Truman Capote Biography

Fast Facts

• 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