Forty years after his death — and nearly 60 years since his last prominent work was published — writer Truman Capote still maintains a hold on the American psyche. The gay writer is at the center of Ryan Murphy's latest iteration of the Feud series — Capote vs. The Swans. The show depicts the partial publication of Capote''s unfinished novel, Answered Prayers, in Esquire, where the writer (played by Tom Hollander) drew thinly veiled depictions of his coterie of socialite friends, illuminating their affairs, vices, and alleged crimes. The Esquire article would hasten Capote's undoing — already accelerated by drinking and drugs — as nearly all his friends turned their backs on him and he was banished from New York high society.
Of course, the period of Capote's life was just one of his legendary eras. Decades before he published tidbits of the tawdry (and not particularly acclaimed) Answered Prayers, he was showered with praise and considered a literary genius. From his acclaimed short story Miriam to his unforgettable 1958 novella Breakfast at Tiffany's (which the iconic Audrey Hepburn film of the same name was loosely based on) to his first novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms, Capote created indelible characters and plots that were optioned for countless TV and film adaptations. But it was 1965's In Cold Blood, a "nonfiction novel" chronicling a murderous rampage in Kansas, that cemented Capote's role as a 20th century icon. In Cold Blood's creation, aided by Capote's childhood best friend, To Kill a Mockingbird author Harper Lee, was the basis of two major Hollywood films.
So, while Capote's drunken, bitchy later years are on display in Feud, his tragic childhood with Lee, his emergence as a twink-ified, naughty talent, and his triumph in creating a new literary genre with Blood are also the stuff of legend. Take a view at Truman through the years below and read more about him here.
Truman Capote photographed circa 1947
Young Truman Capote, 1948
Truman Capote photographed circa 1950
Truman Capote at the age of 23, just after his first novel 'Other Voices, Other Rooms' was published, 1948
Truman Capote photographed in Germany circa 1950
Truman Capote an outdoor cafe in San Marco's Square in Venice, 1950s
Truman Capote at the small harbor of Portofino with his bulldog, 1950s
Truman Capote walking around in San Marco's Square in Venice, 1951
Young Truman Capote, 1950s
Truman Capote in the dining area of the M/S 'Vulcania', Italy, 1950s
Truman Capote in Milan negotiating a contract for his new nonfiction novel, 'In Cold Blood', 1966
Truman Capote Cannes Film Festival, France, 1968
Lester Persky, Andy Warhol, and Truman Capote during Steve Rubell's birthday party, hosted by Halston in New York City, 1978
Truman Capote at the First Anniversary party for Studio 54, 1978
Truman Capote at home in his United Nations Plaza residence, 1980
Truman Capote in New York City, 1972
