Writer Dominick Dunne dead at 83

NEW YORK, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- True-crime author and television personality Dominick Dunne died of bladder cancer Wednesday at his home in New York, his actor-son Griffin said. He was 83.

Dunne's death was first reported by Vanity Fair, a magazine for which he worked for more than two decades, serving as contributing editor, then special correspondent.

The Hartford, Conn., native started out as the stage manager of "The Howdy Doody Show" in the 1950s and went on to produce several TV shows. He also penned numerous novels, including "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles," "A Season in Purgatory" and "Another City, Not My Own."

He became a passionate victims' rights advocate and chronicler of true-crime stories after his 22-year-old actress daughter, Dominique, was strangled by an ex-boyfriend in 1982.

During his literary career, Dunne covered the salacious scandals of the rich and famous, such as the murder trials of O.J. Simpson, the Menendez brothers, Michael Skakel, William Kennedy Smith and Phil Spector, as well as the impeachment of U.S. President Bill Clinton, Vanity Fair noted on its Web site.

The World War II veteran and Williams College graduate also penned profiles of some of the world's most fascinating people, such as Imelda Marcos, Robert Mapplethorpe, Elizabeth Taylor and Claus von Bulow.

In recent years, he starred in the truTV documentary series, "Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege and Justice."

Dunne also is survived by another son and a granddaughter.