Mother Knows Best is a true story Lifetime movie based on Lee Goldsmith. It aired on TV in 1997. The names and locations were all changed to keep the real story a secret. I found the basis of the movie in 2009 and interviewed the seemingly sweet grandmother who conspired to kill her son-in-law. The woman was a well-known Florida socialite named Lee Goldsmith. The real story happened in Boca Raton, according to Tampa Bay Times.
Mother Knows Best focuses on a controlling mother who wants the perfect life for her daughter and sets out to have her new son-in-law permanently removed from her life. Joanna Kerns was fierce in her role as Celeste.
Lee Goldsmith, a Florida socialite, hated her son-in-law so much that she hired someone to kill him. Goldsmith was anxious to find a suitable husband for her daughter, Arleen, so she placed an ad in the local paper: "Nice Jewish Girl Wants to Meet Nice Jewish Boy."
David Brownstein is the man who answered the ad. But, Goldsmith could not bear the thought of her daughter marrying Brownstein because he was not professional and didn’t look the part. An auto repairman was not impressive enough for Goldsmith's socialite friends, so she drew up a plan to ruin his life. According to court records, Goldsmith, did everything she could to break up the marriage. When that didn't work, she paid $10,000 and set up the Valentine’s Day murder of her daughter’s husband.
Goldsmith hired a contract murderer, or at least, that’s what she thought. $1,000 upfront, and then once the death was confirmed, she’d pay the remaining $9,000.
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| Mother Knows Best tells the story of Lee Goldsmith (Credit: Traciy Curry-Reyes) |
As Goldsmith laughed and talked to the hitman in her car, police caught her on tape as she handed over the payment. That's when they swarmed in and arrested her, charging her with solicitation of first-degree murder.
Lee Goldsmith was sentenced to 5 years in prison. The movie Mother Knows Best aired in April 1997.
On Easter Sunday morning of 2009, I spoke with Lee Goldsmith. By then, she was out of prison and ready to talk. I found her forthcoming, though when I asked her certain questions, she replied: "My husband took care of those things."
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| The real Celeste Cooper (Lee Goldsmith) Credit: Florida Times-Union |
Milton passed away a month before my call, Goldsmith told me. She said he died after fracturing his neck. He never recovered. At 86, Lee Goldsmith confided she feels “alone and despondent these days.” With her husband gone and her daughter no longer in her life, she told me she spent most of her days alone and no longer engages in fundraising.
Here are a few tidbits about the case.
The real Celeste was a lot older in real life. Producers made Kerns more blonde, pretty, and glamorous.
She was considered a socialite.
The Goldsmiths tried to hide their assets by plotting a divorce.
Arleen was not her biological daughter. She was adopted.
Arleen said living with her mother was a “living nightmare.” She played tricks on her throughout her entire life. There were strange falls, strange bruises, and other strange events that would come up when Arleen seemed happy.
The case was covered on hit shows like A Current Affair, Hard Copy, Inside Edition, and Crime Watch. Lee Goldsmith told her story on the Oprah Winfrey Show.
Arleen and her mother have never spoken again, or at least, up until my interview with her in 2009.
Arleen said prison wouldn’t be enough for her to feel safe. She said the only way she’d truly feel safe was if her mother was no longer alive. (Remember this is not her biological mother)
After Lee Goldsmith was released in 1995, she focused on living a quiet life. In 2009, she stated that she is estranged from her daughter and had no idea there was a movie
based on her case.
The murder-for-hire plot was never discussed, and she refers to it only as 'the incident.' She
said she would like to watch the movie though. She would like to be informed when the movie is on again.