A film about Stephanie St. Clair, a 1920s Harlem gangster and activist is currently in the works for HBO Films, according to Deadline.
Better known as Madame Queenie, St. Clair was infamous throughout 1920s Harlem for her criminal enterprise and activism for the black community. She was also known for successfully fighting off infamous Italian mobsters who tried to take over her business— a predecessor to our current American lottery system.
“She was considered an activist in the black community, buying out newspaper ads to educate Harlem residents on their legal rights, voting rights and she called out police brutality against black people,” Shadow and Act reports.
Tim Story and Zero Gravity Management are developing a Nicole Asher script for the flick. The project is based on book “The World of Stephanie St. Clair: An Entrepreneur, Race Woman and Outlaw in the Early Twentieth Century Harlem” by Shirley Stewart.
Asher most recently worked on the Madame CJ Walker story, the limited series with Octavia Spencer and Lebron James.
Cicely Tyson portrayed St. Clair in the 1997 movie Hoodlum.