Early Life
Dunne, the second of six children, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of Dorothy Frances (née Burns) and Richard Edwin Dunne, a hospital chief of staff and prominent heart surgeon. His Irish Catholic family was wealthy; his maternal grandfather, Dominick Francis Burns, founded the Park Street Trust Company. However, from his earliest days, Dunne recalled feeling like an outsider in the predominantly "WASPish" West Hartford.
He was the older brother of John Gregory Dunne, a screenwriter and critic who was married to journalist Joan Didion. They co-wrote The Panic in Needle Park, a film starring Al Pacino, which Dominick produced.
As a boy, he was known as Nicky. After attending the Kingswood School and Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut, he attended Williams College and then served in World War II where he received the Bronze Star for heroism during the Battle of Metz.
Read more about this topic: Dominick Dunne
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