Dominick Dunne

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Dominick Dunne (born October 29, 1925) is an American writer and investigative journalist whose subjects frequently hinge on the ways high society interacts with the judicial system. He was a producer in Hollywood and is also known from his frequent appearances on television. He is the brother of author John Gregory Dunne and his sister-in-law is the writer Joan Didion. He is the father of actors Griffin Dunne and his murdered sister Dominique Dunne.

In September 2008, Dunne disclosed that he was undergoing treatment for bladder cancer.[1]

Contents

[edit] Career

After Dunne's studies at Kingswood-Oxford, Williams College and service in World War II, including the battle of Metz, he moved to New York, then to Hollywood, where he directed Playhouse 90 and became vice-president of Four Star Pictures. He hobnobbed with the rich and the famous of those days. In 1979, beset with problems of addiction, Dunne left Hollywood and moved to rural Oregon, where he says he dealt with his personal demons and wrote his first book, The Winners.

In November 1982, his daughter, Dominique Dunne, best known for her part in Poltergeist, was murdered. Dunne attended the trial of her murderer (John Thomas Sweeney) and subsequently wrote the article Justice: A Father's Account of the Trial of his Daughter's Killer for Vanity Fair.

Dunne went on to write for Vanity Fair regularly and fictionalized several real-life events, such as the murders of Alfred Bloomingdale's mistress Vicki Morgan and banking heir William Woodward, Jr., for best-selling books. He eventually hosted the TV series Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege, and Justice on CourtTV (later truTV), in which he discussed justice and injustice and their intersection with celebrities. Famous trials he covered include those of O.J. Simpson, Claus von Bulow, Michael Skakel, William Kennedy Smith, and the Menendez brothers.

In 2005, Gary Condit won an undisclosed amount of money and an apology from Dunne, who had earlier implicated him in the disappearance of Chandra Levy, an intern from his district with whom he had been carrying on an affair. In November 2006, he was sued again by Condit for comments made about the former politician on Larry King Live on CNN[2] but the suit was tossed out of court.

While it was rumored in early 2006 that he intended to cease writing for Vanity Fair, Dunne stated the opposite in a February 4, 2006 interview with talk show host Larry King. "Oh, I am at Vanity Fair. I'll be in the next issue and the issue after that. We went through, you know, a difficult period. That happens in long relationships and, you know, you either work your way through them or you get a divorce. And I didn't want a divorce and we've worked our way through and Graydon and I are close and he's a great editor and I'm thrilled to be there. "[3]

In 2008, at age 82, Dunne traveled from New York to Las Vegas to cover O.J. Simpson's trial on charges of kidnapping and armed robbery for Vanity Fair magazine, claiming it would be his last. During the trial, an unidentified woman approached and kissed him, causing her to be ejected from the courtroom. On September 22, 2008, Dunne complained of intense pain and was taken by ambulance to Valley Hospital.[4]

[edit] Celebrity journalism and photographs

Dunne has frequently socialized with, written about, and been photographed with celebrities. A Salon.com review of his memoir, The Way We Lived Then, recounted how Dunne appeared at a wedding reception for Dennis Hopper. Sean Elder, the author of the review, wrote: "But in the midst of it all there was one man who was getting what ceramic artist Ron Nagle would call 'the full cheese,' one guy everyone gravitated toward and paid obeisance to." That individual was Dunne, who mixed easily with artists, actors and writers present at the function. The final line of the review about Dunne quoted Dennis Hopper wishing he "had a picture of myself with Allen Ginsberg and Norman Mailer."[5]

[edit] Novels

[edit] Nonfiction books

  • The Way We Lived Then: Recollections of a Well-known Name Dropper (1999)
  • Justice: Crimes, Trials, And Punishments (2001)

[edit] Collections

[edit] Films (as producer)

[edit] TV series

[edit] Biographical Film

Dunne's adventures in Hollywood as an outcast, top-selling author and reporter, were catalogued in the release of Dominick Dunne: After the Party. This film documents his successes and tribulations as a big name in the entertainment industry. In the film, Dunne reflects on his past as a World War II Veteran, falling in love and raising a family, his climb and fall as a Hollywood producer, and his epic comeback as a writer.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Ailing Writer Says O.J. Trial To Be Last". reviewjournal.com. 2008-09-22. http://www.lvrj.com/news/28908409.html. Retrieved on 2008-09-22. 
  2. ^ "Gary Condit suing Dominick Dunne again". United Press International. 2006-11-15. http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Entertainment/20061115-125353-1692r/. Retrieved on 2007-03-31. 
  3. ^ "Transcripts: CNN Larry King Live". CNN.com. 2006-02-04. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0602/04/lkl.01.html. Retrieved on 2007-03-31. 
  4. ^ "Crime Writer Rushed From O.J. Trial To Hospital". CNN.com. 2008-09-22. http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/09/22/oj.dunne.hospitalized/index.html. Retrieved on 2008-09-22. 
  5. ^ Sean Elder (1999-10-13). "A Dunne deal". Salon.com. http://www.salon.com/media/feature/1999/10/13/dunne/index.html. Retrieved on 2007-03-31. 
  6. ^ "Dominick Dunne - producer". IMDb. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0242839/#producer. Retrieved on 2009-01-01. 

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominick_Dunne"
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