The Tragic Death Of Poltergeist Actress Dominique Dunne - Grunge (2024)

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What happened to Dominick Dunne's daughter? ›

In 1982, Dominick's daughter, Poltergeist actress Dominique, was strangled and killed by an ex-boyfriend when she was 22. Dominick kept a diary throughout the murder trial at the request of former Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Tina Brown, which he expanded into an in-depth article for the publication.

Dana, the eldest daughter of the Freeling family, was intended to appear in a sequence while away at college, but the sequence was scrapped as Dominique Dunne, the actress who portrayed her in the original film, had been murdered in 1982.

January 9, 1997 (age 64 years), Nogales, AZ

Ellen Griffin Dunne / Died

Dominick John Dunne (October 29, 1925 – August 26, 2009) was an American writer, investigative journalist, and producer. He began his career in film and television as a producer of the pioneering gay film The Boys in the Band (1970) and as the producer of the award-winning drug film The Panic in Needle Park (1971).

On October 30, 1982, Dunne was strangled by her ex-boyfriend, John Thomas Sweeney, in the driveway of her Los Angeles home. She went into a coma and died five days later, aged 22. Sweeney was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in Dunne's death and went to prison for three and a half years.

Doctors performed CPR for over 30 minutes, but O'Rourke was pronounced dead at 2:43 that afternoon. O'Rourke's cause of death was ruled congenital stenosis of the intestine complicated by septic shock.

Poltergeist Is Partially Inspired By The True Story Of The Herrmann House. Although Poltergeist is not an exact adaptation of actual events, the film was partially inspired by the story of The Herrmann House. In the 1950s, supposed poltergeists terrorized a Long Island family in their home.

The "Poltergeist curse" is a rumored curse attached to the Poltergeist trilogy and its crew, derived from the deaths of two young cast members in the six years between the releases of the first and third films.

Steven Spielberg With 7-Year-Old Drew Barrymore And Same Age Heather O'Rourke Between Filming E.T. And Poltergeist (1982)

And there were many blows to deflect. In the mid-1960s, when Griffin was 11, his parents divorced. In 1973, Lenny was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which eventually confined her to a wheelchair.

What happened to the older sister in Poltergeist? ›

Actress Dominique Dunne, who made her film debut in Poltergeist as the elder sister of Carol Anne, died a violent death shortly after its release in 1983. She was strangled to death by her boyfriend, John Thomas Sweeney.

On October 30, 1982, Dunne was strangled by her ex-boyfriend, John Thomas Sweeney, during an argument on the driveway of her West Hollywood home. She fell into a coma and died five days later on November 4, 1982.

Due to Dunne's death, Dana did not appear in Poltergeist II, or Poltergeist III. Nightmare with Henry Kane and his ghosts Dana lives with her parents and her two young siblings.

In many ways, Truman Capote is Dominick Dunne's guardian angel. In 1979, Mr. Dunne, who'd been a successful television and movie producer, was living in a small cabin in the Cascade Mountains in Oregon. "I was in financial ruin and career ruin," he recalled.

Dominique Ellen Dunne was born in Santa Monica, California, the daughter of Ellen Beatriz Griffin Dunne and Dominick Dunne, a producer, actor, and writer. Actor Griffin Dunne is her brother. After her parents' divorce, she moved first to New York, and then to Beverly Hills.

She also used the time to be with her family—her husband, dentist Dr. Francis Griffin, and their daughter Mary Frances, whom they adopted in 1938.

Actor and director Griffin Dunne was once embarrassed that his father, the writer Dominick Dunne, wasn't tough enough. Then he learned about his heroic past.

as I tell people all the time: Dunne's murderer changed his name to John Patrick Maura and is now the general manager at Smith Ranch Homes, a luxury retirement community just over the bridge in San Rafael.

Griffin Dunne grew up in California surrounded by the stories of his well-known literary family – his dad, Dominick Dunne; his uncle, John Gregory Dunne; and his aunt, Joan Didion, were all famous writers.