The True Stories That Inspired Apple TV+'s Lady In The Lake (2024)

WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Lady in the Lake.

Apple's thrilling new murder mystery series Lady in the Lake is inspired by true stories of disappearing persons. Based on the 2019 bestselling novel by Laura Lippman, Lady in the Lake stars Oscar winner Natalie Portman in her first-ever leading role in a television series. Although Lady in the Lake is a work of fiction, the concept developed by Lippman came from the real-life disappearances of two specific people. While the series doesn't exactly tell the stories of those people, they were the starting point for Lippman to begin writing what would become Lady in the Lake.

introduce Portman's Maddie Schwartz and Mose Ingram's Cleo Johnson, two women who are mysteriously connected. Portman leads an exceptional cast in Lady in the Lake which also includes rising star actress Ingram, future Superman David Corenswet, and Mikey Madison, the star of this year's Palme d'Or winner Anora by Sean Baker. Lady in the Lake has opened to positive reviews, earning a 77% on Rotten Tomatoes. Lady in the Lake's soundtrack is one of the most compelling aspects of the series featuring several original covers of classic funk and R&B songs from the 1960s.

Apple TV+'s Lady In The Lake Was Inspired By 2 Real-Life Murders

Lady in the Lake is still a work of fiction

Laura Lippman's Lady in the Lake was inspired by two real-life unrelated deaths that took place in 1969 Baltimore. The two real-life disappearances and deaths were a 35-year-old black woman named Shirly Parker, portrayed as Cleo Johnson in the series, and an 11-year-old Jewish girl named Esther Lebowitz, renamed Tessie Durst. Although these real-life disappearances and deaths inspired Lippman to write Lady in the Lake, they are not direct retellings of the actual true crime stories of these two people. As such, Lady in the Lake is a work of fiction, as in Portman's character Maddie Schwartz.

On the subject of how Lippman became inspired to write Lady in the Lake, the author told NPR, "I set out simply to write a novel about a woman who wanted to matter — who had these sort of restless, shapeless ambitions and needed to find a place to put them. ... The world in the mid-1960s was filled with women who were thinking, 'I'm not done. This can't be it. I think I would like to do something more with my life.'" She added, "Once I've decided that a real-life crime is going to be my inspiration, I do no more research about it. Because I don't really want to know about that crime."

The True Story Of Esther Lebowitz

Like Tessie, Lebowitz disappeared after entering a fish store

The death of Tessie Durst becomes the main focal point of the narrative throughout the first two episodes of Lady in the Lake. In real life, her name was Esther Lebowitz, an 11-year-old Jewish girl just like the fictional Tessie. Esther Lebowitz disappeared one day in 1969 and her body was found a few days later when Lippman was just 10. According to Baltimore Jewish Life, "Lebovitz had been bludgeoned in the head 17 times and authorities suspect that she had also been molested." Lebowitz, like Tessie, disappeared after entering a fish store. The owner of the store, Wayne Stephen Young, admitted to killing her.

After Young admitted to killing Esther Lebowitz in September 1969, he was convicted in 1970. He died in prison at the age of 70 in 2015. There are many clear parallels between Esther Lebowitz's mysterious disappearance and death and that of the fictional Tessie Durst. Esther Lebowitz's body, however, was found in a ditch, whereas the body of Tessie Durst was discovered at the edge of a lake by Maddie in Lady in the Lake episode 1. The killer, who is named Stephen in the series, was reportedly a trusted member of the community before gravel under Esther Lebowitz's fingernails linked her directly to his store.

The True Story Of Shirley Parker

A coroner couldn't determine a cause of death

Shirley Parker's body was discovered in June 1969 in a lake in Baltimore. Unfortunately, her body was so badly decomposed that a coroner wasn't able to determine a cause of death. It was reported that Parker had gotten into an argument with a man she had been dating named Arno West. She went over to his house to confront him about an alleged woman he was seeing on the night of April 23, 1969. Neighbors reported that they heard Parker and West arguing outside. This was the last known sighting of Shirley Parker before her body was discovered by an electrical crew. Cleo Johnson's body was dropped into the lake in the opening scene of Lady in the Lake.

Source: NPR

Lady in the Lake

Mystery

Drama

BASED ON THE NOVEL BY LAURA LIPPMAN, LADY OF THE LAKE IS A FICTIONAL DRAMA MINISERIES BASED AROUND THE REAL DISAPPEARANCES OF A YOUNG GIRL AND A WOMAN, COMING TO APPLE TV+. THE STORY CENTERS AROUND MADELINE SCHWARTZ, A DISSATISFIED 1960S HOUSEWIFE OF TWENTY YEARS WHO ENDS HER MARRIAGE IN SEARCH OF A LIFE WITH MEANING. MADELINE, BETTER KNOWN AS MADDIE, SEEKS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD - TO DO SO, SHE HEADS DOWN THE PATH OF AN INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST AFTER SOMEHOW HELPING THE BALTIMORE POLICE FIND THE BODY OF A YOUNG GIRL IN THE LAKE, CLEO SHERWOOD. LADY IN THE LAKE HAS NOIR ELEMENTS AND EXPLORES STATUS AND RACE IN A MURDER MYSTERY IN A DIFFERENT PERIOD. THE SERIES HAS BEEN DELAYED DUE TO AN INCIDENT IN LATE 2022 BUT IS STILL SET TO COME TO APPLE TV+ IN THE FUTURE.

Cast

Natalie Portman , Moses Ingram , Y'lan Noel , Mikey Madison , Brett Gelman , Noah Jupe

Release Date

July 19, 2024

Seasons

1

Writers

Laura Lippman

Main Genre

Drama

Production Company

Crazyrose, Bad Wolf America, Zusa, MountainA, Endeavor Content