Dennis McDougal

Dennis McDougal
Born	(1947-11-25) November 25, 1947 Pasadena, California
Occupation	Novelist, journalist, biographer, television producer
Genre	non-fiction, fiction, biography
Website
http://www.dennismcdougal.com/

Dennis McDougal (born November 25, 1947) is an American author and journalist. He has worked for a variety of publications and has earned over 50 honors, including the National Headliner Award and several Associated Press awards. He has been called "L.A.'s No. 1 muckraker." His book, Privileged Son, was described as "illuminating reading for anyone interested in 20th-century Los Angeles or modern-day newspapering" by The New York Times. A native of Southern California, he lives near Memphis, Tennessee.

Early life and education

McDougal is originally from Pasadena, California. After attending public school in the Los Angeles suburb of Lynwood, he received a bachelor of arts degree in English from University of California, Los Angeles, where he later earned a masters degree in journalism.

Military service

From 1967 to 1969, McDougal was on active duty with the Naval Reserves. He served aboard the U.S.S. Annapolis in the South China Sea. In an interview with blogger Luke Ford, McDougal recalls his experience, much of which formed the basis for his first fiction novel The Candlestickmaker, published in 2011:

...The captain of our ship had a predilection for taking the recruiting slogan – join the Navy and see the world – seriously. We’d go out and do our 30–60 days tossing messages back and forth from the mainland to Hawaii and then we’d go on R&R. We did that a lot. He took us all over the Far East.

Career

Before turning his attention full-time to writing books in 1993, McDougal reported on the glitzy and occasionally corrupt aspects of Hollywood as a staff writer for 10 years at the Los Angeles Times, while previously working as a staff writer for The Riverside Press-Enterprise (1973–77) and The Long Beach Press-Telegram (1977–1981).

He was later awarded a John S. Knight Fellowship at Stanford University and spent a year teaching and studying in Japan and Canada, as well as at the Palo Alto campus.

Between books, McDougal was a producer for CNN during the O.J. Simpson trial, where he was responsible for tracking down witnesses, relatives, and acquaintances for interviews as well as documents and public records for use on camera as the trial unfolded.

A longtime contributor to TV Guide, McDougal's last piece covered the murderous saga of actor Robert Blake and Bonny Lee Bakley.

Books

As of 2011, McDougal was the author of 10 books:

• Angel of Darkness (1991) A cult classic about Southern California serial murderer Randy Kraft, the mild-mannered computer whiz by day and lust killer at night, who holds the dubious distinction of being one of the most prolific murderers (approximately 67 victims) in modern U.S. history.[1]

• Fatal Subtraction: How Hollywood Really Does Business (with Pierce O'Donnell) (1992) An inside look at Hollywood's landmark Art Buchwald v. Paramount trial, the "Coming To America" lawsuit that unveiled Hollywood's sleazy accounting practices and changed forever the way studios conduct business.[2]

• In The Best of Families (1994) The "Best Fact Crime" in the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award nominee, this book recounts the descent into murderous madness of the family of Roy Miller, Ronald Reagan's attorney. [3]

• Mother's Day (1998) The best-selling saga of a Sacramento mother of six who enticed two of her sons into a monstrous plot to torture and murder her own two daughters.[4]

• The Last Mogul (1998) An unauthorized biography of Lew Wasserman, a Hollywood talent agent who later became head of Universal Studios. In his book, McDougal accuses Wasserman of mob ties, monopolistic practices and alludes to Ronald Reagan illegally favoring Wasserman. [5]

• The Yosemite Murders (2000) In Yosemite National Park, Cary Stayner commits murder after murder as law enforcement scrambles to decipher anything that will save hapless vacationers.[6]

• Privileged Son (2001) A biography of Los Angeles Times publisher Otis Chandler, and winner of the Fordham University Anne M. Sperber Award as the nation's best media biography in 2002 Privileged Son was later adapted into a PBS American experience documentary titled Inventing L.A.: The Chandlers and Their Times. In 2007, McDougal discussed his book on NPR's Morning Edition. [7]

• Blood Cold (with Mary Murphy) (2002) Former child actor, acclaimed star of In Cold Blood and iconic ‘70s TV detective in Baretta, Robert Blake met Bonny Lee Bakley at a party and slept with her the same night. A Hollywood parasite and con artist known for elaborate Internet sex scams and a shameless pursuit of money and fame, Bonny wanted to marry a star and by the late ‘90s, Blake was her target: a troubled has-been coasting on the fumes of past success. Six months after their quickie wedding, Bonny was shot to death in a parked car on a dark Hollywood side street, and the No. 1 suspect was Baretta.[8]

• Five Easy Decades: How Jack Nicholson Became the Biggest Movie Star in Modern Times (2008) A biography about the life of American film star Jack Nicholson. [9]

• The Candlestickmaker (2011) His most recent book and a work of fiction, based on McDougal's own experiences serving in the US Navy during the Vietnam War. [10]

Works in progress

• Bob Dylan: The Biography (2014) Forthcoming work that will detail the life of the folk rock legend Bob Dylan.

External links

• Official Website
• Interview with Luke Ford
• Interview on Good Morning Memphis
• From L.A. to the World: Hollywood in Radio and in Press Panel Member
• Morning Edition Interview