Dominique Dunne

The weight of the family name and first steps

Dominique Dunne didn't need to knock on any doors to understand the ins and outs of Hollywood. She grew up in a home where Joan Didion was her aunt, and family dinners revolved around scripts and social scandals. Her father (producer Dominick Dunne) and her mother (Ellen Griffin) gave her a privileged upbringing between Manhattan and Beverly Hills, which she tried to handle with discretion.

In 1979, she made her debut in the TV movie Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker. It wasn't a role that made her a star overnight, but it helped casting directors notice her face. She had a mix of vulnerability and strength that fit perfectly with the New Hollywood of the 1980s.

And the gamble paid off.

Over the next two years, she appeared in hit series such as Lou Grant, Hart to Hart, and Fame. She worked steadily and avoided the vices of other children of the industry. In 1981, she landed the role that would change her career when Steven Spielberg selected her to join a big-budget production.

The Poltergeist Phenomenon and an Interrupted Rise

In 1982, Poltergeist premiered under the direction of Tobe Hooper. Dominique played Dana Freeling (the older sister in a family terrorized by paranormal phenomena), and her performance was praised for the natural quality she brought to the story. The film grossed more than 120 million dollars in the United States alone and placed her at the forefront of promising young actresses.

But the reality behind the spotlight was different.

In 1981, she met John Thomas Sweeney at a party, and they began a relationship that turned violent within a few months. Sweeney worked as a chef at the restaurant Ma Maison, and his possessive temperament clashed with Dunne's independence. In 1982, Dominique tried to end the relationship several times after suffering physical abuse that even forced her to use makeup to cover bruises during shoots.

In 1982, she filmed the episode Requiem for a Falling Star of the series Hill Street Blues. She played a victim of abuse, and the neck marks on screen were real because Sweeney had tried to strangle her a few days earlier. The actress decided to end the relationship for good in October of that same year after a serious incident at her home in West Hollywood.

The End of a Rising Career

On October 30, 1982, John Sweeney showed up at Dominique's home while she was rehearsing a scene for the miniseries V with actor David Packer. After an argument on the porch, Sweeney strangled her until she fell into a brain-dead coma. The actress was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and remained on assisted breathing for five days.

Dominique Dunne died on November 4, 1982, at the age of twenty-two.

The trial that followed in 1983 became a media circus that transformed her father's life. Dominick Dunne went from being a struggling producer to a renowned court reporter after writing about the case for Vanity Fair. Judge Burton Katz kept the jury from learning about Sweeney's violent history with other women, and that shaped the final verdict.

The jury found Sweeney guilty of voluntary manslaughter rather than second-degree murder. He was sentenced to six and a half years in prison. John Sweeney was released from prison in September 1986 after serving less than four years of his sentence and changed his name to John Maura to work at a luxury hotel in Santa Monica.