Dominick Dunne (born October 29, 1925 in Hartford, Connecticut) is an American writer and investigative journalist describing the way high society interacts with the judiciary system. He was a producer in Hollywood and is also known from his appearances on television.

After his studies at Williams College and service in World War II, including the battle of Metz, he moved to New York, then to Hollywood, CA 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 1982 his actress daughter, Dominique Dunne, was murdered. Dunne attended the trial of her murderer 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.

Today Dunne lives in Connecticut. While it was rumored in early 2006 that he intended to cease writing for Vanity Fair, Dunne stated the opposite in an February 4 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 younger brother John Gregory Dunne, his son Griffin Dunne, and his aforementioned daughter, Dominique Dunne.

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

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

Films

• The Boys in the Band (as executive producer)

TV Series

• Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege, and Justice

External links

• Dominick Dunne's Self Narrarated Audiobook, "Justice" (Recorded Books, LLC 2001)
• Condit settlement
• Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege, and Justice

1925 births | Living people | American legal writers | American novelists | American film producers