Trivia

He was the inspiration for the character "Dill" in Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird". He and Lee were childhood friends.

According to George Plimpton's biography "Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintences and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career," one of Capote's eccentricities was to walk into a liquor store and ask for a bottle of "Justerini and Brooks" scotch, which is more familiarly known as J&B, which is one of the most famous brand names in the liquor business. Even if a merchant told him the store did not carry the brand (as most people didn't know what the initials stood for), even when it was likely it did carry the brand, Capote would not call it "J&B", even if it meant that he went without it.

Capote had a rather obsessive fan, a young man trying to break into the art world. To quote Capote, said fan was "one of those hopeless people you know nothing's ever going to happen to." and "a born loser". That persistent fan was named Andy Warhol.

His aunt, who helped raise him as a boy, is Marie Rudisill, aka The Fruitcake Lady from the The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992).

"Capote" was actually his stepfather's last name.

His life was touched by tragedy. His mother committed suicide and, according to the coroner's report, Capote himself died from "liver disease complicated by phlebitis and multiple drug intoxication".

Truman's longtime partner was novelist/playwright John Paul ("Jack") Dunphy (1914-1992). Jack's books include John Fury, Friends and Vague Lovers and First Wine. Dunphy was initially a dancer raised in Philadelphia where he met and married fellow dancer Joan McCracken. They later went through a painful divorce. Truman and Jack met in 1948 and stayed together until Capote's death in 1984. Although they "drifted apart" in later years, Truman made Jack his chief beneficiary in his will.

Capote left debts of $124,000, including $3,781.78 to Joanne Carson, the former wife of Johnny Carson, and several New York restaurants. Funeral and administration costs ate up an additional $207,000.

Although he wrote only a handful of books during his lifetime, he produced 25 full-length plays, two novels, 60 short stories, more than 100 poems and an autobiography.

He was a distant relative (seventh cousin once removed) of playwright Tennessee Williams.

Despite his diminutive size, he was said to have been an excellent arm wrestler.

He rests in a mausoleum next to Heather O'Rourke and Mel Tormé.

The film rights to his novella, "Hand Carved Coffins" were held by producer Dino De Laurentiis and the project was offered to directors Michael Cimino and David Lynch but to date, the project has not been produced.

Tax filings showed that Capote's personal papers and manuscripts were donated to the New York Public Library, and were estimated to be worth $205,000.

He was called as a defense witness in the second trial of Claus von Bülow, testifying about Sunny's (Martha Sunny von Bulow) history of substance abuse.

His most famous work is the book "In Cold Blood".

He frequently visited legendary New York disco Studio 54 in the late '70s.

He was portrayed by Sam Street in Isn't She Great (2000), Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (2005), by Toby Jones in Infamous (2006), by Michael J. Burg in The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000) and by Robert Morse in the award-winning one-man show "Tru" (and the subsequent made-for-TV film, Tru (1992)).

He is one of several famous and tragic figures from history to be featured on the sleeve artwork of the album "Clutching at Straws" by rock band Marillion (released in 1987).

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume One, 1981-1985, pages 128-130. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998.

He is mentioned in Walter Kirn's novel "Thumbsucker" and the Allan Sherman song "Oh Boy".