Dominick Dunne

In his two-hour interview, Dominick Dunne (1925-2009) talks about his formative years during which he made associations with such notable figures as Gore Vidal and Anais Nin. He describes his first job in television, as a stage manager at NBC. He reminisces about working with the children on Howdy Doody, calling out "One minute, Mr. Montgomery" for the opening of Robert Montgomery Presents, and working on such notable Producers' Showcase productions as "The Petrified Forest" and "Our Town." He recounts the story of how the stage managers were all sent to help pull people from lifeboats when the Italian liner Andrea Dorea sank in 1956. Dunne recalls his move to Los Angeles, where he joined the staff of the prestigious CBS anthology series Playhouse 90. He outlines his work as a producer at 20th Century Fox where he made the series Adventures in Paradise, and talks about knowing Marilyn Monroe, the "queen of the lot." He defines his role as a vice president of Four Star Company and identifies the participants of the company. He talks about his shift to feature films in the 1970s and comments on a few of the movies he produced including The Boys in the Band, The Panic in Needle Park, and Ash Wednesday. He recalls the tragic murder of his daughter and his subsequent work as a chronicler of courtroom trials, notably on the O.J. Simpson case. Finally, he touches on serving as the host and narrator of the Court TV series Power, Privilege, & Justice. Allan Neuwirth conducted the interview on May 3, 2006 in New York, NY.