CAPOTE

Biography

BACKGROUND
Born Truman Streckfus Persons in New Orleans on September 30, 1924, he was sent to Monroeville, Alabama to be raised by his mother's relatives. As a child he lived a solitary and lonely existence, turning to writing for solace. When he was nine, he moved to New York City to live with his mother and her second husband, Joseph Capote, who adopted him and renamed him Truman García Capote.

At age seventeen, he dropped out of school and got a job with The New Yorker magazine. Within a few years he was writing regularly for an assortment of publications. Capote's first book, Other Voices, Other Rooms, was published in 1948. With literary success came social celebrity. The young writer was lionised by the high society elite, and was seen at the best parties, clubs, and restaurants.

Breakfast at Tiffany's was published in 1958. The subsequent hit film staring Audrey Hepburn, assured Capote's popularity and place among the upper crust.

Throughout his career, he remained one of America's most controversial and colourful authors, combining literary genius with a penchant for the glittering world of high society. Though he wrote only a handful of books, his prose styling was impeccable, and his insight into the psychology of human desire was extraordinary. His flamboyant and well-documented lifestyle has often overshadowed his gifts as a writer, but over time Capote's work has outlived the celebrity.

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Philip Seymour Hoffman: author Truman Capote
Catherine Keener: his close childhood-friend and assistant, author Nelle Harper Lee
Bruce Greenwood: Truman's his longtime companion, Jack Dunphy
Chris Cooper: Alvin Dewey, Sheriff of Holcomb, Kansas
Clifton Collins: good-for-nothing drifter, Perry Smith
Mark Pellegrino: Perry’s partner, Richard Hickock
Bob Balaban: William Shawn, Editor of The New Yorker magazine

REVIEW
Beautifully crafted and superbly acted, this biography of the famous author covers only a short period of his life. The movie conveys some idea as to how a book gets written as well as an insight to the people being written about.

CLASSIFICATION
for some violent images and some strong language (the f-word)

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
While dining one evening, with his right hand Capote is holding a water glass and has his fork in his left. When the camera angle shifts to a position behind him, we see he slowly puts down the water glass, now being held in his left hand.

P.S.
$1,000 back in 1959 is equivalent to about $7,000 today.