10+ Series Characters You Might Not Know But Were Inspired By Real People

TV series have been so successful that it’s practically impossible not to be attracted to a particular character and the story he tells. And often not even the biggest fans know that many of these figures were based on real-life people. Their habits, appearance and lifestyle are just some of the traits the writers had to take into account when developing the personalities we see on screen.

O awesome.club made a selection of iconic characters, all inspired by real people. You will be surprised to discover that some of these figures, so peculiar and remarkable, actually existed!

The success created by Jenji Kohan shows the misadventures of Piper, a woman who is sentenced to spend 15 months in a federal women’s prison. Both the character and the plot were inspired by the life of Piper Kerman and her book, Orange Is the New Blackwhich narrates the events that occurred during his stay in prison after his conviction for money laundering.

Over the seasons, the script makes a lot of poetic license, but Kerman assures that some of the tragic facts shown in the series really were part of his experiences. The same happens with Alex, the protagonist’s crush. She really existed, but in real life she is called Nora.

The Countess, a character played by Lady Gaga, killed her victims to drink their blood. The fictional figure was inspired by Countess Elizabeth Báthory of Ecsed, who lived in the 16th century and murdered several young women. She would often ingest the blood of those she killed or use the liquid to bathe, as part of a ritual.

After murdering several people, mainly serfs and local peasants, Elizabeth was captured and sentenced. The crimes, motivated by the noblewoman’s obsession with beauty, earned her the nickname “Bloody Countess”. To this day, she is known as the woman who killed the most people in human history: 650 victims.

Vincent Palermo, also known as “Vinny Ocean”, was the head of the DeCavalcante Crime Family from New Jersey, United States. His troubled life served as inspiration for the creation of Tony, a character in the series Soprano family played by the late James Gandolfini.

After testifying before the authorities, Vincent Palermo entered a witness protection program and his whereabouts were ignored.

The famous Don Draper, from Mad Men: Making Truths, was inspired by George Lois, including his looks and talent. The man was one of those responsible for successful advertising campaigns for major brands such as Jiffy Lube, Xerox and MTV. The creation of the resounding campaign “I Want My MTV!” is attributed to him.

The fictional character was also inspired by Draper Daniels, a man who was connected to the advertising universe of the 1950s, and who became renowned working on important accounts. He is credited, for example, with the campaign of the “Marlboro Man”, the cowboy who was, for a long time, an icon of the cigarette brand.

The inspiration for the character Lucious Lyon, music mogul and former drug dealer, came partially from rapper Jay Z and his professional trajectory, according to Danny Strong, one of the creators of the series. We need to remember that Beyoncé’s husband left his criminal past behind to become one of the most respected artists and entrepreneurs in music today.

In addition to him, Joe Kennedy was also used as a basis for the development of the series. The patriarch of the famous political family inspired the creation of the entire Lyon family in the plot.

When creating Walter White, the producers of the successful series were inspired by two people. The first was Dicky Joe Jackson, a truck driver who led a quiet life until his son, just a few months old, was diagnosed with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, a rare autoimmune disease. As a result of the condition, the boy urgently needed a bone marrow transplant in order to survive. His sister was compatible, but the operation cost US$250,000 (just under R$1 million), money that the family unfortunately did not have.

After trying and failing to raise the money, Dicky decided to join the drug world to try to quickly get the necessary amount. That’s how he started transporting narcotics in his own truck. He even managed to scrape together the money for his son’s surgery, but was eventually arrested and sentenced to life in prison. As of August 3, 2016, the incumbent president has granted 214 historic court pardons. And Dicky was on the list. He was released from jail on December 1 of that same year.

But the show also drew inspiration from Walter White, a drug dealer who started his business in 1988. He spent years trading methamphetamines while hiding under the mask of an exemplary father. Very few people knew that at night he prepared the drug and distributed it with the help of an accomplice. After years of being hounded by the police, Walter was arrested in 2008 on charges of trafficking and producing methamphetamine. He was released in 2012, but was arrested again on the same charges, only in another state.

The series The Paranormal (Medium) has the character Allison DuBois as the protagonist. In the plot, she collaborates with the Phoenix City Attorney’s Office, using her gifts of communicating with the dead to help solve crimes. The show was based on a woman of the same name. Allison is a writer and political scientist and claims to have parapsychological powers.

The woman says she has been collaborating with US security authorities for years. her book, Don’t kiss them good-bye (“Don’t say goodbye to them”, in free translation), served as a source of inspiration for the series, starring actress Patricia Arquette.

Olivia Pope’s character is based on Judy Smith, an expert in crisis management. Although the woman’s trajectory has not been as generous as shown in the series, and although she has not had any affair with the president, Judy has indeed been linked to several scandals in real life through her company. She represented people like Monica Lewinsky, Wesley Snipes and Michael Vick. Judy Smith even held the post of assistant press secretary for a former American president.

Comedian Kenny Kramer spent six years living across the street from Larry David, creator of Seinfeld. During the show’s development, Larry concluded that his neighbor’s eccentric habits were too good to be left out of the show’s plot.

When the show began to take off, Kramer came up with a list of requirements so that his name could be used on the attraction. None were accepted.

The series’ plot revolves around the Shelbys, a family of gangsters who lived in Birmingham, England, during the year 1919. The attraction’s creators chose the “Peaky Blinders”, the name that baptizes the series, as inspiration for writing the story.

It was a criminal organization that emerged at the end of the 19th century and remained active in that city until the beginning of the 20th century, stirring British life at the time. The pack members were extremely violent, which contrasted with their way of dressing, as they were always very elegant.

The show, broadcast by HBO, was based on the experiences of Mark Wahlberg, the beginning of his professional career and the path he had to go through to become a renowned Hollywood star. The production not only shows what he lived, but also the group of friends that was by Mark’s side at the beginning of his career. It is worth mentioning that the actor himself participated in the project, working on the production.

While attending the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and working as an administrative clerk at the Royal Infirmary, Arthur Conan Doyle was under the tutelage of Dr. Joseph Bell. The relationship between student and teacher made Doyle feel inspired to create the famous detective Sherlock Holmes.

Although Bell was a physician, not a detective, he was known for analyzing patients’ backgrounds and determining the causes of illness based on observation and reflection. The Doctor. he was even able to randomly pick a person from the crowd and guess his occupation and recent activities, all based on the deduction. Like the fictional character, the doctor came to help the police as a forensic expert (as happened in the Ardlamont case).

In 2005, the series premiered on FOX bones, based on the life and novels of author Kathy Reichs. The creators decided to name the production after one of the protagonists of their works, Temperance “Bones” Brennan. In the story, she worked as a forensic anthropologist.

Important information is that Temperance is also a writer who publishes novels about a fictional forensic anthropologist, and the name given to the character is Kathy Reichs, after the original creator of the story portrayed by FOX. Even so, the series is not a faithful adaptation of the novels: there is a cast with other characters and the plot does not take place in the US state of North Carolina or in the Canadian city of Montreal, but in Washington, the US capital.

Do you know another fictional character that was based on a flesh and blood person? Would you like to see the story of a famous portrayed on screen? Comment!