Thursday, August 27, 2009
NEW YORK (AP) — Author Dominick Dunne, who told stories of shocking crimes among the rich and famous through his magazine articles and best-selling novels such as “The Two Mrs. Grenvilles,” died Wednesday in his home at age 83.
His son, actor-director Griffin Dunne, said that Dunne had been battling bladder cancer for some time. He died Wednesday at his home in Manhattan.
Dominick Dunne didn’t let his cancer stop him from working. In September, against his doctor’s orders and his family’s wishes, he flew to Las Vegas to attend O.J. Simpson’s kidnap-robbery trial — a postscript to his coverage of Simpson’s 1995 murder trial that spiked Dunne’s fame.
Dunne was born in 1925 in Hartford, Conn., to a wealthy Roman Catholic family and grew up in some of the same social circles as the Kennedys. In his memoir, he traced his fascination with Hollywood to a childhood trip he took “out West” with an aunt. They took one of those home of the stars bus tours and he vowed to come back and be part of the glamorous world he had glimpsed.
He served in the Army during World War II and graduated from Williams College in 1949.
While in the Army, he was awarded the Bronze Star for heroism in 1944 for carrying two wounded men to safety at the Battle of Merz in Feisberg, Germany.
Dunne was part of a famous family that included his brother, novelist and screenwriter John Gregory Dunne; his brother’s wife, author Joan Didion; and his son, Griffin.
His actress daughter, Dominique Dunne, was slain in 1982 when she was 22.