Dominick Dunne
Dominick Dunne was an influential American writer and producer known for his coverage of high-profile crime cases and the depiction of glamorous yet troubled families in his literary works. Born to a surgeon and raised in a privileged environment, Dunne served in the U.S. Army during World War II before pursuing a degree at Williams College. He initially worked in television, including as a stage manager for "The Howdy Doody Show," and later moved into film production. His personal life was marked by tragedy, including the deaths of two infant daughters and the murder of his daughter Dominique, which deeply affected his writing direction.
After a period of personal struggles, including substance abuse and a divorce, Dunne shifted his focus towards journalism, contributing to notable publications such as Vanity Fair. His works, which blend fiction with real-life events, often explore the intersection of wealth, power, and crime, exemplified in novels like "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles" and "A Season in Purgatory." Dunne's sharp satirical style and keen observations on the social elite earned him respect in both the literary and entertainment communities, establishing him as a notable figure in the genre of crime writing and investigative journalism.
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Subject Terms
Dominick Dunne
- Born: October 29, 1925
- Birthplace: Hartford, Connecticut
- Died: August 26, 2009
- Place of death: New York, New York
Biography
Dominick Dunne is a “celebrity” writer who chronicled high profile crime cases and who fictionalized famous families during the last three decades of the twentieth century. Son of Richard E. Dunn (a surgeon) and his wife Dorothy, Dunne attended both Kingswood School in Hartford and a Catholic boarding school until being drafted by the U. S. Army in 1944. Dunne, a war hero during the Battle of the Bulge, was reportedly acknowledged for his heroism by a usually neglectful and abusive father. Dunne befriended the famous writers Gore Vidal and Anais Nin while at Williams College in Massachusetts, where he obtained a B.A. in 1949. After graduating from Williams, he became stage manager for The Howdy Doody Show, a successful children’s daily television program. In 1954, Dunne married Ellen Griffin, a Catholic socialite who possessed substantial wealth and social connections. Together they had five children (two sons and three daughters), but tragedy invaded the family with the death of the infant twin daughters and the murder of Dunne’s other daughter, Dominique, a budding actress.
The couple’s opulent and glittering lifestyle among the rich and famous provided immense fodder for Dunne’s later literary works—novels that would surface only after his work in television (for example, on the series Playhouse Ninety) and film (he was a producer for several major films) and after the dissolution of his marriage (caused, at least in part, by the couple’s intense social life, financial problems, and Dunne’s ensuing substance abuse). After his divorce in 1966, Dunne’s career faltered and he became a recluse for over six months, emerging free from his substance dependence and with a nearly completed novel The Winners in hand. The novel examines the social mores of the Hollywood set, and focuses on the powers that be in movie-making. It was based on actual figures and scandals in the industry. After his daughter’s murder in 1982, Dunne’s writing became, as he stated, “redirected” towards a scrutiny of the American justice system and its “show business” handling of high profile cases. Thus, Dunne began his career as a journalist and contributor to magazines (most notably Vanity Fair) and, as a result of these articles, was inspired to write both fictional accounts of real life crimes and nonfiction analyses of true-life crimes, culminating in collections such as Justice: Crimes, Trials, and Punishments (focused on the infamous O. J. Simpson trial) and Fatal Charms, and Other Tales of Today (including the Vicki Morgan murder, the Claus Von Bulow trials, and numerous “insider” views of various celebrities. Dunne had found his focus, which he described as writing about “the rich and powerful in a criminal situations.” Dunne’s fictionalized real-life crime stories took form in The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (his first bestseller), People Like Us (a series of high- society composites), An Inconvenient Woman (based on the Bloomingdale-Morgan affair), and A Season in Purgatory (which suggests a link between its fictionalized family and the Kennedys). Dunne became highly respected in the literary community for his investigative journalism and in the celebrity and filmmaking milieu for his insightful observations about power, injustice, and the monied class. Known for his satiric wit, fast-paced plots (real or imagined), and intense scrutiny of the interlocking aspects of character and crime, Dunne is a recognized master of the “Hollywood genre novel” and the investigative crime drama.