Apple TV+ sets premiere date for 'Lady in the Lake' miniseries

BALTIMORE — “Lady in the Lake,” a limited television series based on a bestselling novel by the Baltimore crime writer Laura Lippman, will premiere July 19 on Apple TV+.

The subscription TV streaming service announced Wednesday that the first two of seven episodes will drop July 19, to be followed by one episode every Friday through Aug. 23. The miniseries, which was shot in Baltimore from the spring through the fall of 2022, stars Natalie Portman and the Baltimore-born Moses Ingram, who graduated from Baltimore School for the Arts.

“Good morning, Baltimore.” Lippman posted Wednesday on the social media website X, formerly known as Twitter.

“I’ve been so busy today I’ve forgotten to post … the news that Lady in the Lake starts airing July 19.”

“Lady in the Lake” takes place in Baltimore in 1966 and was inspired by two real-life murders.

The body of Shirley Lee Wigeon Parker (Cleo Sherwood in the book) was found June 2, 1969, in a fountain at the center of Druid Lake. Parker was a 35-year-old barmaid at the then-famous Sphinx Club.

Just three months later, 11-year-old Esther Lebowitz (in the novel, she’s named Tessie Fine) was murdered in the basement of a popular local aquarium store. The girl’s badly bruised body was found two days later in a wooded area known as a local lover’s lane.

In Lippman’s novel, both deaths are investigated by Madeleine Schwartz (Maddie), a housewife turned reporter played by Portman in the TV adaptation. Maddie’s perspective is challenged and at times contradicted by the voice of Sherwood, who is portrayed by Ingram.

According to the Apple TV+ news release, “’Lady in the Lake’ emerges as a feverish noir thriller and an unexpected tale of the price women pay for their dreams.” The miniseries is directed by Alma Har’el.

Lippman, a former reporter for The Sun, has said that it was important to her that the filming take place in Baltimore and benefit her hometown.

The miniseries is expected to have an estimated economic impact of at least $47 million on Maryland, according to the Maryland Film Office. About 650 local residents were hired to work on the production.