- Uncle of actor/director Griffin Dunne, actress Dominique Dunne and Alexander Dunne.
- Dunne turned to writing to help cope with a childhood stuttering problem.
- He was the best-selling author of "True Confessions", his breakout novel published in 1977. It is the story of a tough, bleak account of a woman's brutal murder and its connection to two brothers, a policeman and a priest. Dunne and his wife, writer Joan Didion, collaborated on the 1981 film adaptation. The novel sold over one million copies.
- His ashes and the ashes of his daughter, Quintana Roo Dunne Michael, who died on August 26, 2005, are interred at the Cathedral of St. John The Divine in New York City.
- Younger brother of writer Dominick Dunne.
- Had a childhood stammer that forced him to express himself on paper.
- He was one of six children.
- His father was a surgeon.
- Spent two years in the US Army.
- Was privately educated at a Catholic boarding school - Portsmouth Priory School, Rhode Island
- Worked at an advertising agency beforebecoming a staff writer for Time magazine.
- Adoptive daughter, Quintana Roo Dunne Michael.
- He began his career as a journalist. Among other things, he worked for Time magazine for 5 years. He was also a novelist, screenwriter and literary critic.
- He graduated from Princeton University in 1954.
- Father-in-law of Gerry Michael.
- He wrote "The Studio" [1969]. It was the result of a year spent observing behind the scenes at the 20th Century Fox studio.
- Uncle and godfather of Harrison Dunne.
- Brother-in-law of Jim Didion.
- He and his wife Joan Didion were among the many writers to work on the screenplay of "Such Good Friends" for director Otto Preminger, but got on with him very badly and were replaced.
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