Ever since the trailer of Lady in the Lake was released on social media, fans around the world were eagerly waiting for the series to be released. Finally, on July 19, 2024, Lady in the Lake was released on Apple TV+ and the series is expectedly getting massive praise from fans and critics on social media. Created by Alma Har'el, Lady in the Lake follows the chilling story of a forgotten woman set in 1960s Baltimore. To be precise, Apple TV+ Lady in the Lake is a new mini-series that offers a fictionalized take on two unrelated 1969 cases: the mysterious disappearance of bartender Shirley Lee Parker and the murder of 11-year-old Esther Lebowitz. Since you have landed on this page, True Scoop News assumes that you have already watched the miniseries on Aopple TV+ and are wondering about Lady in the Lake's True Story & real-life Cleo Johnson who is a major character in the series.
Who was the real-life Cleo Johnson?
Cleo Johnson is played by actress Moses Ingram. As per reports, Cleo Johnson's real-life character's name is Shirley Lee Widgeon Parker. Shirley Lee Widgeon Parker generated very low media attention even though her body was found on June 2, 1969, in a fountain at Druid Lake. Real-life Cleo Johnson- Shirley Lee Widgeon Parker aka Shirley Parker went missing in April 1969 and two months later,
On June 2, 1969, a crew was dispatched to the Druid Hill Park Reservoir to replace burned out lights on the fountain in the middle of the lake. While replacing the lights, one of the crew members climbed the ladder into the fountain, where he discovered the body of a badly decomposed woman.
Parker was last seen on April 23 after she went out with some friends. Later that night she discovered, her boyfriend at the time, Arno West, had another girlfriend and he had spent Parker’s paycheck to buy the other woman clothes.
Parker and West were reportedly heard having a “heated argument” on the front steps of his mother’s home on Gwynns Falls Parkway. Parker had stormed there after she learned about the other woman.
Parker & West went to another bar and had more drinks. Thereafter, when West was driving Parker to her home, she asked him to stop at Druid Hill Park. West told police he became worried and began following Parker when he saw her climbing over the 15 foot gate to the lake. After he handed her purse, and persuaded her to not swim in the lake, West told police that he drove her home that night. Parker’s mother informed the Police she never came home. As per reports, West eventually failed a lie detector test but was released because no actual crime had been committed.
The case remains a mystery.
About Lady in the Lake
Talking about Lady in the Lake's character guide, Natalie Portman plays Maddie Schwartz, Moses Ingram as Cleo Johnson, Y’lan Noel as Ferdie Platt, Brett Gelman as Milton Schwartz, Byron Bowers as Slappy Johnson, Noah Jupe as Seth Schwartz, Josiah Cross as Reggie Robinson, and more in the leading roles.
The official synopsis of the series reads, "When the disappearance of a young girl grips the city of Baltimore on Thanksgiving 1966, the lives of two women converge on a fatal collision course. Maddie Schwartz (Natalie Portman) is a Jewish housewife seeking to shed a secret past and reinvent herself as an investigative journalist, and Cleo Johnson (Moses Ingram) is a mother navigating the political underbelly of Black Baltimore while struggling to provide for her family. Their disparate lives seem parallel at first, but when Maddie becomes fixated on Cleo’s mystifying death, a chasm opens that puts everyone around them in danger. From visionary director Alma Har’el, “Lady in the Lake” emerges as a feverish noir thriller and an unexpected tale of the price women pay for their dreams."