Entertainment Legend and Academy Award(R) Winner Shirley MacLaine ('Terms of Endearment')...

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.
SOURCE Lifetime Television

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