Dominick Dunne was born in Hartford, Connecticut on October 29, 1925. He served in World War II and was awarded the Bronze Star for rescuing a wounded soldier at the Battle of the Bulge. After receiving a bachelor's degree from Williams College in 1949, he worked as a stage manager for the Howdy Doody Show and Robert Montgomery Presents. He then directed Playhouse 90 and was an executive producer of the ABC drama Adventures in Paradise. He started producing films in 1970 including The Boys in the Band, The Panic in Needle Park, Play It as It Lays, and Ash Wednesday. His addiction to alcohol and drugs eventually lead to the end of his career as a television and film producer.
He beat his addictions and decided to become writer. He wrote several memoirs including The Way We Lived Then: Recollections of a Well-Known Name Dropper and novels including An Inconvenient Woman, A Season in Purgatory, The Two Mrs. Grenvilles, and Too Much Money. In 1982, his daughter was strangled by her boyfriend. Dunne kept a journal during the trial, which eventually became the Vanity Fair article Justice: A Father's Account of the Trial of His Daughter's Killer. After that, he wrote regularly for Vanity Fair and covered famous trials such as those of Claus von Bulow, O.J. Simpson, and the Menendez brothers. He also wrote a column entitled Dominick Dunne's Diary and hosted the television series Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege, and Justice on CourtTV. He died from bladder cancer on August 26, 2009 at the age of 83.
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