Who was Dominick Dunne? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Dominick John Dunne

Died At Age: 83

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Ellen Griffin Dunne (m. 1954–1965)

father: Richard Edwin

mother: Dorothy Frances

children: Alexander Dunne, Dominique Dunne, Griffin Dunne

Born Country: United States

Writers Journalists

Died on: August 26, 2009

place of death: Manhattan, New York, United States

Cause of Death: Bladder Cancer

U.S. State: Connecticut

City: Hartford, Connecticut

More Facts

education: Williams College

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Childhood & Early Life

Born on October 29, 1925, in Hartford, Connecticut, USA, Dominick John Dunne was the second of six children of Dorothy Frances (née Burns) and Richard Edwin Dunne. His father was a renowned heart surgeon and a hospital chief of staff.

Their Irish Catholic family had money, and there were several authors among Dunne’s immediate relatives. One of his younger brothers was writer John Gregory Dunne, who later married journalist and author Joan Didion. Dunne had two other brothers, Richard Jr. and Stephen, and two sisters, Harriet and Virginia. As a child, he had a nickname, Nicky.

Dunne was educated at the Kingswood School and Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut. He served in the US Army during World War II and was granted a Bronze Star for his heroic actions at the Battle of Metz in 1944. After returning to America at the end of the war, Dunne obtained a degree from Williams College.

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Career

After relocating to New York, Dominick John Dunne worked as a stage manager for television for a while. Between 1957 and 1958, he assistant-produced two episodes of the CBS anthology series ‘Playhouse 90’.

In 1958, he produced an episode of ‘Studio One in Hollywood’. He also served as an executive producer on 20 episodes of the ABC series ‘Adventures in Paradise’. Furthermore, Dunne produced films like ‘The Panic in Needle Park’ (1971), ‘Play It as It Lays’ (1972), and ‘Ash Wednesday’ (1973).

In 1982, he put out ‘The Winners’, his first published book. ‘The Two Mrs. Grenvilles’ came out in 1985. Before its publication, Dunne had moved from Hollywood to rural Oregon in order to deal with his addiction issues.

In the ensuing years, he also published works like ‘An Inconvenient Woman’ (1990), ‘A Season in Purgatory’ (1993), and ‘Too Much Money’ (2009). Most of his novels were inspired by real-life events.

Dunne eventually came back to Hollywood as a screenwriter. He wrote television projects like the adaptation of ‘The Two Mrs. Grenvilles’ (1987) and ‘An Inconvenient Woman’ (1991). He also served as the host of ‘Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege, and Justice’ (2002-09).

In 2005, former California Congressman Gary Condit successfully sued Dunne after Dunne implied in a ‘Vanity Fair’ piece that Condit was involved in the disappearance of intern Chandra Levy. He obtained an undisclosed financial settlement and an apology from the other man.

In November 2006, after Dunne made some comments on Condit on ‘Larry King Live’ on CNN, the former politician filed another lawsuit against the writer. However, that one was eventually dismissed.

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Major Works

Not long after the relaunch of ‘Vanity Fair,’ Dunne began writing for the magazine in 1983. His early contributions were about the trial of his daughter’s killer. He developed intimate friendships with the rich and famous and had free access to the world of glamour. As a result, he became a chronicler of the great scandals of that time. From the O.J. Simpson trial to the Phil Spector trial, he wrote about several controversies.

Family & Personal Life

In 1954, Dunne exchanged wedding vows with actress and activist Ellen Beatriz Griffin. The couple had five children, of who two daughters passed away in infancy. They also had two sons, Alexander and Griffin, and a daughter, Dominique. Dominick and Ellen divorced in 1965.

His daughter, Dominique, was an actress. On November 4, 1982, her former boyfriend, John Sweeney, strangled her to death. Dunne wrote about the subsequent trial on ‘Vanity Fair.’ When Sweeney was acquitted of the second-degree murder charge in favour of voluntary manslaughter, he, like the rest of the family, was vocal about his disappointment.

Death & Legacy

In 1999, Dunne published his memoir, ‘The Way We Lived Then’, through Crown Publishing Group. A documentary was made on his interactions with Hollywood, titled ‘Dominick Dunne: After the Party’ (2008).

Dunne passed away on August 26, 2009, at his home in Manhattan, after a fight with bladder cancer. He was 83 years old at the time. He is interred at Cove Cemetery in Hadlyme, Connecticut. Following his death, his son Griffin spoke about his father to the media, confirming Dominick’s bisexuality and that he was celibate for two decades.

Dominick Dunne Biography