This article is about the actress. For her father, the author, see Dominick Dunne.
Dominique Dunne
Dunne in Fame (1982)
Born
Dominique Ellen Dunne
(1959-11-23)November 23, 1959
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Died
November 4, 1982(1982-11-04) (aged 22)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death
Homicide by strangulation
Burial place
Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Education
Harvard-Westlake School Taft School Fountain Valley School
Occupation
Actress
Years active
1979–1982
Parents
Dominick Dunne
Ellen Griffin Dunne
Relatives
Griffin Dunne (brother) John Gregory Dunne (uncle) Joan Didion (aunt) Hannah Dunne (niece)
Signature
Dominique Ellen Dunne (November 23, 1959 – November 4, 1982) was an American actress.[1] Born and raised in Santa Monica, California, she made her on-screen debut with the television film Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker (1979), and thereafter played the recurring roles of Erica on the drama series Family (1980), and Paulina Bornstein on the comedy series Breaking Away (1980–1981). Her breakthrough came with the starring role of Dana Freeling in the horror film Poltergeist (1982).[2] She went on to headline the western film The Shadow Riders (1982), and portray Amy Kent on the crime series CHiPs (1982).
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. In a court case that gained significant media coverage, Sweeney was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in Dunne's death, and served three and a half years in prison.
^Dunne, Dominick (March 2004). "A Death in the Family". vanityfair.com. p. 2. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
^"Strangled Actress : Did Slayer's Penalty Fit His Crime?". Los Angeles Times. December 3, 1986. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
Dominique Ellen Dunne (November 23, 1959 – November 4, 1982) was an American actress. Born and raised in Santa Monica, California, she made her on-screen...
the granddaughter of writer and journalist Dominick Dunne and the niece of actress DominiqueDunne. She is best known for her portrayal of Lizzie Campbell...
his daughter Dominique, an actress, he began to write about the interaction of wealth and high society with the judicial system. Dunne was a frequent...
Beatriz Griffin Dunne (January 28, 1932 – January 9, 1997) was an American activist. After the death of her daughter, DominiqueDunne, Dunne founded Justice...
of Alexander and DominiqueDunne. His mother founded the victims' rights organization Justice for Homicide Victims after Dominique's murder in 1982. His...
series of illnesses. Dunne was uncle to actors Griffin Dunne (who co-starred in An American Werewolf in London) and DominiqueDunne (who co-starred in Poltergeist)...
memoir of the year following the death of her husband, writer John Gregory Dunne. She later adapted the book into a play that premiered on Broadway in 2007...
aired on September 8, 1981. It is directed by Murray Golden. It stars DominiqueDunne and Roscoe Lee Browne. Polly Ames is a fourteen year old girl returning...
and investigative journalist DominiqueDunne (1959–1982), American actress, daughter of Dominick Dunne Edmund Francis Dunne (1835–1904), Chief Justice of...
Katherine Helmond as Elaine Thurston Katy Kurtzman as Trish Thurston DominiqueDunne as Cathy Robinson James Carroll as Jordan as Ron Leland Christopher...
Bent Backwards over the Grass (2020). Greater Los Angeles portal DominiqueDunne Christina Grimmie Rebecca Schaeffer Selena Dorothy Stratten Petruzzello...
as a couple whose divorce upsets their two daughters, portrayed by DominiqueDunne and Ally Sheedy. As Judy Danner is about to marry her college sweetheart...
Robin Maxwell on the 1983 science fiction miniseries V (replacing DominiqueDunne, who was murdered while the show was in pre-production), the 1984 sequel...
the night of the murder. In 1993, author Dominick Dunne, father of murdered actress DominiqueDunne, published A Season in Purgatory, a fictional story...
Sweeney (born 1956), former boyfriend and murderer of American actress DominiqueDunne John Sweeney (journalist) (born 1958), investigative journalist and...
author, artist, bullfighter Barnaby Conrad III '71, author and artist DominiqueDunne, actress Adam Duritz '82, lead singer of Counting Crows James Franciscus...
(DominiqueDunne) on October 30, 1982, leading to her death on November 4, 1982. Sweeney's trial began in August 1983. Dunne's father, Dominick Dunne,...
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