- Born
- Died
- Birth nameDominick John Dunne
- Nickname
- Nick
- Dominick Dunne was born on October 29, 1925 in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. He was a producer and assistant director, known for Addicted to Love (1997), Playhouse 90 (1956) and The Panic in Needle Park (1971). He was married to Ellen Beatriz Griffin Dunne. He died on August 26, 2009 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.
- SpouseEllen Beatriz Griffin Dunne(April 24, 1954 - January 1969) (divorced, 5 children)
- Children
- RelativesJohn Gregory Dunne(Sibling)Hannah Dunne(Grandchild)Quintana Roo Dunne(Niece or Nephew)
- round lens, black-framed glasses
- He and wife Ellen Beatriz Griffin Dunne (known as "Lenny," from the second syllable of her first name, Ellen) had 5 children in a marriage which lasted fifteen years: 3 daughters and 2 sons. Two daughters died in infancy, and daughter Dominique Dunne was murdered in 1982, and sons Griffin Dunne and Alex survived to mature adulthood.
- Won a Bronze Star for saving another soldier during the Battle of the Bulge.
- His "big break" in the literary world came by chance: he was seated next to Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown at a dinner party.
- Father of actor/director/writer Griffin Dunne, Dominique Dunne and Alexander Dunne.
- In his autobiography, "The Way We Lived Then: Recollections of a Well Known Namedropper", Dunne described the following incident. In 1955, he had been the stage manager for a musical version of the play "Our Town," produced for television (as Our Town (1955)). Frank Sinatra introduced the song "Love and Marriage" in the show. Fourteen years later Dunne and his wife were in a restaurant when a waiter punched his head. He then saw Sinatra staring at him from a table, seated with some people. Dunne asked the waiter how much money Sinatra had paid him "to slug me." The waiter told him fifty dollars. Dunne and his wife left the restaurant and never went back to it.
- When you're down and out, there's no meaner place to live than Hollywood. You can get away with your embezzlements and your lies and your murders, but you can never get away with failing.
- For me, the path of failure exceeded by far the joys of success. My plight was hopeless. I almost jumped in front of a train in Santa Barbara. At the last second I let it pass me. I had a major flirtation with a kitchen knife that I took to bed with me. The love that I felt for Los Angeles turned to hate. I ran from there.
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