Crown Media Gallery: 8/11
Lindsay Leese is pictured in this photo from Entertaining Christmas. She stars as Mayor Walsh in the movie. According to IMDB, Lindsay and her husband Lee Smart provide creative services for the entertainment industry in Canada with a business called SmartLeese Creative. They have one child. Before Lee, she was married to Tim Sims according to IMDB. Tim passed away in 1995, and Lindsay is now the founder an director of the Tim Sims Encouragement Fund, which was founded in 1995 in honor of Tim and his comedic performances.
Lindsay has many credits to her name, including Magical Christmas Ornaments, Great Great Great, Angels and Ornaments, Bomb Girls, Warehouse 13, American Gothic, Good God, Love You to Death, Time Warp Trio, This is Wonderland, Doc, Coast to Coast, Comfort and Joy, Queer as Folk, The 5th Quadrant, Club Land, Three to Tango, The Wrong Guy, Johnny & Clyde, Peeping Tom, Bonds of Love, and much more.
The complete cast for entertaining Christmas, as provided by Hallmark, includes Jodie Sweetin and Brendan Fehr, and Jane Moffat (Liz), Ana Araujo (Harper), Tamara Almeida (Anna), Marcia Bennett (Mrs. Deevers), Howard Hoover (James), Elizabeth Whitmere (Jane), Elva Mai Hoover (Martha), Nneka Elliott (Dana), Tova Epp (Brenda), Michael Hanrahan (Ben). Lindsay Leese (Mayor Walsh), Diana Coatsworth (Mary), Drew Nelson (Steve), Alison Palmer (Karen/Woman), Eileen Sword (Little Old Lady), Emily Stranges (Livingstone Fan), Alex Jyn-Li Cairns (Assistant), and Myles Dobson (Clerk).
Recap & Looking Ahead: The synopsis from Hallmark for Entertaining Christmas reads: "Claire is a cookbook author, crafting expert, and television personality whose name is synonymous with perfection. As she contemplates retirement, her daughter Kara (Sweetin) is poised to become the new face of the Livingston brand. The only trouble is, Kara can’t cook. Or sew. Or do any of the signature things her mother is known for. When a young girl posts a video online requesting Claire help welcome her deployed father home for Christmas, Kara is sent in her place in an effort to prove herself a worthy successor to the board of directors and win the job. As Kara does her best to make a good impression, she gets more than she bargained for when the young girl’s uncle Joe turns out to be a reporter for the local paper, looking for his next story."
Another synopsis from Hallmark has different name for the main characters. It's not clear which version is correct, since the different versions are both listed on Hallmark's website: "Candace, daughter of lifestyle mogul Liz Livingstone, has never lived up to her mother’s standards. When a young girl posts a video begging Liz to help arrange a special Christmas party, Candace is sent in her place. As she struggles to prove herself worthy of running the company, Candace meets — and begins falling for — the girl’s uncle, a reporter writing an expose on her."
And here's what's coming up on Hallmark's original Christmas movies: For December we have a lot more original, new movies. On Dec. 16 is A Gingerbread Romance, Dec. 22 is Jingle Around the Clock, Dec. 23 is Christmas Made to Order, Dec. 25 is When Calls the Heart Christmas, and Dec. 29 is A Midnight Kiss. Then in January, we'll have new Winterfest movies on Hallmark every Saturday night.