''Two Mothers for Zachary'' is a 1996

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

directed by

Peter Werner Peter H. Werner (January 17, 1947 – March 21, 2023) was an American film and television director. His 1976 film, '' In the Region of Ice'', won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. Biography Werner was born to a Jewish family, ...

and starring

Valerie Bertinelli Valerie Anne Bertinelli (born April 23, 1960) is an American actress and television personality. She began acting as a child actor, child and made her screen debut in a 1974 episode of Apple's Way, ''Apple's Way''. She gained wide recognition f ...

and

Vanessa Redgrave Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress. In her career spanning over six decades, she has garnered List of awards and nominations received by Vanessa Redgrave, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony A ...

. It is a true story adaptation of the '' Bottoms v. Bottoms'' family custody battle brought by a mother who disapproves of her daughter's

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

and the impact on her grandchild. It premiered on 22 September 1996. It was awarded a

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is a US accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding portrayals of LGBTQ people and the issues that affect their lives. In addition to film and television, the Awards ...

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. A

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

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 regu ...

as Maggie Fergus * Brian McGuire as Dwayne *

Kim Dickens Kim Dickens is an American actress. She is known for starring as Madison Clark in the AMC (TV channel), AMC horror drama series ''Fear the Walking Dead'' (2015–2018; 2022–2023), Joanie Stubbs in HBO's ''Deadwood (TV series), Deadwood'' (2004 ...

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 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 of fictionalized versions of the Cleve ...

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'' is an American television talk show broadcast by CNN from June 3, 1985 to December 16, 2010. Hosted by Larry King, it was the network's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Ma ...

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

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

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 LGBTQ-related films 1996 films 1996 television films American LGBTQ-related films Films directed by Peter Werner Child custody Films set in Virginia Lesbian culture in Virginia 1990s LGBTQ-related drama films LGBTQ-related films based on actual events American drama television films 1990s American films