Truman Capote

Truman Capote (September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American writer.

Biography

He was born Truman Streckfus Persons in New Orleans, Louisiana, and was sent to Monroeville, Alabama, to be raised by his mother's relatives. His experiences from that time are captured in the 1966 story "A Christmas Memory".

Related Topics:
New Orleans, Louisiana - Monroeville, Alabama

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1933, he moved to New York City to live with his mother and her second husband, Joseph Capote, who adopted him and renamed him Truman García Capote in 1935.

Related Topics:
1933 - New York City - 1935

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Capote was a lifelong friend of Monroeville neighbor Harper Lee and was allegedly the inspiration for the character of Dill in her best-seller To Kill A Mockingbird. Capote frequently implied that he himself had written a considerable portion of her novel; some even say he ghosted the entire novel. At least one person?Pearl Kazin Bell, an editor at Harper's?has gone on record as believing his assertions were true.

Related Topics:
Harper Lee - To Kill A Mockingbird - Ghosted - Harper's

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lee lent Capote considerable assistance during his research for In Cold Blood. The book was inspired by a November 1959 300-word article in the back of the New York Times describing the unexplained murder of a family of four in rural Kansas. Fascinated by the brief story, Capote traveled to Holcomb, Kansas, scene of the Clutter family massacre, with Lee, and, over the course of the next few years, he became acquainted with everyone involved in the investigation and most of the residents of the small town. Rather than taking notes during interviews with those involved in the investigation, Capote and Lee would commit everything to memory and write it down after the interview was over. Prior to the book's publication, Capote was well-known in literary and theatrical circles, but In Cold Blood introduced him to a mass audience worldwide when it became an international best seller. Capote was widely criticized when he admitted his relief that the Clutter killers Perry Smith and Richard "Dick" Hickock had been given the death penalty, since had they not, In Cold Blood might never have been published.

Related Topics:
New York Times - Holcomb, Kansas - Perry Smith - Richard "Dick" Hickock

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Capote was as well known for his high-pitched, lisping voice, outrageous manner of dress, and wild fabrications about acquaintances and events as he was for his literary output. He often claimed to know intimately people he had in fact never met?among them, Greta Garbo?and professed to have had numerous liaisons with men who were staunchly heterosexual. He traveled in eclectic circles, hobnobbing with fellow authors, literary critics, business tycoons, philanthropists, Hollywood and theatrical celebrities, and members of royalty and high society, both in the States and abroad. Part of his public persona was a long-standing rivalry with writer Gore Vidal.

Related Topics:
Lisping - Greta Garbo - Royalty - Gore Vidal

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On November 28, 1966, in honor of publisher Katharine Graham, Capote hosted his famous Black & White Ball in the Grand Ballroom of New York City's Plaza Hotel. It was considered the social event of not only that season, but of many to follow. Its notoriety was such that even the usually austere New York Times gave it considerable coverage.

Related Topics:
November 28 - 1966 - Katharine Graham - New York City - Plaza Hotel

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He appeared as Lionel Twain in Neil Simon's film comedy Murder by Death. A short story published in Esquire in the 1970s, part of his never completed work Answered Prayers (published as an "unfinished novel" after his death), alienated most of his celebrity acquaintances, who in it recognized thinly disguised versions of themselves.

Related Topics:
Neil Simon - Film - Comedy - Murder by Death - Esquire - 1970s

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In later life, Capote became fairly reclusive, most likely as a defense mechanism against the rejection from one-time friends he was experiencing. On those occasions he was seen in public, he frequently exhibited wildly eccentric behavior, due to his addiction to alcohol and various drugs?both prescription and recreational?despite several attempts at rehab.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He died at the age of 59 on August 25, 1984, in the home of Joanne Carson, ex-wife of late-night TV host Johnny Carson, on whose program Capote was a frequent guest. He was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California, leaving behind his longtime companion, author Jack Dunphy, with whom he shared a non-exclusive relationship from the time of their first meeting in 1948. Dunphy died in 1992 and, in 1994, both his and Capote's ashes were scattered at Crooked Pond, between Bridgehampton and Sag Harbor on Long Island, close to where the two had maintained a property with individual houses for many years.

Related Topics:
August 25 - 1984 - Johnny Carson - Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery - Los Angeles, California - Jack Dunphy - 1948 - 1992 - 1994 - Bridgehampton - Sag Harbor - Long Island

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Capote twice won the O. Henry Memorial Short Story Prize and was a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters.

Related Topics:
O. Henry - National Institute of Arts and Letters

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~