The tragic story of Truman Capote

Truman Capote was known as much for his writing as he was for his personal flamboyance and affinity for the celebrity limelight.

Born and raised in the South, Capote befriended author Harper Lee as a child and was said to be the inspiration for the character Dill in her famous novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

His climb up the social ranks began after he moved to New York to live with his mother. He wrote short stories for magazines such as Mademoiselle and Harper's Bazaar.

His first book, “Other Voices, Other Rooms,” made Capote a star and cemented his place as one of America's finest authors — not to mention one of its most provocative figures. The book was about a boy who falls in love with a transvestite.

Capote said his next book, “Breakfast at Tiffany's,” was about an "American geisha." His masterpiece, “In Cold Blood,” was about two killers.

It was that last work, proclaimed as a new standard for nonfiction writing, that propelled Capote to the upper reaches of society.

His famed Masked Black and White Ball of 1966 drew the likes of Frank Sinatra, Mia Farrow and Henry Ford. And he rubbed elbows with Johnny Carson and Andy Warhol.

Author Norman Mailer called Capote “the most perfect writer of my generation.”

After “In Cold Blood,” Capote never finished another book, although he spent years promoting a manuscript called “Answered Prayers.”

He was later criticized for wasting the rest of his life, talent and health, while pursuing personal publicity and destructive partying.

A 1978 appearance on a New York television show made national headlines when Capote seemed groggy and rambled incoherently about his drug and alcohol problems. Show host Stanley Siegel asked what would happen if Capote could not “lick” the habits.

“The obvious answer is that eventually I'll kill myself, without meaning to,” Capote said.

Six years later, at age 59, Capote died at a friend's home in Los Angeles, the result of liver disease complicated by his drug use.