- Born
- 30 September 1924New Orleans, USA
- Died
- 25 August 1984Los Angeles, USA · aged 59
Truman Capote
The author of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “In Cold Blood” was openly gay at a time when few dared – and became a star of high society.
Truman Capote, born Truman Streckfus Persons, spent much of his childhood with relatives in Monroeville, Alabama, after his parents’ divorce; his neighbour and childhood friend was Harper Lee, who later wrote “To Kill a Mockingbird”. As a boy he was mocked for being effeminate.
His first novel, “Other Voices, Other Rooms” (1948), about a sensitive boy discovering his homosexuality in the American South, caused a sensation, partly because of the provocative author photograph on the back. “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (1958) became world-famous through the film with Audrey Hepburn. With “In Cold Blood” (1966), about the murder of a farming family in Kansas, he created the “non-fiction novel” and became one of the most famous writers in America.
Capote never hid that he was gay, appearing on television as a flamboyant, witty presence. His partner for 35 years was the writer Jack Dunphy. In New York he became the darling of high society and in 1966 hosted the legendary Black and White Ball.
When he published chapters of a novel exposing his society friends’ secrets, many turned away from him. He struggled with alcohol and drugs and died in Los Angeles in 1984, aged 59.