The story of the twilight years of tobacco billionairess Doris Duke who develops an unlikely friendship with her butler, Bernard Lafferty.
Sympathetic look loosely based on the relationship between tobacco heiress, Doris Duke (1912-1993) - think Duke University - and her shy butler, Bernard Lafferty. The icy and mercurial Duke fires her butler for serving a chilled cantaloupe; the agency sends Lafferty, formerly household staff to Liz Taylor and to Peggy Lee. He's an alcoholic, fresh out of rehab. He gradually becomes Duke's gay alter ego as she romps through life sleeping with young men, making shrewd decisions quickly, managing her fortune and orchids as Lafferty manages her New Jersey estate. With a wine cellar to die for, Bernard falls off the wagon. Can he pull himself together when Doris needs him?—<[email protected]>
Tobacco heiress and horticulturist Doris Duke hires Bernard Lafferty, an Irish butler (and former household staff to Liz Taylor and to Peggy Lee) to manage her New Jersey home. As time passes they grow close and he begins to travel with her. His role in her life expands and their relationship becomes emotionally close if somewhat dysfunctional. Her lawyers question his motives, but he is loyal and refuses their payoff. In her long absences he is given control over her estates. His alcoholism returns, hindering his performance and she sends him to rehab at her own expense. Alone, she has a stroke and he returns to nurse her. She dies and names him executor of her personal estate; he is subject to many accusations. He dies three years later, leaving all he has to the Doris Duke foundation.
