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Done & Dunne

101. Capote's Coterie | The Original Swan: Carol Grace Marcus Saroyan Matthau

Done & Dunne

Hemlock Creatives

History, True Crime

4.7630 Ratings

🗓️ 3 April 2023

⏱️ 68 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, we explore the life, loves and friendships of Truman Capote's Original Swan, Carol Marcus. Her name might not be familiar to you now, but hers is a story that is unforgettable. Including a rags to riches story, two husbands and three marriages, and two very best friends - Gloria Vanderbilt and Oona O'Neil Chaplin, Carol is also one of the main real-life inspirations for the character of Holly Golighty in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to Dun & Dunn. I'm Alicia, your hostess on this journey, All Things Dominic Dunn, where nothing is linear and everything is connected.

0:10.6

Thank you for joining me today on this episode in which we continue Capote's coterie, the literary and social life of the boy wonder writer Truman Capote.

0:21.6

We will be getting to Truman Capote in New York City and Greenwich, Connecticut,

0:26.6

and his next decade of time in short order.

0:29.5

However, when we talk about Truman Capote collecting himself a coterie,

0:34.6

a group of common-minded people to surround himself with, we must talk, we couldn't miss

0:41.2

talking about Truman Capote's original swan. If Truman Capote's mother, Lily Mae Falk, was his

0:48.7

first swan, Carol Marcus, is the original. Her name might not be familiar to you now, but hers is a story that is

0:58.6

unforgettable. Carol's life, her loves her friendships, not just with Truman, but her besties too,

1:07.1

Gloria Vanderbilt and Una O'Neill Chaplin.

1:14.6

We have covered Gloria Vanderbilt in great detail on Dun & Done.

1:30.0

Check out the whole Vanderbilt Family Values arc, back from episodes 36 to 42, complete with all the details of Little Gloria, Big Gloria, and her Vanderbilt relatives. We will talk a little bit about Una O'Neill today, but these three Carol, Gloria, and Una are the friendship

1:36.2

triangle to be envied. But it is the friendship and the connection between Truman Capote

1:42.9

and Carol Marcus that I think is truly

1:45.3

incredible. Carol Marcus is one of the main inspirations for Holly Go Lightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's,

1:52.8

certainly the most recognizable real-life inspiration, especially if you know what you're looking

2:00.0

for. Today we're going to reveal it all about

2:03.3

Carol's story, her relationship with her very best friends, and her relationship with Truman, too.

2:10.1

Everything really does connect. Before we begin our episode today, I do have this spyglass here to give

2:16.7

some huge thanks to Kattee, our most

2:20.3

recent friend over at patreon.com slash done and done, getting ad-free and early episodes,

2:26.5

bonus content too, so grateful for you, Kat, and the whole community supporting the podcast

...

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