Truman Capote was best known as a major American author. Many of his stories such as Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood have been adapted to films, but he himself has also occasionally collaborated on movie scripts. In 1976, Capote appeared in the film Murder by Death.
Truman Capote
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- When his parents divorced in 1928, he moved in with his mother's relatives and met lifelong friend Harper Lee; Capote is said to be the inspiration for the character Dill in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
- Was adopted by his stepfather at age 10, changing his name to Truman Garcia Capote.
- After high school, worked for The New Yorker magazine.
- First critical success was the bestselling 1948 semiautobiographical novel Other Voices, Other Rooms.
- The 1958 novella Breakfast at Tiffany's became the basis for the popular 1961 film starring Audrey Hepburn.
- In 1966, hosted the legendary Black and White Ball at the Plaza Hotel in New York. A book detailing the extravaganza is titled Party of the Century by Deborah Davis.
- Close friends with socialite Lee Radziwill, an unsuccessful actress and the younger sister of former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.
- Drug and alcohol addiction contributed to controversial television interviews as well as public feuds with contemporaries Gore Vidal and Norman Mailer.
- Tony winner Robert Morse (Tru) and Academy Award winner Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) are among the many who have portrayed him.