Remembering Dominick Dunne

By: Exclusive interview by Kelly Carson | Photographed by John Hildebrand | October 13, 2009 |

He has just returned to the Chateau Marmont from a lunch date and is fashionably late for our interview. He enters the lobby as if it were his own mansion. Everyone recognizes him and his simple elegance: pinstripe suit, paisley tie, French cuffs and signature tortoiseshell frames. Dominick Dunne has arrived. For the past 25 years, Dominick Dunne has been the investigative journalist for Vanity Fair, writing about the crimes committed by the rich and famous. Dunne has covered some of the biggest criminal trials of all time, including those of Claus Von Bulow, William Kennedy Smith, the Menendez Brothers and most notably O.J. Simpson. He most recently reported on music legend Phil Spector, whose murder trial ended in September in a 10-to-2 deadlock, favoring Spector’s guilt for the fatal shooting of Lana Clarkson. Dunne foresaw a mistrial way back in June. “I predict some great drama is going to happen. I can’t believe he will ever go off to prison, but that’s just the novelist in me talking.” The “great drama” that Dunne foreshadowed during the week of the mistrial also included O.J. Simpson, who was arrested on robbery and kidnapping charges. In a bizarre twist of irony, Dunne had dinner with Spector three times during the first O.J. trial. “Spector,” he said, “was riveted.”

Along with being an unparalleled observer of the American justice system, Dunne is also the author of five best-selling novels and two works of nonfiction. All of his books follow the same lead – money, murder and the pursuit of justice. He is currently writing A Solo Act, another book about moneyed malfeasance based on tangible events. He’s in hiding to finish it. “I’m a little nervous about that one,” he admits. Most likely, so are the greedy aristocrats he’s writing about. If A Solo Act is anything like A Season in Purgatory, look out for a major scandal after it’s published. But don’t worry about Dunne, he’s not camera shy and isn’t so much concerned about what the people with money might do – for he has had death threats before, and knows what feeds the beast. “I’m always for the victims,” he says frankly. That’s because Dunne knows firsthand how it feels to be royally screwed by the judicial system.

On Oct. 30, 1982, Dunne’s daughter, Dominique, was strangled outside her West Hollywood home by an ex-boyfriend. The rising young actress died four days later. Dunne and his family were devastated. Her murderer was charged with voluntary manslaughter and only served two years in prison. In all likelihood, Dominique would have soared to stardom and would have enjoyed the limelight with other greats of her generation like Diane Lane, Sharon Stone and Frances McDormand.  “Dominique led me into these trials,” Dunne says of his career path. Ultimately, it was the injustice of his daughter’s trial that landed him his first assignment for Vanity Fair — and what led to his own celebrity.

And as the public knows, all celebrities have skeletons in their closets. But Dunne’s not touchy about his, despite his peppered past. On Court TV’s juicy, one-hour docudrama Dominick Dunne’s Power, Privilege and Justice, Dunne is a commanding host without pretense, and that’s not just for the camera. As a signoff to one of his e-mails to me, he states, “The trial is over. It’s yesterday’s news that I was here to cover it. I’m off right after the verdict.” His words are cinematic. You get the feeling. In another moment, Dunne is compassionate, even when it’s about Spector. “All of a sudden,” he says, “he was like a totally normal guy that still cared about his career. You know, I wanted to hug him.” But make no mistake about it: Dunne is no Truman Capote, and for the record, was never trying to be.

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