Dominick Dunne

Dominick Dunne (born October 29, 1925, in Hartford, Connecticut) is an American writer and investigative journalist whose subjects frequently hinge on the ways high society interacts with the judiciary system. He was a producer in Hollywood and is also known from his frequent appearances on television. He is the older brother of John Gregory Dunne, an American novelist, screenwriter and literary critic, who was the husband of author Joan Didion.

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, he left Hollywood, moved to Oregon, 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 Justice: A Father's Account of the Trial of his Daughter's Killer.

This poignant report showed his ability to penetrate the outward screen of the court proceedings giving insights into the complex stories of victims and perpetrators and the curious working of the law. He went on to write articles for Vanity Fair, books, and eventually issued a TV series, Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege, and Justice on CourtTV to dissect justice and injustice at their intersection with the activities of 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.

Today, Dunne lives in Connecticut. While it was rumored in early 2006 that he intended to cease writing for Vanity Fair magazine, Dunne stated the opposite in an 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 (E. Graydon Carter) and I are close and he's a great editor and I'm thrilled to be there."

Dunne's family includes his son Griffin Dunne, and the aforementioned Dominique Dunne, John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion.

Creative works

Novels

• The Winners (1982)
• The Two Mrs Grenvilles (1985)
• People Like Us (1988)
• An Inconvenient Woman (1990)
• A Season in Purgatory (1993)
• Another City Not My Own: A Novel in the Form of a Memoir (1997)

Nonfiction books

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

Collections

• Fatal Charms: And Other Tales of Today (1987)
• The Mansions of Limbo

Films

• The Boys in the Band (as executive producer)
• The Panic in Needle Park (as producer)

TV Series

• Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege, and Justice

Celebrity journalism and photographs

Dunne has frequently socialized with, authored journalism 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 quoted Dennis Hopper about Dunne: "I wish I had a picture of myself with Allen Ginsberg and Norman Mailer."

External links

• Dominick Dunne's Self-narrated Audiobook, Justice (Recorded Books, LLC 2001)
• Dominick Dunne at IMDb
• Condit settlement
• Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege, and Justicessssssssssss