Alma Har’el adapted Laura Lippman’s 2019 novel Lady In The Lake into the miniseries of the same name on Apple TV+. The thriller miniseries premiered on July 19, 2024.
Natalie Portman plays the leading role of Maddie Schwartz, a woman who becomes involved in a homicide investigation while seeking a new life after leaving her long-standing marriage.
Highlights
- Esther Lebowitz’s parents were Abraham and Shulamis, and she grew up with her sisters, Simon and Chana, in Baltimore.
- She lost her life due to Wayne S. Young’s insanity and was sentenced to life in prison.
- Police officers found her lifeless body in a field near her home two days later.
Lady In The Lake is set in Baltimore in 1969 and consists of multiple episodes that explore the characters’ complexities and mystery.
It is based on the events of two unrelated demises, 11-year-old Esther Lebowitz and 33-year-old black woman Shirley Parker. Bianca Belle portrayed Esther, and Moses Ingram portrayed Shirley.
They seem unrelated cases, but both are rooted in tragedy. It deals with the theme of racism and misogyny in 1960s America.
The miniseries received an average rating of 6.7/10 from Rotten Tomatoes and 61 out of 100, indicating “generally favorable reviews” from Metacritic.
Esther Lebowitz’s Parents Were Overwhelmed By The Loss
Esther Lebowitz, the daughter of Abraham and Shulamis, was a fifth-grade student at Bais Yaakov School for Girls, a private Jewish school.
She grew up with her two siblings, Simon and Chana, in the northwestern corner of Baltimore, where the Orthodox Jewish community thrived.
On September 29, 1969, Rabbi Shaye Taub, the father of Esther’s friend, gave her a ride home from school and dropped her off at a drugstore near her house to buy school supplies.
Esther’s parents worried when she didn’t return home, and her mother called relatives and friends to see if they had heard from her daughter.
Sadly, she was never seen alive again, and Police officers found her lifeless body in a field near her home two days later. She lost her life from 17 blows from a hammer to the head.
23-year-old secular Jewish Wayne S. Young, the popular aquatic pet store with his mother, confessed to her demise.
Her mother, overwhelmed by the loss, decided to have her daughter’s body brought out of the ground. Her family moved to Israel and reburied her there.
Additional Information
- Lady In The Lake began filming in April 2020, but production paused in August 2022 after receiving threats of violence while filming in the city.
- Wayne S. Young was temporarily insane and sentenced to life in prison. He lost his life awaiting his retrial on December 13, 2015.
- Natalie Portman‘s grandmother hailed from Baltimore in 1960, allowing her to explore her lineage.
