Josh Karp on Court TV's Dominick Dunne:
Being "somebody" in Hollywood meant everything to him. Then, just like some Aaron Spelling miniseries, it all started to unravel. One night, while dining at a posh L.A. eatery Dunne was tapped on the shoulder by the restaurant's captain.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Dunne," said the man, "But Mr. Sinatra made me do this." The captain decked him in front of the celebrity crowd. Sinatra sat at a nearby table smirking. He had paid the man $50 to put Dunne in his place.
That night was a harbinger of things to come. During the next decade, overcome by his insecurities, Dominick Dunne hit bottom. He lost his wife and his career. He became an alcoholic and a cocaine addict. Worst of all, he was a "nobody" in Hollywood.
"When you're down and out, there's no meaner place to live than Hollywood," Dunne says, "You can get away with your embezzlements and your lies and your murders, but you can never get away with failing." In 1979 53-year old Dominick Dunne literally fled Hollywood. He would never live there again. ...
It was the Simpson trial that brought a different Dominick Dunne back to L.A. in 1995. Returning to the city of his epic failure, Dunne was suddenly sought out by precisely the type of folks who had shunned him when he was down and out. He became Hollywood's most desirable guest, gladly accepting invitations to share the scoop on O.J. in dining rooms all over Beverly Hills.
One of those nights he was invited to Gregory Peck's house where he was the center of attention -- overshadowing a petulant, sulking old singer named Frank Sinatra.
"Life" says Dunne "Is too perfect for words."
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