Done & Dunne

Any day is a terrific day to talk about Natalie Wood, and this week the beloved actress is coming into full focus on Done and Dunne. Included in this first episode of Natalie Wood Week, we investigate her childhood and early stardom, along with those family complications. Next it is her teenage years, with the accompanying struggles found in Hollywood for a young woman. Natalie’s two marriages to...

This week our focus centers on Mart Crowley, American Playwright most well known for his 1968 play The Boys In The Band . Within this episode, we take Mart from a terrible childhood in Mississippi to Catholic University, to Elia Kazan and Natalie Wood, and all the spiderwebs of his career before creating this pioneering work.  Continue your investigation with ad-free and bonus episodes on Pat...

This week, we begin our look into Mart Crowley and his breakthrough play "The Boys in the Band" in a slightly offbeat way. Mart's life and times, and Dunne's role within the creation of the play and the movie version are essential parts of this investigation, but here in the beginning of these episodes, we are wandering back to LOOK Magazine from December 2, 1969 with a piece by Jack Star titled "...

We take a wander down memory lane in this episode, direct from Dominick Dunne himself. Dunne contributed an essay for the Chateau Marmont Hollywood Handbook edited by Andre Balazs. In this piece from 1997, Dunne reveals so much about his journey as it intersects through Los Angeles and the iconic hotel. Continue your investigation with ad-free and bonus episodes on Patreon ! To advertise on Done &...

In this last episode of 2025, we honor and celebrate the life of Jacquline de Ribes, French aristocrat, designer, fashion icon, businesswoman, film producer and philanthropist, who passed away just yesterday at the age of 96. This extraordinary woman was always getting name-checked by Dominick Dunne, and with her life and its many spiderwebs, it is easy to see why. Continue your investigation with...

This week we take a little time to bring Dominick Dunne’s First Noël, Noël Coward to the main feed! Noël Coward, a legend in so many ways, was an enormous influence for Dominick Dunne, and well, the rest of the high society and theatre world too, as Alicia detailed back in August 2022. Tune in for a ride of long ago ghosts and so many spiderwebs! Continue your investigation with ad-free and bonus...

It is a double drop this week to talk about one more of Truman Capote’s lost treasures. Who knew Truman was an artist? And that his creative project was making snake bite kits? This tale explores this hobby, Truman’s planned art show, and Gotham Book Mart’s involvement in the whole affair.  Continue your investigation with ad-free and bonus episodes on Patreon ! To advertise on Done & Dun...

We are going to take a little jaunt with our man Dominick Dunne through Connecticut in this and future episodes. Dunne writes in June 2006 for Vanity Fair about a whole lot of scoops coming from the state of his home retreat. We begin with a line Nick got about a whole cache of secret papers left behind by Truman Capote investigating a case that he never will write about, although we have his rese...

Today is second part of the incredible story of Lady Anne Glenconner. This episode is full of the stories and spiderwebs of Anne's third act, having incredible success with her memoirs. So many people show up in this one - with stories and a little tea-spilling too - including Princess Margaret, Lord Snowden, King Charles III, Queen Consort Camilla, Mel B., Mick Jagger, and even Graham Norton too....

In this special crossover episode of Done and Dunne and Trashy Royals, Alicia introduces you to The Right Honourable The Dowager Lady Glenconner, Anne Tennant. Lady Anne’s life is truly incredible – from a privileged childhood to being a lady-in-waiting attending Queen Elizabeth II through her coronation, these are only Anne’s early years. Marriage and children follow in her life, with so many con...

In this bit of a twist, we move from others’ famous homes in our journey to Dominick Dunne’s last two homes, his East Side pied-a-terre and his rustic Connecticut retreat. It is a bit of a real estate and storytelling ride, with a charming Dunne and Son story to close this cozy episode. All sources and recommended reading can be found on our website . Sources: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/s...

Everyone knows that JFK was a man of vociferous appetites when it came to women, but the secret story of a possible love child fathered with a teenage maid in the Hyannis Port compound is not commonly known. Many questions persist, but the tale of JFK's maybe-baby-mama, Alicia Corning Clark, is such a quintessentially American one - from refugee to the Kennedy's to Hollywood and beyond - that we c...

We go all the back in this episode to Dominick Dunne’s second submission for Vanity Fair in April 1984. Dunne takes us to the Ambitious Blondes of the day, following in the footsteps of the greats before them like Jayne Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe, and Grace Kelly. Included in this profile are many not-as-famous-as-they will-be blondes like Kim Basinger, Darryl Hannah, and Michelle Pfeffer. Also, a...

In this quick bonus episode, Alicia shares a little news about the main feed this week and completes the Peggy Lee coffee giveaway too! The legendary Peggy Lee is being celebrated with two brand new coffee blends from our friend ⁠Breakfast at Dominique’s⁠ ! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In this episode, Alicia recounts Dotson Rader’s story about the time Truman Capote met Peggy Lee. This one contains all kinds of spiderwebs including Key West, Jimmy Buffett and Doris Duke too. It is a tiny tale that says a lot - but that is not the only delight in this one! The legendary Peggy Lee is being celebrated with two brand new coffee blends from ⁠Breakfast at Dominique’s⁠ and we have a f...

In this conclusion of an episode, Alicia reveals the details from the September 1963 home movie made by Jack and Jacqueline Kennedy. Robert Knudsen filmed this James Bond-like film before the President’s assassination just a few months later. Included in this story are many attachments to our man Nick in this piece of forgotten history. Continue your investigation with ad-free and bonus episodes o...

We go way back to January 1954 in this episode with a feature from Suppressed Magazine, featuring a few high society ladies much discussed in our investigation. These are early days for these Three Cinderellas, who were determined to marry well, and boy did they. First up, the lovely Georgette Windsor, who will land Harry Cooke Cushing IV. Filling out the middle, Gregg Sherwood, who will land Hora...

In our continuing “Elizabeth Taylor Takeover” this week, we remember that time that Dominick Dunne profiled Elizabeth Taylor in 1985 for Vanity Fair. At this time in her life, Elizabeth Taylor was back on top after battling addiction as well as doing extraordinary work bringing attention to AIDS and fundraising to fight the disease. Our man Nick is namedropping like normal in this one, but he is a...

Alicia's taking over all the podcasts this week, with the stories and spiderwebs of screen goddess Elizabeth Taylor. In this week's musically-themed episode, Alicia breaks down some of the lyrics in Taylor Swift's new track, Elizabeth Taylor, from her album The Life of a Showgirl. From Portofino to the very best table at Musso & Frank's, certain themes resonate across these two titanic figures...

In an exciting crossover episode today, Alicia was delighted to speak with author and biographer Andrew Morton about his new release Winston and the Windsors: How Churchill Shaped a Royal Dynasty . Our conversation explores the influence of Winston’s mother Jennie Jerome on his early days, as well as Winston’s relationship with each of the Windsor monarchs including Edward VII, George V, Edward VI...

We continue our journey in Newport, Rhode Island this week, but veer off of Bellevue Avenue for this JFK mystery. Hammersmith Farm, the Auchincloss home, is our destination, and 1963 is the time period we focus upon. There is a whole lot happening in the summer of 1963 for JFK, both politically and personally. Where do you think he would find the idea, and have the time to film a home movie predic...

With the sad passing of Diane Keaton today, we remember her legacy in this one from the vault. This long ago episode delves into the one and only Diane Keaton, and all her spiderwebs! Dominick Dunne interviewed Keaton in 1985, in both New York City and Los Angeles, and this piece provides so much sub-text to so much of Hollywood. Certainly, the story is about the reclusive Diane Keaton, but also l...

The architect Stanford White is credited with a host of landmark structures in Newport, New York City, and beyond. But it was his sexual predation of young girls, especially the young model and showgirl Evelyn Nesbit, that led to his shockingly public murder and the 1907 "Trial of the Century" in its aftermath. The who was never in question. Harry K. Thaw was the culprit. It was Harry’s motive for...

Alicia climbs on her literary soapbox in this episode, the last to cover in our Big Four Spiderwebs episodes. Ginevra King was F. Scott’s Fitzgerald’s first love, and oh my – did she stick to his heart and writing for years, also with a little plagiarism too. This one is a literary spiderweb that Alicia will always be mad about and sheds additional light into Scott’s psyche through the years. Clic...

If you like golf, this is definitely the episode of The Big Four for you! Edith Cummings is the gal in our spotlight in this episode, and she led quite a life. Edith was one of the premier amateur golfers during the Jazz Age popularly known as the Fairway Flapper. Not only that, but Edith Cummings was also the inspiration for the character Jordan Baker in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. It...