Dermot Mulroney ('My Best Friend's Wedding'), Oscar(R) and Golden Globe(R) Nominated Actress Emily Watson ('Breaking The Waves') and Gretchen Mol ('The Notorious Bettie Paige'), Star in the Lifetime Original Movie Event, 'The Memory Keeper's Daughter,' Pre

Based on Kim Edwards' Best-Selling Novel of the Same Name, Movie is Directed By DGA Award Winner Mick Jackson ("Tuesdays With Morrie," "Live From Baghdad")

Popular Novel Has Spent Over Eighty Weeks on The New York Times Best Seller List and Named USA Today's "Book of the Year" for 2006

LOS ANGELES, March 6 -- Lifetime Television proudly premieres the Lifetime Original Movie Event, "The Memory Keeper's Daughter," starring film actors Dermot Mulroney ("My Best Friend's Wedding"), two-time Academy Award(R) and three-time Golden Globe(R) nominee Emily Watson ("Breaking the Waves") and Gretchen Mol ("The Notorious Bettie Paige"). Based on the runaway best-selling book by Kim Edwards of the same name, "The Memory Keeper's Daughter," premieres Saturday, April 12 at 9pm ET/PT on Lifetime Television. Encore airings will be presented on Sunday, April 13 and Monday, April 14 at 9pm (ET/PT) on each night.

Named by USA Today as its "Book of the Year" for 2006, the novel has spent over eighty weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list*, holding the number one spot for seven weeks.

In "The Memory Keeper's Daughter," a secret shapes the lives of two families over a quarter of a century, beginning in 1964. During a paralyzing winter storm, Dr. David Henry (Mulroney) is forced to deliver his own twin babies. With his wife Norah (Mol) under heavy sedation, he welcomes a healthy son, Paul, and a daughter, Phoebe who has Down syndrome. Hoping to spare his wife any heartache for having to care for a special needs child, David tells Norah their daughter died at birth and orders the nurse, Caroline (Watson), to place Phoebe in an institution. However, unable to abandon the newborn, the nurse secretly decides to raise Phoebe as her own in another city.

As years pass, the lives of the two families are in stark contrast to each other. David's overwhelming guilt surrounding his deception shatters the couple's once happy marriage as Norah mourns the loss of their child. David hides his shame behind the lens of a Memory Keeper camera, taking pictures of their lives without actually seeing what his actions are doing to his family. To deal with her pain, Norah finds solace in alcohol and the company of men other than her husband. All the while, Paul (Tyler Stentiford, age 13 & Jamie Spilchuk, ages 18-22) is caught in between his parents' broken marriage.

Meanwhile, Caroline's life changes in unexpected and rewarding ways as she relocated to another city to start a new beginning with Phoebe. She soon marries Al (Hugh Thompson), the trucker she met the night of Phoebe's birth, and finally has the love and family she's always yearned for. As different as their lives have become, the secret about Phoebe (Emma Colbert, age 6 & Krystal Nausbaum, ages 12-22) continues to bind David to Caroline as he struggles to keep the truth from Norah.

Other books previously adapted into popular movies by Lifetime include four titles from Nora Roberts including "Nora Roberts' Angels Fall" with Heather Locklear and "Nora Roberts' Montana Sky" with John Corbett; Jodi Picoult's "The Pact" and "Plain Truth"; Joyce Carol Oates' "We Were the Mulvaneys"; Luanne Rice's "Beach Girls"; and Sue Monk Kidd's "The Mermaid Chair."

"The Memory Keeper's Daughter" is produced by Jaffe/Braunstein Films in association with Sony Pictures Television for Lifetime Television. Howard Braunstein and Michael Jaffe (Lifetime's "Odd Girl Out," "Elvis") serve as executive producers. Mick Jackson ("Tuesdays with Morrie") directs from a teleplay by John Pielmeier ("Hitler: The Rise of Evil").

Sony Pictures Television is one of the television industry's leading content providers. SPT produces and distributes top-rated, award-winning programming in every genre, including series, movies and family entertainment, for network and cable television; first-run and off-network syndication; and digital distribution on the Internet and mobile devices. SPT also distributes all of the company's theatrical releases and library titles. SPT (http://www.sonypicturestelevision.com) is a Sony Pictures Entertainment company.

LIFETIME is the leader in women's television and one of the top-rated basic cable television networks. A diverse, multi-media company, LIFETIME is 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 http://www.myLifetime.com) are part of LIFETIME Entertainment Services, a 50/50 joint venture of The Hearst Corporation and The Walt Disney Company.

* Beginning the week of 9/23/07, the New York Times Best Seller List for paperback fiction books was divided into two lists, "Trade Fiction" and "Mass- Market Fiction." The Memory Keeper's Daughter is currently still on the best seller list, with over twenty weeks on the "Trade Fiction" list.

SOURCE Lifetime Television
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