|
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. Dunne was born in Hartford, Connecticut to Dorothy Frances (Burns) and Richard Edwin Dunne, a "well to do" Irish Catholic family. The son of a well-known physician who graduated from Harvard Medical School, Dominick Dunne attended the Kingswood School, now the Kingswood-Oxford School in West Hartford. As a child, Dunne was known as `Nicky.` He is the older brother of John Gregory Dunne (died 2003), an American novelist, journalist, screenwriter and literary critic, who was the husband of author Joan Didion.
From April 1954-1965, Dunne was married to ranching heiress Ellen Griffin. They had three children, Griffin, Dominique (who was murdered in 1982), and Alexander. From Griffin he has granddaughter Hannah Dunne. In September 2008, Dunne disclosed that he was undergoing treatment for bladder cancer After Dominick`s studies at 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 actress daughter, Dominique Dunne, 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 on a regular basis 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. In November 2006, he was sued again by Condit for comments made about the former politician on Larry King Live on CNN but the suit was tossed out of court.
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. Dunne died on August 26, 2009 at his home in Manhattan from bladder cancer.
Biography Credit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominick_Dunne
|
She was a gallant soul. I knew her from way back because Gig Young was a good friend of mine. I always think of her sitting in the Polo Lounge of the Beverly Hills Hotel, holding court, saying hello to people, being funny.
Super Star Sites
Profile
Married
Relationship
"Encounter"
Comments
Continue the Conversation