Hollywood star Octavia Spencer is set to star in “Madam C.J. Walker” a Netflix series about how Madam C. J. Walker became the first self-made female millionaire in the U.S. Spencer is also to be the executive producer of the show. Madam Walker made her millions by creating hair care products for black people and improving the hot comb. 
According to The New York Times, the eight-episode series was announced on Sunday at a Television Critics Association press tour. The show is also based on a 2001 biography of Ms C. J. Walker “On Her Own Ground” written by A’Lelia Bundles, her great-granddaughter.
Madam Walker was born in 1867 to two former slaves. She became orphaned at the age of 7, married at age 14 and washed clothes for $1.50 a day, until the birth of a daughter motivated her to seek a better life. Speaking with The New York Times back in 1917 she said; “As I bent over the washboard and looked at my arm buried in soapsuds, I said to myself: ‘What are you going to do when you grow old and your back gets stiff? Who is going to take care of your little girl?’” Walker started a hair-care line for black women and went on to create lines of hair straighteners, hair-growth elixirs, shampoos and pomades.
Photo Credit: Getty
