
Her voice would not be silenced.
Billie Holiday spent much of her career being adored by fans. In the 1940s, the government targeted Holiday in a growing effort to racialize the war on drugs, ultimately aiming to stop her from singing her controversial ballad, "Strange Fruit."
- 6.5
- 2021
- Released
- 2h 11m

Andra Day
Billie Holiday
Trevante Rhodes
Jimmy Fletcher
Garrett Hedlund
Harry Anslinger
Leslie Jordan
Reginald Lord Devine
Miss Lawrence
Miss Freddy
Adriane Lenox
Mrs. Fletcher
Natasha Lyonne
Tallulah Bankhead
Rob Morgan
Louis McKay
Da'Vine Joy Randolph
Roslyn
Evan Ross
Agent Williams
Tyler James Williams
Lester 'Prez' Young
Tone Bell
John Levy
Blake DeLong
Agent Carter
Dana Gourrier
Sadie
Melvin Gregg
Joe Guy
Erik LaRay Harvey
James Monroe
Ray Shell
Carl The Drummer
Dusan Dukic
Joe Glaser
Koumba Ball
Lucille
Kate MacLellan
Working Class Woman
Kwasi Songui
Working Class Man
Letitia Brookes
Velva
Warren 'Slim' Williams
Bobby Tucker
Orville Thompson
Auditioning Sax Player
Jeff Corbett
Congressman JP Thomas
Damian Joseph Quinn
Roy Cohn
Robert Alan Beuth
Congressman J. Rankin
Randy Davison
Senator J. McCarthy
Kevin Hanchard
Louis Armstrong
Jono Townsend
Guitar Player
Morgan Moore
Bass Player
Arlen John Bonnar
Priest
Furly Mac
Elevator Attendant
Andrew Zadel
Agent McDermott
Tristan D. Lalla
Mr. Jordon Green
Alex Bisping
Bailiff #1
Don Anderson
Judge Ganey
Amanda Strawn
Gloria
Charleine Charles
Shirley
Sylvia Stewart
Stink-Eye Inmate
Daphné Archer
Jail Dishwasher
Anita Lee
Fighting Woman
Tony Chao
Fighting Man
Linda Sauvé
Receptionist
Alain Goulem
Ed Fishman
Ramona Clyke
Miss Mona
Laurent Beaudin
Ed Fishman's Assistant
Alika Autran
Martha Anslinger
Kim Feeney
Lady In Audience
Diana Carmen Ratycz
Carnegie Fan
Richard Jutras
Uptown Restaurant Maître d'
Jonathan Higgins
Defense Lawyer Erlich
Marc Essertaize
Bailiff #2
Nealla Gordon
Courthouse Reporter
Christopher Ricardo Price
Drug Dealer
Taryn Brown
Billie (10 years old)
Zuri Hawkins
Little Girl in Brothel
Elizabeth Eveillard
Prostitute 1923
Clauter Alexandre
Husband
Penande Estime
Hanging Woman
Elikya Tupula
Young Daughter
Nefertari Zanyah Brewster-Griffith
Older Daughter
Joe Cobden
George Jessel
Ronda Louis-Jeune
Jimmy's Girlfriend
Maxime Paradis
Producer
Sarah Levesque
Nurse
Donald Fullilove
Additional Voices (voice)









Released
en
- #war on drugs
- #new orleans, louisiana
- #jazz singer or musician
- #ban from profession
- #biography
- #surveillance
- #heroin addiction
- #1940s
- #1950s
- #fbi agent
Reviews
In a scene from The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Billie (Andra Day) is about to sing “Strange Fruit” in concert, which Harry J. Anslinger (Garrett Hedlund), the first commissioner of the US Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics, had forbidden her to do. Behind the audience is a row of uniformed policemen. Billie goes straight for the first verse (even though “Strange Fruit” actual
Jazz musician Billie Holiday is a legend; one of the greatest musicians of all time. Most music fans can name their favorite Holiday tune, but none caused more controversy than her song about black lynching, “Strange Fruit.” Screenwriter Suzan-Lori Parks builds her story (based on the novel by Johann Hari) around the song, one that many people claimed had un-American lyrics and provoked people “in
If you enjoy reading my Spoiler-Free reviews, please follow my blog @ https://www.msbreviews.com Even though I love listening to jazz, I've never been to a concert or a club specific to this type of music. Following this train of thought, I didn't know anything about Billie Holiday's real-life story and her tremendous impact not only in the respective musical genre but also in the fight agains











