Claim: Jane Fonda is an actress.

The Butler -LRB- full title Lee Daniels ' The Butler -RRB- is a 2013 American historical drama film directed and produced by Lee Daniels and written by Danny Strong . Loosely based on the real life of Eugene Allen , the film stars Forest Whitaker as Cecil Gaines , an African-American who is a witness of notable political and social events of the 20th century during his 34-year tenure serving as a White House butler . In addition to Whitaker , the film 's all-star cast also features Oprah Winfrey , John Cusack , Jane Fonda , Alex Pettyfer , Cuba Gooding Jr. , Terrence Howard , Lenny Kravitz , James Marsden , David Oyelowo , Vanessa Redgrave , Alan Rickman , Liev Schreiber , Robin Williams , Mariah Carey and Clarence Williams III . It was the last film produced by Laura Ziskin , who died in 2011 .   The film was theatrically released by The Weinstein Company on August 16 , 2013 , to mostly positive reviews from critics , grossing over $ 176 million worldwide against a budget of $ 30 million .