Entertainment Legend and Academy Award(R) Winner Shirley MacLaine ('Terms of Endearment') Stars in the Three-Hour Lifetime Original Movie Event, 'Coco Chanel,' Premiering Saturday, September 13

Entertainment Legend and Academy Award(R) Winner Shirley MacLaine ('Terms of Endearment') Stars in the Three-Hour Lifetime Original Movie Event, 'Coco Chanel,' Premiering Saturday, September 13

GOLDEN GLOBE(R) NOMINEE MALCOLM MCDOWELL ('A CLOCKWORK ORANGE') AND NEWCOMER BARBORA BOBULOVA ('IN LOVE AND WAR') ALSO STAR

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Lifetime Television will premiere the three-hour Lifetime Original Movie Event, "Coco Chanel," the story of the celebrated, strong-willed haute couture giant who faced life with an unparalleled sense of style and panache. Six-time Academy Award(R) nominee and winner Shirley MacLaine ("Terms of Endearment," "In Her Shoes") stars in the title role of the rags-to-riches tale of the woman named by Time Magazine as one of the most influential people of the 20th century. The movie also stars Golden Globe(R) nominee Malcolm McDowell ("A Clockwork Orange," "Heroes") as Marc Bouchier, Chanel's confidante and business associate. Barbora Bobulova ("In Love and War," "La Spettaerice") portrays the pioneering couturier in her early days of love and loss. "Coco Chanel" premieres Saturday, September 13 at 8:00pm ET/PT on Lifetime Television.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080804/NYM114LOGO )

"Coco Chanel" joins Lifetime's roster of Lifetime Original Movies which are ranked # 1 in basic cable among W18+. Most recently, "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" was Lifetime's most-watched original movie since 1995, and both "The Tenth Circle" and "Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal" delivered more than three million viewers recently.

"Coco Chanel" begins in 1954, as Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel (MacLaine) suffers a professional and personal crisis. After a 15-year absence, she has re-opened her famed couture house with a comeback collection. Unfortunately, she and her business partner Marc Bouchier (McDowell) are shocked when the critics and customers reject it. In reflection, Coco recounts her humble beginnings and how similar feelings of abandonment by her father inspired her lifelong series of doomed love relationships that fueled her fiery ambition to succeed.

As told in flashbacks, Coco first develops her sewing skills as orphan in a convent school at the turn of the century. Propelled by her desire to make something of herself, Coco (Bobulova) becomes apprenticed to a dressmaker in Paris in 1912. There she meets nobleman Etienne Balsan (Sagamore Stevenin) who whisks her away to his country estate where she feels inspired by the beauty that surrounds her but also stifled by the strictures of fashionable society.

When Etienne refuses to marry Coco, she turns her devastation into determination to open her own shop with the help of Etienne's best friend, Boy Capel (Oliver Sitruk), and slowly begins to experience the successes of her entrepreneurial spirit. As WWI approaches, Coco's business flourishes as her revolutionary designs lead to her iconic jersey dresses, menswear-like suits, the addition of her logo on her clothing and the development of her signature perfume, Chanel No. 5. She also finally gives into her deep feelings for Boy but a tragic event dooms the star-crossed lovers. Coco heals her broken heart through hard work, building an unprecedented fashion empire.

As the years pass after WWII, Coco faces turbulence in her business and vows to redeem herself after the failed comeback collection. Within three seasons, Coco updates her classic designs, including the Chanel suit and enjoys a newfound respect. The Chanel suit becomes a status symbol for a new generation, proving that Coco and Chanel will never go out of style.

"Coco Chanel" is a Lux Vide SpA, Pampa Productions and Alchemy Television Group Production, in association with RAI, France 2 and Lifetime Networks. Carrie Stein ("White Nights"), Matilde Bernabei ("War and Peace") and Simon Vaughan ("Wallis & Edward") served as executive producers. Luca Bernabei ("Pope John Paul II") served as the producer and Andrea Asimow ("The Heartbreak Kid") was associate producer. Christian Duguay ("Human Trafficking," "Hitler: The Rise of Evil" and "Joan of Arc") directed from a script written by Enrico Medioli ("Once Upon a Time in America").

LIFETIME is a diverse, multi-media company, committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting women and their families. LIFETIME Television, Lifetime Movie Network, Lifetime Real Women and Lifetime Digital (including myLifetime.com) are part of LIFETIME Entertainment Services, a 50/50 joint venture of the Hearst Corporation and The Walt Disney Company.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080804/NYM114LOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Lifetime Television

CONTACT: Kannie Yu LaPack of Lifetime Television, +1-310-556-7582,
kyu@lifetimetv.com

Web site: http://www.lifetimetv.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: Photography is available on www.lifetimepress.com.

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