The American writer Truman Capote was one of the most unique and controversial of the 20th century. His literary talent and extravagant personality made him a relevant figure, as famous for his writing as for his social life. He was part of the New York jet set and a close friend of Andy Warhol and Jackie Kennedy. His small stature, his nasal voice, his extravagant style and his sharp tongue made him a media personality.
He was born on September 30, 1924 in New Orleans, under the name Truman Streckfus Persons. After his parents’ divorce, he was raised by his mother’s relatives in a small southern town in Alabama. Some time later his mother would remarry a Spanish colonel and businessman from whom she would receive the surname Capote.
He began writing at the age of 11 and after a failed time at a military academy, he entered the prestigious magazine The New Yorker where his job was: “Select comic strips and cut newspapers.” But he abandoned it because his ambition went beyond journalism and he began to publish some stories that literary critics welcomed.
His literary debut with “Other voices, other areas”, published in 1948was a success for its lyrical style and for addressing sexual identity in a conservative time. It was followed by “The Grass Harp” and the famous “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, adapted to film by Blake Edwards, with Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, a girl who dates wealthy older men. It is said to be based on the life of the author’s mother.
But his masterpiece, without a doubt, is “In Cold Blood” which was published in 1966 and inaugurated the genre of narrative journalism. There the real murder of a family in Kansas is recounted with documentary precision and impeccable literary style. The book marked a before and after in Capote’s career. Overnight he became one of the most famous writers in the United States.
But his stardom began to collapse when he published a text in Esquire magazine called “La Côte Basque, 1965”in homage to the restaurant he frequented. It was a preview of “Prayers answered”his posthumous book, where he exposed intimate details of his friends from high society who had him as a confidant. Such a scandal broke out that he was condemned to social ostracism, which aggravated his emotional crises and the addictions he suffered from.
Highlights
The figure of Capote has been represented multiple times in film and theater. He himself had the luxury of appearing on screen alongside performers like Peter Sellers, Alec Guinness, David Niven and Peter Falk in the 1976 film “Murder by Death”directed by Robert Moore.
in the film “Capote” (2005), American Philip Seymour Hoffman He embodied the writer during the creation stage of “In Cold Blood,” in a performance that earned him an Oscar, acclaimed for its psychological depth and fidelity to the character. A year later, it was known “Infamous”, where the British Toby Jones offered another version focused on his social life and his relationship with Perry Smith, one of the murderers portrayed in “In Cold Blood.” Although less known, it was well received for its more emotional and direct treatment of the figure of Capote.
On television, very recently, Tom Hollander represented him in “Capote vs. The Swans”where he was accompanied by actresses Naomi Watts, Diane Lane, Chloë Sevigny and Demi Moore. The series, producer “Prayers answered.”
Buenos Aires theater
On the Buenos Aires billboard, it has just been discovered “Dearest Truman”a biography set to music and a tribute to this man loved, admired, hated and feared in equal doses. The piece is proposed as a mirror where his talent and his eccentricities, his malice and his loneliness are reflected. Cowritten between Gabriel Oliveri and Florencia Benderskywho also directs it, premiered last few days at the San Martín theater.
“A summer nap in Concordia, ‘In Cold Blood’ came into my hands; Truman Capote was on the back cover. His style, his look, his difference caught me. I discovered that he was like me: from the interior, gay, an art lover and that he also dreamed of a big city. I became his fan,” explains Oliveri.
With Sergio Grimblat and Cristóbal Barcesat performing “Strangers In The Night” sung in Spanish; “Garota de Ipanema”, in English; “New York City Boy”, by Pet Shop Boys and even a cumbia from Santa Fe, evokes his unique, complex and contradictory temperament.
“Our work shows Truman as a whole: from the lonely boy to the brilliant writer, the glamorous friend, the addict, the fallen one. But also the man who dreamed. We close with hope and beauty. I think there are as many Capotes as there are people who read him and love him,” adds Oliveri.
Capote died on August 25, 1984, at age 59, in Los Angeles, a victim of complications resulting from alcohol and drug abuse. His literary legacy and his passionate figure can be summed up in his own words: “I am an alcoholic, I am a drug addict, I am homosexual, I am a genius.”
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