Author Dominick Dunne, who wrote of shocking crimes among the rich and powerful via best-selling novels such as "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles," and Vanity Fair articles, died Wednesday. He was 83.
Dominick Dunne was also, of late, the host of the truTV show "Power, Privilege, and Justice." It covered much the same topics as his writing, focusing on crimes of the rich and powerful.
Griffin Dunne, actor-director and Dominick Dunne's son, said in a statement released by Vanity Fair magazine that his father had been battling bladder cancer. The cancer had not prevented Dunne from working and socializing, however, and truTV had released new episodes of his show. In those episodes, however, viewers could see Dunne was not very healthy.
Dunne wasborn in Hartford, Connecticut, on October 29, 1925. In WWII, he was awarded the Bronze Star, at age 19. In 1949, he graduated from Williams College with a B.A.
Beginning his career in NYC as the stage manager of The Howdy Doody Show, in 1957 he moved to Hollywood, where he became the executive producer of the television series Adventures in Paradise. He continued in TV and films until the 1970's, when addictions to drugs and alcohol forced him to sober up, and change careers as well.
At age 50, he began to write, with his first piece for Vanity Fair magazine being one about the tragedy of his daughter's murder. He wrote of the murder trial of John Sweeney, his daughter Dominique's estranged boyfriend who strangled the 22-year-old in 1982. Sweeney spent less than three years in prison.
Much of Dominick Dunne's writing has been with Vanity Fair magazine. He joined Vanity Fair in 1984 as a contributing editor and was named special correspondent in 1993. He covered such high-profile trials as O. J. Simpson, the Menendez brothers, Michael Skakel, William Kennedy Smith, and Phil Spector, as well President Bill Clinton's impeachment.
Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, in a tribute posted on the magazine's Web site, said:
"It is fair to say that the halls of Vanity Fair will be lonelier without him and that, indeed, we will not see his like anytime soon, if ever again."
May Dominick Dunne rest in peace.
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