In Lee Daniels’s Billie Holiday biopic “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” the singer’s trials and tribulations during the 1940s are reflected through the film’s clear main villain, Federal Bureau of Narcotics commissioner Harry J. Anslinger.
Anslinger, portrayed in the film by James Hedlund, is depicted as a racist, crusading fanatic who used his office and his proximity to power to ruthlessly harass Holiday throughout her career.
For example, Anslinger calls multiple meetings between the FBI and Fbn about Holiday, and even says at one point he wants to “bring that bitch down.” He loses his mind over Holliday’s “Strange Fruit,” claiming that the song about the epidemic of lynchings against Black Americans would “start riots.” He personally arrests her for possession three times. And he repeatedly attempts to plant evidence on her, either coopting Holiday’s lovers or his agents.
But just who was Anslinger in real life?...
Anslinger, portrayed in the film by James Hedlund, is depicted as a racist, crusading fanatic who used his office and his proximity to power to ruthlessly harass Holiday throughout her career.
For example, Anslinger calls multiple meetings between the FBI and Fbn about Holiday, and even says at one point he wants to “bring that bitch down.” He loses his mind over Holliday’s “Strange Fruit,” claiming that the song about the epidemic of lynchings against Black Americans would “start riots.” He personally arrests her for possession three times. And he repeatedly attempts to plant evidence on her, either coopting Holiday’s lovers or his agents.
But just who was Anslinger in real life?...
- 3/2/2021
- by Samson Amore
- The Wrap
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