” Nicole Asher — who is currently attached to Octavia Spencer and LeBron James’ project on entrepreneur and activist Madam C.J. Walker — will write the script.
Singer-songwriter Janet Jackson is also working on a St. Clair project via Lifetime. A loose adaptation of St. Clair’s story was presented in Bill Duke’s 1997 film “Hoodlum.” Cicely Tyson (“The Help”) portrayed St. Clair.
