Pam Slay, 818.755.2480 HALLMARK CHANNEL CELEBRATES
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Pam Slay, 818.755.2480 HALLMARK CHANNEL CELEBRATES MOTHER’S DAY, SUNDAY, MAY 11, WITH A HALLMARK CHANNEL ORIGINAL MOVIE EVENT, ‘AUDREY’S RAIN,’ STARRING TWO-TIME EMMY® AWARD-WINNING ACTRESS JEAN SMART Also Stars Two-Time Emmy® Award-Winner Carol Kane, Smart’s Real-Life Husband, Richard Gilliland and Kathleen Wilhoite Two-time Emmy® Award-winning actress Jean Smart (“Frasier,” 2000 and 2001) stars in “Audrey’s Rain,” a Hallmark Original Movie. “Audrey’s Rain” is the story of Audrey Walker (Smart), who has never given birth, but has been the parent to her (now adult) mentally challenged sister for years. Audrey is also raising her sister’s two young children after the sister commits suicide. Seems the only fun in Audrey’s life is spying on preachers and attending funerals of people she’s never known with her best friend, Missy (Kane). Life has taken everything that Audrey Walker has, and she is just plain bitter. But when Audrey’s long-lost love, Terry, (Smart’s real-life husband, Richard Gilliland) comes back into her life, she is forced to examine the pain and loneliness she contributes to all of their lives. In a series of dramatic revelations, the unconventional family becomes one, filled with love, in spite of itself. Ms. Smart, who won back-to-back Emmys for her guest-starring role in the comedy “Frasier” in 2000 and 2001, stars in this year’s box office favorite “Burning Down the House.” Smart also co-starred opposite Reese Witherspoon in last year’s theatrical blockbuster “Sweet Home Alabama.” For six years, Ms. Smart co-starred as (more) HALLMARK CHANNEL / “Audrey’s Rain” Exclusive Premiere Mother’s Day – Page 2 “Charlene Stillfield,” one of the core members of television’s “Designing Women.” Last season, Ms. Smart co-starred with Dennis Farina in the NBC comedy “The In-Laws.” Two-time Emmy® Award-winner Carol Kane (“Taxi,” 1982 and 1983) stars as Audrey’s best friend. Missy. In addition to her Emmy® Award-winning roles, Ms. Kane was also nominated for an Academy Award in 1976 for “Hester Street” and a Golden Globe Award for “Taxi” in 1983. In addition to making “Simka Dahblitz-Gravas” a voice of American culture in “Taxi,” the list of Ms. Kane’s work in film and television is voluminous. Ms. Smart’s husband in real-life, Richard Gilliland (“Take Me Home Again,” “Designing Women”), whom Smart met on the set of “Designing Women,” stars as Audrey’s long-lost love, Terry Lloyd. Mr. Gilliland played “J. D. Shackelford,” the boyfriend of “Designing Women” co-star Annie Potts for six years in the long-running comedy series. Mr. Gilliland also appeared in popular TV series and TV movies, including “The Waltons” and “thirtysomething.” Kathleen Wilhoite stars as mentally challenged sister, Marguerite. Ms. Wilhoite is both an actress and a musician. Her film credits range from "Murphy's Law," "The Morning After" and "Crossing Delancey" to "Lorenzo's Oil," "The Freshman" and "Pay It Forward." She has also appeared in the series "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd," "L.A. Law" and "ER" and she is the title voice in the animated series "Pepper Ann." She has guest-starred on "Will & Grace," "Judging Amy," "Third Watch," "24" and "Touched By an Angel." A singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter, Wilhoite has recorded several albums. “Audrey’s Rain” is a Hallmark Entertainment presentation of an Alpine Medien film, in association with Larry Levinson Productions. Executive producers are Robert Halmi, Jr. and Larry Levinson. Brian J. Gordon is producer. (more) HALLMARK CHANNEL / “Audrey’s Rain” Exclusive Premiere Mother’s Day – Page 3 Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., is a 24- hour basic cable network that provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment programming to a national audience of 75 million subscribers. The top tier program service is distributed through more than 5,300 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Hallmark Channel consistently ranks among the top 10 ad-supported cable networks in Total Day and Prime Time household ratings and is the nation’s leading network in providing family-friendly programming. Crown Media also operates a second 24-hour linear channel, Hallmark Movie Channel. For more information please visit: www.hallmarkchannelpress.com. .