Truman Capote | Encyclopedia of Alabama Norman McMillan, Montevallo, Alabama Truman Capote World-renowned author and popular-culture icon Truman Capote (1924-1984) was born in New Orleans and raised in the northeast, but his true sense of identity and the literature he produced were rooted more in Alabama than anywhere else. Both of his parents were Alabamians, and his extended visits with Monroeville relatives and close friendship with Harper Lee greatly influenced his writing and his world view. Capote's flamboyant public persona and battles with substance abuse brought him as much attention as his literary output and made him a symbol of the artistic excesses that characterized New York's literati in the minds of the public during the 1960s and 1970s. Capote was born Truman Streckfus Persons in New Orleans, Louisiana, on September 30, 1924.

His father, Arch Persons, was a well-educated ne'er-do-well from a prominent Alabama family, and his mother, Lillie Mae Faulk, was a pretty and ambitious young woman so anxious to escape the confines of small-town Alabama that she married Arch in her late teens. Capote's early childhood with Arch and Lillie Mae was marked by neglect and painful insecurity that left him with a lifelong fear of abandonment. His life gained some stability in 1930 when, at age six, he was put in the care of four elderly, unmarried cousins in Monroeville, Monroe County , Alabama. He lived there full-time for three years and made extended visits throughout the decade. Capote was most influenced by his cousin Sook, who adored him and whom he celebrated in his writings. He also forged what would become a life-long friendship with next-door neighbor Nelle Harper Lee, who later won the Pulitzer Prize for her book, To Kill a Mockingbird . Capote appears in the novel as the character Dill. The Move to New York In 1931, Lillie Mae left her husband and moved to New York, never again to live in the South.

She changed her name to Nina, divorced Arch, and in 1932 married a wealthy Cuban immigrant named Joe Capote. The following year, Truman moved in with them, and in 1935, Joe Capote officially adopted him. Truman Streckfus Persons was now Truman Capote. Joe and Nina lived extravagantly, both in Manhattan and for three years in fashionable Greenwich, Connecticut. The family returned to New York City in 1942 and took an apartment on New York's upper-class Park Avenue. At this time, Nina began her descent into alcoholism, often flying into violent rages at her teen-aged son because of his homosexuality. As a result, Truman and his mother went through many periods of estrangement. The lavish lifestyle of the Capotes came to an abrupt end in 1952 when Joe Capote was discovered to have been embezzling money from his company and was fired. Unable to face the changes brought on by Joe's situation, Nina committed suicide in 1954. In 1955, Joe pleaded guilty to embezzlement and served a year in New York State's Ossining Prison, known more popularly as Sing Sing.

Beginning in Writing Capote Portrait with Puppets As a child, Capote showed a great interest in writing. In Monroeville, he was permitted to use the household typewriter and did so enthusiastically. At Greenwich High School, in Connecticut, he developed a clear sense of his vocation, nurtured by English teacher Catherine Wood. While attending the Franklin School, an elite private school on New York's Upper West Side, Capote was hired as a copy boy at the New Yorker magazine. There he developed and refined some of the personality traits that would later become his trademarks: eccentric and flamboyant behavior and dress, a high-pitched lisping voice, and extreme outward self-confidence. He also cultivated friendships with influential people, especially women. Unlike several other famous gay people of the time, Capote was very open and public about his sexual orientation. Fired by the New Yorker for offending poet Robert Frost by walking out on one of his readings, Capote began to work on his writing in earnest. During his early twenties, he published several stories in Harper's Bazaar and Mademoiselle, and in 1948, at 24, he published an autobiographical coming-of-age novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms.

The book received great praise for the excellence of its prose and earned national attention because of a provocative photograph of the author posing seductively on a couch. Henceforth, Capote, like his literary contemporaries Norman Mailer and Gore Vidal, was known as much for his public persona as for his writing. It was also at this time that Capote began his long-term relationship with Jack Dunphy, an author, playwright, and former professional dancer some 10 years Capote's senior. With the success of Other Voices, Other Rooms, Capote began his life-long habit of seeking out inspiring places, mainly in Europe, to write and socialize. During the 1950s he and Dunphy lived in France, Sicily, Switzerland, Greece, and many other places. The couple owned adjoining houses in Sagaponack, New York, and Capote owned a place in Verbier, France. He also owned an apartment at the upscale United Nations Plaza. But he never stayed anywhere long.

Mixing with the Upper Crust Truman Capote Portrait Capote loved to surround himself with the rich and famous, and he became a friend and confidant to numerous well-known people, including designer and photographer Cecil Beaton, playwright Noel Coward, and movie stars Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift, as well as President John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, and her sister, Princess Lee Radziwill. He was the darling of a group of very rich women—he called them his "swans"—who entertained him aboard their yachts and at luxurious resorts throughout the world. He also gained even greater fame across the country as a frequent guest on television talk shows such as the Johnny Carson Show and the Dick Cavett Show. Despite his heavy socializing, Capote maintained a rigorous writing schedule for most of his life. He published A Tree of Night, a collection of stories, in 1949, followed in 1950 by Local Color, a collection of travel essays.

The Muses Are Heard, his comic satire of his travels in Russia with the cast of the George Gershwin musical Porgy and Bess, came out in 1956, and in 1958 he published one of his best-known works, Breakfast at Tiffany's, a short novel set in New York. Three years later, Paramount Pictures released a highly acclaimed film version starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard. Two of Capote's works were produced for the stage on Broadway. Although no expense was spared in their production, The Grass Harp, based on life in the Monroeville house where he stayed as a boy, was only moderately successful, and The House of Flowers, a musical about two rival brothels in Haiti, was generally considered a disaster. Capote also wrote for the screen: in 1953 he co-authored the United Artists comedy Beat the Devil with director John Huston, and in 1960 he adapted the Henry James' short story "The Turn of the Screw" into a script for the successful 20th Century Fox movie The Innocents. Turn Toward Nonfiction In November 1959, Capote's career took a major turn.

He opened the New York Times one morning and read an article about the murders of the Clutter family in Holcombe, Kansas. He immediately decided to begin work on what he termed a "nonfiction novel" about the murders and the subsequent trial of the killers. Accompanied by Harper Lee, he traveled to Kansas to begin what would become an exhaustive, six-year project. He spent many hours with the killers Dick Hickock and Perry Smith, forming a strong emotional attachment with Smith. The men were found guilty and sentenced to hang in March 1960, but appeals delayed their executions until April 14, 1965. During this time, Capote waited to finish the book and remained in periodic contact with the men. His conflicting feelings of sympathy for the killers and desire for a conclusion caused him much anguish. Capote traveled to Kansas to witness the executions and was shattered by the experience. In Cold Blood In 1965, Capote presented his story of the Clutter murders to the public as a serial in the New Yorker. The following year, he published the work as a novel entitled In Cold Blood.

Capote was lionized by critics everywhere, and the book was a sensation, earning Capote huge amounts of money. With the completion of the exhausting project, Capote decided to treat himself by hosting what many called the party of the decade. On November 28, 1966, he gave a masquerade black-and-white ball at the Grand Ballroom of the Plaza Hotel in New York City for a group of friends who were so illustrious that the guest list was published in the New York Times. The following year, In Cold Blood earned Capote even more press when Columbia Pictures released a film version. Although Capote was on top of the world in many ways, his personal life was beginning to spiral out of control. He began to consume large amounts of alcohol and drugs, made liaisons with abusive men, and found it more and more difficult to write. He suffered a number of mental breakdowns in the 1970s and 1980s, but he managed to work intermittently on a book called Answered Prayers, based on his intimate knowledge of the international jet set. He predicted, incorrectly, that it would be his masterpiece.

During this time, two of Capote's autobiographical stories with Alabama settings—"A Christmas Memory" and "The Thanksgiving Visitor"—were adapted as television dramas to great acclaim. Falling Out of Favor In 1975, Capote decided to publish chapters of the still unfinished Answered Prayers as magazine pieces. When the second chapter, "La Cote Basque, 1965," appeared in Esquire, many of Capote's society friends were enraged by the author's unflattering depictions of them. Most of them severed all ties with him, including his favorite, socialite Babe Paley, wife of CBS chairman William Paley. Cut off from most of the friendships that had sustained him over the years, Capote became increasingly depressed and unstable. Although he maintained a relationship with Jack Dunphy, they were apart most of the time. He drank and used cocaine excessively. As a result, he was unable to write very much, but he did publish one more book, Music for Chameleons (1980), a collection of stories and essays previously published in Esquire, Interview, McCall's, New York Magazine, and The New Yorker.

As his addictions worsened, he sought treatment at various hospitals and sanatoriums, but with little success. During the 1980s, his mental and physical condition deteriorating, he appeared to lose any desire to live. In August 1984, he bought a one-way ticket to California and showed up at the home of his friend Joanne Carson (ex-wife of Johnny Carson), telling her he thought he was dying. He was right—he died on August 25, 1984. During his life, Truman Capote often complained that he was not properly appreciated or respected as an author. He was especially troubled that he never received a major literary award. Despite his concerns, scholarly and popular interest in the man and his work has never truly waned. In 1990, Jay Presson Allen's biographical play, Tru, had a very successful run on Broadway, and some 20 years after his death, Hollywood released two biographical films about him, Capote (Sony Pictures, 2005) and Infamous (Warner Independent Pictures, 2006). In 2005, Random House published his early novel Summer Crossing.

In 2014, two European researchers discovered 21 unknown stories in a collection at the New York Public Library that were written by Capote during his teen years; they were published in a German newspaper and in a collection by Random House in 2015. Truman Capote's place in literary and cultural history seems secure. Works by Truman Capote 10 Things You Might Not Have Known About Truman Capote | Mental Floss 10 Things You Might Not Have Known About Truman Capote getty images Like us on Facebook American author, screenwriter, and playwright Truman Capote would have turned 90 today, but the In Cold Blood writer didn’t make it to his 60s (he died at age 59, a little more than a month before his 60th birthday). Responsible for such works as Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood, Capote left behind a large and varied legacy. Here are some facts about this true American original. 1. “Capote” wasn’t his real last name.

He was born Truman Streckfus Persons , but "Capote" wasn’t a pen name—it came from his stepfather, Joseph Capote, and his name was changed to “Truman Garcia Capote” in 1935. 2. He taught himself how to read and write. Truman was classified as a “lonely child,” and before he even entered formal schooling, he used that loneliness (along with his obvious smarts) to teach himself how to read and write . By 11, he was already writing his first short stories. 3. He didn’t attend college. Capote’s schooling was varied, but rich. After he and his mother moved to New York City from Monroeville, Alabama, he attended a number of high-profile institutions, including the Trinity School, St. Joseph Military Academy, Greenwich High School, and the Franklin School (now called the Dwight School). While finishing up his high school education, Capote worked as a copyboy for The New Yorker, which served as his post-high school proving ground. 4. His most famous character was almost not named Holly Golightly.

The star of his Breakfast at Tiffany’s was originally named “Connie Gustafson” (doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, does it?), which was then changed to “Holiday Golightly” before being edited down to “Holly Golightly.” 5. He had a recurring nightmare. It took place backstage at a theater. "I have a very important part to play," he once told Gloria Steinem . "The only trouble is that I’m in a panic because I don’t know my lines… Finally, the moment comes. I walk onstage… but I just stumble about, mortified. Have you ever had that dream?” 6. Capote was hired by Rolling Stone to cover a Rolling Stones tour. In 1972, the magazine hired Capote as their correspondent to cover the Stones’ Exile on Main St. tour. Although Capote headed out on the road with the band, he did not finish the article , later telling Andy Warhol in an interview for the magazine, "I enjoyed [being on tour]. I just didn’t want to write about it, because it didn’t interest me creatively. You know? But I enjoyed it as an experience. I thought it was amusing..." 7.

He cameoed in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall. During a scene in the famous comedy, Alvy (Allen) and Annie (Diane Keaton) are engaging in some casual people-watching at the park. At one point, a dapper gentleman walks by the two and Alvy says, "Oh, there’s the winner of the Truman Capote Look Alike Contest.” It was actually Capote . 8. He carried a security blanket. During his early years, Capote lived with distant relatives in Alabama, including his mother’s relation, Nanny Rumbley Faulk, whom Capote lovingly called “Sook.” Sook made baby Capote his own baby blanket, which he carried around with him even into adulthood . Capote reportedly even had the blanket on the day he died. 9. Capote left behind not one, but two unfinished novels. The author had started work on his Answered Prayers back in 1966, and the salacious send-up of high Hollywood society hung over his head for years to come. Although he had signed a contract with Random House in 1966 and promised to deliver it in two years, the book was still unfinished when he died in 1984.

A number of chapters had been previously published , and a roughly assembled (and unfinished) version of the book was released in 1986 as Answered Prayers: The Unfinished Novel . Although everyone knew about Answered Prayers, fewer people were aware that Capote had yet another unfinished novel hanging around. Early in his career—around the 1940s—Capote started working on a love story set in New York City that chronicled the romance between a rich young lady and a parking lot attendant. Capote told people that he had tossed out the entire manuscript, which would have been his first official novel (Other Voices, Other Rooms eventually took that honor), but a house sitter reportedly snagged it after the author abandoned his Brooklyn Heights apartment—and everything in it—when In Cold Blood made him wealthy. After the house sitter died, the manuscript was discovered, and Summer Crossing was published in 2005. 10. He’s buried alongside other big Hollywood names. After his death, Capote was cremated and his ashes were placed in a mausoleum in Los Angeles’ Westwood Memorial Park. Other celebrities rest nearby, including Mel Torme and Heather O’Rourke.

Not all of Capote’s ashes are in Westwood, however, as some of them were given to his beloved friend Joanne Carson and another portion were mixed in with his partner Jack Dunphy’s, which were then scattered in Long Island. More from mental_floss... Truman Capote - Biography - IMDb Truman Capote Biography Showing all 37 items Jump to: Overview (4) | Mini Bio (1) | Trade Mark (1) | Trivia (18) | Personal Quotes (10) | Salary (3) Overview (4) 25 August 1984 , Los Angeles, California, USA (liver disease complicated by phlebitis and multiple drug intoxication) Birth Name 5' 3" (1.6 m) Mini Bio (1) Truman Capote was born on September 30, 1924 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA as Truman Streckfus Persons. He was a writer and actor, known for Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), In Cold Blood (1967) and The Innocents (1961). He died on August 25, 1984 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Trade Mark (1) His characters were often emotionally isolated and/or confused about their sexuality Trivia (18) He frequently visited legendary New York disco Studio 54 in the late '70s. He was the inspiration for the character "Dill" in Harper Lee 's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird". He and Lee were childhood friends. His most famous work is the book "In Cold Blood". He is one of several famous and tragic figures from history to be featured on the sleeve artwork of the album "Clutching at Straws" by rock band Marillion (released in 1987). His longtime partner was Jack Dunphy. He was a distant relative (seventh cousin once removed) of playwright Tennessee Williams . Although he wrote only a handful of books during his lifetime, he produced 25 full-length plays, two novels, 60 short stories, more than 100 poems and an autobiography. The film rights to his novella, "Hand Carved Coffins" were held by producer Dino De Laurentiis and the project was offered to directors Michael Cimino and David Lynch but to date, the project has not been produced.

He rests in a mausoleum next to Heather O'Rourke and Mel Tormé . His aunt, who helped raise him as a boy, is Marie Rudisill , aka The Fruitcake Lady from the The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992). He was called as a defense witness in the second trial of Claus von Bülow , testifying about Sunny's ( Martha Sunny von Bulow ) history of substance abuse. He was portrayed by Sam Street in Isn't She Great (2000), Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (2005), by Toby Jones in Infamous (2006), by Michael J. Burg in The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000) and by Robert Morse in the award-winning one-man show "Tru" (and the subsequent made-for-TV film, American Playhouse: Tru (1992)).

According to George Plimpton 's biography "Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintences and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career," one of Capote's eccentricities was to walk into a liquor store and ask for a bottle of "Justerini and Brooks" scotch, which is more familiarly known as J&B, which is one of the most famous brand names in the liquor business. Even if a merchant told him the store did not carry the brand (as most people didn't know what the initials stood for), even when it was likely it did carry the brand, Capote would not call it "J&B", even if it meant that he went without it. Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume One, 1981-1985, pages 128-130. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998. He is mentioned in Walter Kirn 's novel "Thumbsucker" and the Allan Sherman song "Oh Boy". His life was touched by tragedy.

His mother committed suicide and, according to the coroner's report, Capote himself died from "liver disease complicated by phlebitis and multiple drug intoxication". "Capote" was actually his stepfather's last name. Despite his diminutive size, he was said to have been an excellent arm wrestler. Personal Quotes (10) It's a scientific fact ... For every year a person lives in Hollywood, they lose two points of their IQ. I think I've written one masterpiece in my career and that's "In Cold Blood". It is a masterpiece and I don't care what anyone says. I think I've also written three or four short stories that are as good as anything written in the English language. The greatest thing about masturbation is that you don't have to dress up for it. [on Meryl Streep ] She looks like a chicken! [on Marilyn Monroe ] She is pure Alice in Wonderland, and her appearance and demeanor are a nicely judged mix of the Red Queen and a flamingo. New York is a diamond iceberg floating in river water. [on Marlon Brando ] No actor of my generation has possessed greater natural gifts; but none other has transported intellectual falsity to higher levels of hilarious pretension.

[on Humphrey Bogart ] He had an image of sophisticated virility and he projected it remarkably well. And with such humor. At last, he had such style that it doesn't wither, it doesn't age, it doesn't date. Like Billie Holiday . Do you want to know the real reason why I push my hair down on my forehead? Because I have two cowlicks. If I didn't do that it would make me look as though I had two feathery horns. I don't care what anybody says about me, as long as it isn't true. Salary (3) Truman Capote: 20 best quotes - Books Books Truman Capote was one of the most controversial literary figures of the 20th century. The author of Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood died on August 25, 1984. Here, Martin Chilton and Charlotte Runcie pick his 20 best quotes. Credit: Rex Features © Telegraph Media Group Limited 2016 Your support makes a big difference In order to bring you award-winning content and investigative journalism from your favourite writers, we rely on revenue generated by advertising. Please consider supporting us by turning off your ad blocker.

Just a couple of clicks will make a big difference. Thank you. Truman: Meaning Of Name Truman | Nameberry.com Comments Truman is an upstanding presidential name that radiates an aura of integrity and moral truth, values any parent would want for a child. It seems definitely headed for a revival. Also associated with writer Truman Capote, Truman was at the height of its popularity in the early twentieth century, around the time Capote was born. It reached its highest point—Number 249—in 1945, the year Harry Truman succeeded FDR. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson chose it for their son, and it's also the name of Martha Stewart 's young grandson.

Truman Capote | American author | Britannica.com American author Alternative Title: Truman Streckfus Persons Truman Capote William Faulkner Truman Capote, original name Truman Streckfus Persons (born September 30, 1924, New Orleans , Louisiana, U.S.—died August 25, 1984, Los Angeles , California ), American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright whose early writing extended the Southern Gothic tradition, though he later developed a more journalistic approach in the novel In Cold Blood (1965), which, together with Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958; film 1961), remains his best-known work. Truman Capote, 1966. Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images His parents were divorced when he was young, and he spent his childhood with various elderly relatives in small towns in Louisiana and Alabama . (He owed his surname to his mother’s remarriage, to Joseph Garcia Capote.) He attended private schools and eventually joined his mother and stepfather at Millbrook, Connecticut, where he completed his secondary education at Greenwich High School. Capote drew on his childhood experiences for many of his early works of fiction .

Having abandoned further schooling, he achieved early literary recognition in 1945 when his haunting short story “ Miriam ” was published in Mademoiselle magazine; the following year it won the O. Henry Memorial Award, the first of four such awards Capote was to receive. His first novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948), was acclaimed as the work of a young writer of great promise. The book is a sensitive portrayal of a boy’s search for his father and his own sexual identity through a nightmarishly decadent Southern world. The short story “ Shut a Final Door ” (O. Henry Award, 1946) and other tales of loveless and isolated individuals were collected in A Tree of Night (1949). The quasi-autobiographical novel The Grass Harp (1951) is a story of nonconforming innocents who temporarily retire from life to a tree house, returning renewed to the real world. One of Capote’s most popular works, Breakfast at Tiffany’s , is a novella about a young fey café society girl.

Capote’s increasing preoccupation with journalism was reflected in his nonfiction novel In Cold Blood, a chilling account of a multiple murder committed in Kansas by two young psychopaths. Capote spent six years interviewing the principals in the case—including months in Kansas with his friend, childhood neighbour, and fellow novelist Harper Lee , who served as his “assistant researchist”—and the critical and popular success of his novel about them was the high point of his dual careers as a writer and a celebrity socialite. For though a serious writer, Capote was also a party-loving sybarite who became a darling of the rich and famous of high society. Endowed with a quirky but attractive character, he entertained television audiences with outrageous tales recounted in his distinctively high-pitched lisping Southern drawl. Britannica Stories Truman Capote: Biography, Books & Facts | Study.com Truman Capote: Biography, Books & Facts Watch short & fun videos Start Your Free Trial Today Instructor: Bryanna Licciardi Bryanna has received both her BA in English and MFA in Creative Writing. She has been a writing tutor for over six years. Add to Add to Add to Want to watch this again later? Log in or sign up to add this lesson to a Custom Course.

Custom Courses are courses that you create from Study.com lessons. Use them just like other courses to track progress, access quizzes and exams, and share content. Teachers Organize and share selected lessons with your class. Make planning easier by creating your own custom course. Students Create a new course from any lesson page or your dashboard. From any lesson page: Click "Add to" located below the video player and follow the prompts to name your course and save your lesson. From your dashboard: Click on the "Custom Courses" tab, then click "Create course". Next, go to any lesson page and begin adding lessons. Edit your Custom Course directly from your dashboard. Personalize: Name your Custom Course and add an optional description or learning objective. Organize: Create chapters to group lesson within your course. Remove and reorder chapters and lessons at any time. Share your Custom Course or assign lessons and chapters. Teacher Edition: Share or assign lessons and chapters by clicking the "Teacher" tab on the lesson or chapter page you want to assign. Students' quiz scores and video views will be trackable in your "Teacher" tab. Premium Edition: You can share your Custom Course by copying and pasting the course URL.

Only Study.com members will be able to access the entire course. Truman Capote is perhaps one of the most interesting American authors of the 20th century. Learn about the man behind the critically acclaimed stories. Biography Truman Capote was born on September 30, 1924, in New Orleans, to the name Truman Streckfus Persons. Abandoned by his parents often, most of his childhood was spent in the care of his relatives. Capote early on became invested in literature, teaching himself how to read and write even before he started school. However, his feelings of neglect deeply affected him and made him desperate for his parents' attention. After a gruesome divorce-turned-custody battle, Truman hoped their fight for his care meant his luck would be changing. His mother won custody in 1932 and moved Truman to New York with her and her new husband. In 1935, Truman was adopted by his stepfather and, thus, became Truman Capote. Unfortunately, his mother's psychological problems and heavy drinking turned her cruel. Much of her time with him was spent picking on him for his effeminate personality and love of literature.

Truman Capote, 1959 Capote's creativity and knack for storytelling captivated his schoolmates, but frustrated his mother. She wanted him to be more masculine. In 1936, she sent him to military school, where he was often bullied. Capote was the smallest boy in his class, making him an easy target among the other boys. His mother's instability would ultimately prove fatal, however. She eventually committed suicide, devastating Capote. As an adult, Capote's first job was copyboy for The New Yorker. After trying and failing to get his work published there, he left to become a full-time writer. He began working on a novel, but it was his short stories that would get him attention. Truman's stories began appearing in Mademoiselle and Harper's Bazaar, which got him notoriety in the New York literary circle. In 1946, he was invited in to the elite Yaddo artists' colony, and soon after that, his short story 'Miriam' won the O. Henry Award. In 1948, after his first novel achieved moderate success, he met the love of his life.

Jack Dunphy and Truman remained a couple for 35 years, socializing, traveling and writing together. After the prolonged and difficult writing of In Cold Blood, his number one best seller, Capote turned to drinking and drugs. The dark nature of the nonfiction novel had definitely taken its toll on his psyche. Despite several attempts to rehabilitate himself, his health and romantic relationship deteriorated. Though they remained friends, by the 1970s, Dunphy and Capote were separated. Capote grew heavily involved in the party scene at Studio 54, with famous partiers like Andy Warhol and Liza Minnelli. His social life was all but killed, however, after his notable scandal. Capote threw a fantastic masquerade ball in which he gathered many high societal secrets among his friends. Soon after, he published a chapter in Esquire magazine, titled 'La Côte Basque 1965'. The publication was filled with the dirty, scandalous secrets of his socialite friends, some of which he did not even try to veil. Many never forgave him after that, and he was ostracized from society.

Self-destructing, he continued to spiral until August 25, 1984, when Capote died while visiting a friend in California. Books Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948) This semi-autobiographical novel follows an effeminate teenage boy who is sent to live with his estranged father following his mother's death. Its unique coming-of-age perspective, as well as themes of homosexuality and abandonment, majorly impacted the literary critics, who compared Capote to such greats as William Falkner and Edgar Allan Poe. The novel's success led to studios fighting for the movie rights. Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) This novella births Capote's most famous character, Holly Golightly, the young farm-girl-turned-socialite. Discretely exchanging sexual favors for money and presents, Holly's character shocked readers of the time. In fact, though the novella was critically successful, Holly's character was extremely downplayed in the film adaptation in order to avoid scandal. Capote was disappointed in the film adaptation. He hated Audrey Hepburn for the role of Holly because she was too elegant, and therefore not right for the part. He had lobbied for Marilyn Monroe, but she was unavailable.

Lucky for Hepburn, the role catapulted her into fame, and her Holly became an iconic screen performance. In Cold Blood (1966) Truman Capote - IMDb IMDb Writer | Actor | Soundtrack Truman Capote was born on September 30, 1924 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA as Truman Streckfus Persons. He was a writer and actor, known for Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), In Cold Blood (1967) and The Innocents (1961). He died on August 25, 1984 in Los Angeles, California, USA. See full bio » Born: a list of 25 people created 08 Jan 2012 a list of 32 people created 01 Nov 2013 a list of 21 people created 04 Feb 2015 a list of 32 images created 11 Mar 2015 a list of 350 people created 1 month ago Do you have a demo reel? Add it to your IMDbPage How much of Truman Capote's work have you seen?

User Polls Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination. See more awards » Known For 2013 Miriam (Short) (story) / (writer) 2012 Love, Marilyn (Documentary) (excerpts from memoirs) 1980 Il fascino dell'insolito (TV Series) (short story - 1 episode) - Miriam (1980) ... (short story) 1971 Der kopflose Falke (TV Short) (short story) 1969 Trilogy (screenplay) / (stories "A Christmas Memory", "Miriam" and "Among the Paths to Eden") 1968/I Laura (TV Movie) (screenplay) 1965 Miriam (TV Short) (play) 1965 Ruohojen harppu (TV Movie) (play "The Grass Harp") 1967 The Thanksgiving Visitor (TV Movie) Narrator 1966 ABC Stage 67 (TV Series) Narrated by - A Christmas Memory (1966) ... Narrated by (as Mr.

Capote) Hide 1961 The Ed Sullivan Show (TV Series) (writer - 1 episode) - Episode #14.27 (1961) ...

(writer: "Two Ladies in de Shade of de Banana Tree") Hide 1978 The Cheap Show (TV Series) Himself 1976 Good Morning America (TV Series) Himself 1974 V.I.P.-Schaukel (TV Series documentary) Himself 1973 Jack Paar Tonite (TV Series) Himself 1971 Beaton by Bailey (TV Movie documentary) Himself 1971 Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (TV Series) Himself 1968 Firing Line (TV Series) Himself - Guest 2012 American Masters (TV Series documentary) Himself 2012 The Joy of Disco (TV Movie documentary) Himself 2006 Truman Capote: Answered Prayers (Video documentary short) Himself (uncredited) 2006 Cavett Remembers the Comic Legends (Video documentary short) Himself 1998 Un siècle d'écrivains (TV Series documentary) Himself 1994 Last Dance (TV Movie documentary) Himself Book: "Music for Chameleons" See more » Publicity Listings: 5 Biographical Movies | 5 Print Biographies | 9 Portrayals | 

4 Interviews | 10 Articles | 2 Magazine Cover Photos | See more » Alternate Names: Did You Know?

Personal Quote: [on Marlon Brando ] No actor of my generation has possessed greater natural gifts; but none other has transported intellectual falsity to higher levels of hilarious pretension. See more » Trivia: His aunt, who helped raise him as a boy, is Marie Rudisill , aka The Fruitcake Lady from the The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992). See more » Trademark: His characters were often emotionally isolated and/or confused about their sexuality Star Sign: Truman Capote - Author of In Cold Blood Truman Capote Author of In Cold Blood American author Truman Capote (March 1, 1966). (Photo by Evening Standard/Getty Images) By Shelly Schwartz, Contributing History Writer Who Was Truman Capote? Truman Capote, an American novelist and short-story writer, achieved tremendous celebrity status for his elegantly detailed writing, sensitive characters, and his witty social tendencies. Capote is mostly remembered for his novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s and novel In Cold Blood, which were both made into major motion pictures.

Dates: September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984 Also Known As: Truman Streckfus Persons (born as) A Lonely Childhood Truman Capote’s parents, 17-year-old Lillie Mae (nee Faulk) and 25-year-old Archulus “Arch” Persons were married on August 23, 1923. Lillie Mae, the town beauty, quickly realized her mistake in marrying Arch, a conman who was always chasing get-rich-quick schemes, when he ran out of money on their honeymoon. But ending the marriage quickly was out of the question when she found out she was pregnant. Realizing her bad predicament, young Lillie Mae wanted to get an abortion; however, that was not an easy feat in those days. continue reading below our video 4 Tips for Improving Test Performance Little Mae ended up giving birth to Truman Strekfus Persons in New Orleans, Louisiana, on September 30, 1924.

(The middle name of Strekfus was the last name of the family Arch worked for at the time.) The birth of Truman only kept the couple together for a few short months, after which Arch chased more schemes and Little Mae chased other men. In the summer of 1930, after dragging Truman from place to place for several years, Lillie Mae dropped five-year-old Truman off in the small town of Monroeville at the house shared by her three unmarried aunts and one bachelor uncle. Truman disliked living with his great aunts, yet he became close to the oldest aunt, Nanny “Sook” Faulk. It was while living with his great aunts that he started writing. He wrote stories about Sook and others in the town, including “Old Mrs. Busybody,” which he submitted in 1933 to a children’s writing contest in the Mobile Press Register. The printed story upset his neighbors, who instantly recognized themselves. Despite the setback, Truman continued writing. He also spent a considerable amount of time hanging out with his tomboy neighbor, Nelle Harper Lee , who grew up to become the author of the 1960 Pulitzer Prize winning To Kill a Mockingbird.

(Lee’s character “Dill” was fashioned after Truman.) Truman Persons Becomes Truman Capote While Truman lived with his great aunts, Lillie Mae moved to New York, fell in love, and got a divorce from Arch in 1931. Arch, on the other hand, was arrested a handful of times for writing bad checks. Lillie Mae came back into her son’s life in 1932, now calling herself “Nina.” She took seven-year-old Truman to live in Manhattan with her and her new husband, Joe Garcia Capote, a Cuban-born New York textile broker. Although Arch contested it, Joe adopted Truman in February 1935 and Truman Strekfus Persons became Truman Garcia Capote. Although he had dreamed for years that he could live again with his mother, Nina wasn’t the loving, affectionate mom he had hoped her to be. Nina was enthralled with her new husband and Truman was a reminder of a past mistake. Plus, Nina couldn’t stand Truman’s effeminate mannerisms. Capote Embraces Being Different In the hopes of making Truman more masculine, Nina sent 11-year-old Truman to St.

Joseph’s military academy in the fall of 1936. The experience was awful for Truman. After a year at the military academy, Nina pulled him out and put him into the private Trinity School. Short of stature, with a high-pitched voice that continued into adulthood, light blond hair, and bright blue eyes, Truman was unusual even in his general appearance. But after military school, instead of continuing to try to be like everyone else, he decided to embrace being different. In 1939, the Capotes moved to Greenwich Village and his uniqueness intensified. He would purposely set himself apart from other students, wear sloppy clothes, and look down at other students. Yet his close friends at the time remember him as fun, witty, unconventional, and able to mesmerize groups of peers with his storytelling.1 Despite his mother’s persistent nagging about his effeminate mannerisms, Truman embraced his homosexuality. As he once stated, “I always had a marked homosexual preference and I never had any guilt about it at all. As time goes on, you finally settle down on one side or another, homosexual or heterosexual. And I was homosexual.”2 By this time, Capote was also singular of purpose – he wanted to become a writer.

And, to the dismay of many teachers and administrators at his school, he would ignore all his classes except those he thought would aid him in a writing career. Truman Capote Becomes an Author A couple of years later, the family moved back to New York City’s Park Avenue, where Capote attended the Franklin School. While others went off to fight in World War II, 18-year-old Truman Capote acquired a job in late 1942 as a copyboy at The New Yorker . He worked for the magazine for two years and submitted several short stories, but they never published any of them. In 1944, Truman Capote moved back to Monroeville and started writing his first novel, Summer Crossing . However, he soon shelved that project and starting working on other things, including a new novel. After moving back to New York, Capote wrote several short stories which he sent out to magazines. In 1945, Mademoiselle published Capote’s haunting short story “ Miriam ,” and the following year the story won an O. Henry Award , a coveted American honor given to outstanding short stories.

With that success, more of his short stories appeared in Harper’s Bazaar, Story, and Prairie Schooner. Truman Capote was becoming famous. Important people were talking about him, inviting him to parties, introducing him to others. Capote’s striking physical characteristics, high-pitched voice, charm, wit, and attitude now made him not only the life of the party, but unforgettable. One perk of his new-found fame was being able to attend Yaddo, a gilded-age mansion retreat for gifted artists and writers in Saratoga Springs, New York in May 1946. Here he began a relationship with Newton Arvin , a Smith College professor and literary critic. More Writing and Jack Dunphy Meanwhile, Capote’s short story “Miriam” had attracted Bennett Cerf, a publisher at Random House. Cerf contracted Truman Capote to write a full-length Southern Gothic novel with an advance of $1500. At the age of 23, Capote’s novel Other Voices, Other Rooms was published by Random House in 1948. Capote fashioned his character “Idabel” after his old friend and neighbor, Nell Harper Lee.

The dust jacket photo, taken by photographer Harold Halma, was considered a bit scandalous due to Capote’s smoldering look in his eyes while sensually reclining on a sofa. The novel made it to the New York Times bestseller list for nine weeks. In 1948, Truman Capote met Jack Dunphy , a writer and playwright, and began a relationship that would continue throughout Capote’s life. Random House then published Truman Capote’s A Tree of Night and Other Stories in 1949. This collection of short stories included Shut a Final Door, which won Capote another O. Henry Award. Capote and Dunphy toured Europe together and lived in France, Sicily, Switzerland, and Greece. Capote wrote a collection of travel essays titled Local Color, which was published by Random House in 1950. In 1964, when they had both returned to the States, Capote bought adjacent houses in Sagaponack, New York for him and Dunphy. In 1951, Random House published Capote’s next novel, The Grass Harp, about three misfits in a small, Southern town.

With Capote’s help it became a Broadway play in 1952. That same year, Capote’s stepfather, Joe Capote, was fired from his company for embezzling money. Capote’s mother Nina, now an alcoholic, continued to rage at her son for being homosexual. Unable to cope with Joe’s incarceration, Nina committed suicide in 1954. Breakfast at Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood Truman Capote threw himself into his work. He wrote Breakfast at Tiffany’s, a novella about a light-hearted girl living in New York City, which was published by Random House in 1958. The novella, which Capote dedicated to Dunphy, was made into a popular motion picture in 1961 directed by Blake Edwards and starring Audrey Hepburn in the lead role. In 1959, Capote became drawn to non-fiction.

While looking for a topic that would excite his curiosity, he stumbled upon a short article on November 16, 1959 in The New York Times titled, “Wealthy Farmer, 3 of Family Slain.” Despite the few details about the murder and the fact that the killers’ identities were unknown, Capote knew this was the story he wanted to write about. A month later, Capote, accompanied by his childhood friend Nelle Harper Lee, headed to Kansas to do research on what would become Capote’s most famous novel, In Cold Blood . For Capote, whose personality and mannerisms were unique even in New York City, it was difficult at first for him to integrate into the small town of Garden City, Kansas. However, his wit and charm ultimately won out and Capote eventually gained semi-celebrity status in town. Once the killers, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, were captured at the end of 1959, Capote interviewed them too. Capote especially gained the confidence of Smith, who shared a similar background as Capote (short of stature, with an alcoholic mother, and a distant father).

After his extensive interviews, Capote and boyfriend Dunphy went to Europe in order for Capote to write. The story, which was extremely morbid and unsettling, gave Capote nightmares but he kept on with it.3 For three years, Capote wrote In Cold Blood. It was the true story of an ordinary farming family, the Cutters, who were unknowingly targeted and brutally murdered by by two killers. But there was no ending to the story until the killers’ appeals to the courts were heard and either accepted or denied. For two years, Capote corresponded with the killers while he waited for an ending to his book. Finally, on April 14, 1965, five years after the murders, Smith and Hickock were executed by hanging. Capote was present and witnessed their deaths. Capote quickly finished his book and Random House published his masterpiece, In Cold Blood. The book catapulted Truman Capote to celebrity status. Party of the Century In 1966, New York socialites and Hollywood movie stars alike invited Truman Capote, the best-selling author of their generation, to parties, to vacations, and to appear on TV talk shows.

Capote, who had always been energetically social, ate up the attention. To reciprocate the many invitations and to celebrate the success of In Cold Blood, Capote decided to plan a party that would be the best party of all time. In honor of his longtime friend, Katharine Graham (owner of The Washington Post), the Black and White Ball would be held at Manhattan’s Plaza Hotel on Monday, November 28, 1966. It was to be a classy, masked ball, where the invited guests could only wear the colors of black or white. When word got out among the New York socialites and the Hollywood elite, it became a frenzy to see who would get an invitation. It wasn’t long before media began dubbing it “The Party of the Century.” While many of the 500 guests were the richest and most famous people in America, including politicians, movie stars, socialites, and intellectuals, a few were from his time in Kansas and others were some non-famous friends from his past. Although nothing exceedingly extraordinary occurred during the party, the party itself became a legend. Truman Capote was now a super celebrity, whose presence was begged for everywhere.

However, the five years working on In Cold Blood, including becoming so intimately close with the killers and then actually witnessing their deaths, took a huge toll on Capote. After the success of In Cold Blood, Capote was never the same; he became cocky, arrogant, and reckless. He began drinking heavily and taking drugs. It was the beginning of his downfall. Upsetting His Friends For the next ten years, Truman Capote worked on-and-off again on Answered Prayers, a novel about his social elite friends, which he attempted to disguise with made-up names. Slowing him down was the high expectations he had of himself – he wanted to create a masterpiece that would be even better and more acclaimed than In Cold Blood. In the first couple of years following In Cold Blood, Capote did manage to finish two short stories, A Christmas Memory and The Thanksgiving Visitor, both of which were about Sook Faulk in Monroeville and both were also made into TV specials in 1966 and 1967 respectively. Also in 1967, In Cold Blood was made into a popular motion picture. However, in general, Capote had difficulty sitting down to write.

Instead, he flitted around the world, was frequently drunk, and, although ostensibly still with Jack, had several long-term affairs with boring and/or destructive men who were only interested in his money. Capote's banter, usually so light and funny, had turned dark and acerbic. His friends were both worried and aghast at this change in Capote. In 1975, ten years after the release of In Cold Blood, Truman let Esquire publish a chapter of the still-incomplete Answered Prayers. The chapter, “Mojave,” received rave reviews. Heartened, Capote then released another chapter, titled “La Côte Basque, 1965,” in the November 1975 issue of Esquire. The printed story shocked his friends, who instantly recognized themselves: Gloria Vanderbilt, Babe Paley, Slim Keith, Lee Radziwill, and Ann Woodward -- all New York society fixtures Capote called “swans.” In the story, Capote revealed the swans and their husbands’ infidelities, betrayals, vanity, and even a murder, thus spurring the outraged swans and their husbands to sever their friendship with Capote.

Capote thought they understood that he was a writer, and that everything a writer hears is material. Surprised and crushed by being snubbed, Capote began drinking even more and partaking heavily of cocaine. Answered Prayers was never finished. For the next decade, Truman Capote appeared on TV talk shows and in a small part in the motion picture Murder by Death in 1976. He wrote one more book, Music for Chameleons, which was published by Random House in 1980. Death and Legacy of Truman Capote In August 1984, Truman Capote flew to L.A. and told his friend Joanna Carson, former wife of the late-night TV talk show host, Johnny Carson, that he thought he was dying. She let Capote stay with her for a few days and on August 25, 1984, 59-year-old Truman Capote died in Carson’s Bel Air, Los Angeles, home. Cause of death was thought to have been due to his drug and alcohol addiction. Truman Capote was cremated; his ashes remained in an urn in his Sagaponack, New York home, inherited by Dunphy.

Upon Dunphy’s death in 1992, the homes were donated to the Nature Conservancy. Jack Dunphy and Truman Capote’s ashes were scattered throughout the grounds. 1. Gerald Clarke, Capote: A Biography (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1988) 51. 2. Truman Capote as quoted in Clarke 62-63. 3. Clarke 332.

Question: US author Truman Strekfus Persons is better known by what name?
Answer: Truman Capote