''Two Mothers for Zachary'' is a 1996

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

directed by

Peter Werner Peter H. Werner (born January 17, 1947, in New York City, New York (state), New York) is an American film director, film and television director. Biography Werner was born to a American Jews, Jewish family, in New York City, New York, one of t ...

and starring

Valerie Bertinelli Valerie Anne Bertinelli (born April 23, 1960) is an American actress. She first achieved recognition as a child actress, portraying Barbara Cooper Royer on the sitcom ''One Day at a Time (1975 TV series), One Day at a Time'' (1975–1984) for w ...

and

Vanessa Redgrave Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, two ...

. It is a true story adaptation of the ''

Bottoms v. Bottoms ''Bottoms v. Bottoms'', 457 S.E.2d 102 (Va. 1995), was a landmark child custody case in Virginia that awarded custody of the child to the grandmother instead of the mother, primarily because the mother was a lesbian. In April 1993, Kay Bottoms s ...

'' family custody battle brought by a mother who disapproves of her daughter's lesbianism and the impact on her grandchild. It premiered on 22 September 1996. It was awarded a

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their live ...

for Outstanding Made for TV Movie.Awards for Two Mothers for Zachary
IMDB. Retrieved on 14 September 2010

Premise

Nancy (Redgrave) disapproves of her daughter, Jody Ann's (Bertinelli) lesbianism and resolves to seek custody of her grandson, Zachary. However, a

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

court grants custody of the boy to Nancy and now Jody is desperate to regain her son.

Cast

as Jody Ann Shaffell *

as Nancy Shaffell *

Colleen Flynn Colleen Flynn is an American actress. In 1995, Flynn earned a nomination for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in an episode "Love's Labor Lost" of NBC medical drama '' ER''. Flynn was regul ...

as Maggie Fergus * Brian McGuire as Dwayne *

Kim Dickens Kimberly Jan Dickens (born June 18, 1965) is an American actress. Her film debut was in the 1995 comedy film ''Palookaville (film), Palookaville''. Dickens played lead roles in the films ''Truth or Consequences, N.M. (film), Truth or Consequences ...

as Jan *

Marietta Marich Marietta Marich (; née Cox; April 5, 1930 – September 28, 2017) was an American actress, singer, writer, stage director, and television host. Born in Dallas, Texas, Marich became a prominent stage actress in Houston beginning in the 1950s. Sh ...

as Melba *

Marco Perella Marco Perella (born May 18, 1949)Texas Birth Index, Harris County, May 18, 1949. is an American character actor and author, who has played a variety of small roles in motion pictures shot in Texas. He is best known for his role in '' Boyhood'' (2 ...

as Reporter 2 *

James Gammon James Richard Gammon (April 20, 1940 – July 16, 2010) was an American actor, known for playing grizzled "good ol' boy" types in numerous films and television series. Gammon portrayed Lou Brown, the manager in the movies '' Major League'' and ' ...

as Chalmer *Adam and Aaron Rehmann as Zachary

Production

Although the film is based on Sharon Bottoms's real-life custody battle, characters were renamed for the adaptation. Bertinelli explained, "I'm so much older than Sharon Bottoms is. But once we changed her name to Jody Ann Shaffell, it became much easier to see myself playing this role. I didn't have to play Sharon Bottoms but my interpretation of what would happen to a woman in that situation." Bertinelli had previously learned of the ''Bottoms'' case years earlier when she appeared on the same edition of ''

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angeles s ...

'' with Sharon Bottoms. Bottoms was appearing with her lawyer and argued her case against a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

leader. Instead of concentrating on what she was intending to promote, Bertinelli became engaged in the previous debate and criticized the views of the religious representative.Valerie Bertinelli
The Advocate. 17 September 1996

References

External links

* {{GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Movie or Limited Series 1996 drama films 1996 LGBT-related films 1996 films 1996 television films American LGBT-related films Films directed by Peter Werner Child custody Films set in Virginia LGBT in Virginia LGBT-related drama films LGBT-related films based on actual events American drama television films 1990s American films