Judy Davis Stars in Lifetime Original Movie 'Dead End' (Working Title), Based on True Events of Notorious Mother-and-Son Con Artists Sante and Kenny Kimes

Adapted From the Book Dead End: The Crime Story of the Decade: Murder, Incest, and High-Tech Thievery by Jeanne King

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 7 -- Golden Globe(R) and Emmy(R) Award- winning actress Judy Davis ("The Reagans," "Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows") will star in the LIFETIME Original Movie "Dead End" (wt), a chilling drama based on true events of Sante Kimes and her son Kenny, whose string of cold-blooded murders in the late 1990s shocked the world, announced Trevor Walton, Senior Vice President, Original Movies. "Dead End" will premiere in 2006 on LIFETIME Television.

"The story of Sante and Kenneth Kimes is a fascinating and tragic tale of greed and manipulation," said Walton. "Their recent Los Angeles murder trial, during which Kenny broke free of his mother's psychological grip and testified against her, brought stunning new revelations to light. We are extremely excited to have the phenomenally talented and versatile Judy Davis bring this dark and complex real-life character to the screen."

Sante Kimes (Davis) dazzled everyone she met with her glamour and charisma. She also stole from them, conned them and, in the case of the unsuspecting housekeepers she smuggled from Mexico, enslaved and tortured them. But as cold and heartless as she could be, Sante had a deep, yet twisted, emotional bond with her son, Kenny. By the time he reached grade school age, Sante had begun instructing the sweet-natured boy in the art of subterfuge and petty larceny. After Sante served time for a slavery conviction, she persuaded her then teenaged son, against his better judgment, to join her and act as her "enforcer."

In the 1990s, mother and son crisscrossed the country building a fraudulent real-estate empire and leaving behind a trail of bodies, including those of a California businessman, a bank auditor from the Bahamas and a Manhattan socialite. As law enforcement officials closed in on them and began to untangle the duo's web of deceit and murder, some even more disturbing questions arose: How did Sante maintain total control of her son and convince him to do the unthinkable? And what justice would their victims receive?

Davis won an Emmy(R) Award and a Golden Globe(R) Award for her performance in "Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows." She also won an Emmy(R) in 1995 for her performance in "Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story." The talented Australian actress was also nominated for an Academy Award(R) for "Husbands & Wives" in 1993 and "A Passage to India" in 1985.

"Dead End" is produced by Grand Productions and Stonemade Entertainment in association with Fox Television Studios for LIFETIME Television. Gary Randall ("An Unexpected Love," LIFETIME's "Any Day Now") and Randy Stone ("Trevor," "Little Man Tate") will serve as executive producers. Richard Benjamin ("The Goodbye Girl," "Mermaids") directs from a teleplay written by Teena Booth ("The Appearance of Normal").

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. Launched in 1984, LIFETIME Television serves over 89 million households nationwide. In 1998, LIFETIME launched Lifetime Movie Network, now in more than 45 million homes, and in 2001, Lifetime Real Women. LIFETIME Television, Lifetime Movie Network, Lifetime Real Women, Lifetime Radio for Women, Lifetime Home Entertainment and Lifetime Online are part of LIFETIME Entertainment Services, a 50/50 joint venture of The Hearst Corporation and The Walt Disney Company.

SOURCE LIFETIME Television
Web Site: http://www.lifetimetv.com