Ryan Murphy’s celebrated miniseries Feud is returning for a season two and this time it takes on the sensationalist story behind author Truman Capote, and his feud with a group of rich American socialites.
Capote vs The Swans is a dramatised retelling of the events behind the novelist's relationship with a group of wealthy, influential women in Manhattan during the 1950s whom he called the 'swans'. Capote was a close friend and confidante to them, until their relationship soured after he released a tell-all article in a magazine, which revealed details about their lives.
Describing the swans, Murphy told Town and Country: "They were like the original Real Housewives.
“It was a story about how you top yourself, and whether you even can. And it was, at its core, a story about relationships between men and women, specifically gay men and their girlfriends," Murphy said.
But who was Truman Capote and what really happened between the writer and his swans?
Here’s the truth behind the new series.
Who was Truman Capote?
Capote was a celebrated American novelist and playwright, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on September 30, 1924. He is typically known for exploring macabre themes and dissecting the psychological states of his characters.
He grew up in Alabama after his parents divorced when he was two. His childhood friend was Harper Lee, famed author of To Kill a Mockingbird, with whom he formed a lasting bond.
In the early 1930s, Capote moved to New York with his mother and was adopted by his stepfather José (“Joseph”) Garcia Capote.
An obsessive writer, Capote worked as a copy boy in the department for The New Yorker. He gained literary recognition in 1945 when his short story, Miriam, was published in a magazine and then later won the O. Henry memorial award.
His first published novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms, in 1948, is partly an autobiographical portrayal of his relationship with his father. It was a big success.
Perhaps his most famous work is the novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s, written in 1958 and later adapted into a film in 1961. The film starred Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard, and was a commercial success, receiving five nominations at the Academy Awards.
Following this, he published the crime novel In Cold Blood in 1966, where he took a more journalistic approach. The book follows the story of the Clutter family's murder in Holcomb, Kansas, in 1959, and the eventual demise of the two men executed for the crime.
Capote and the Swans
Capote’s writing turned him into a celebrity, earning him entry into high society. In 1966, he threw a masquerade party, attended by the actors, business moguls, and even royalty.
He quickly became friends with socialists like Barbara ‘Babe’ Paley, wife of the head of the CBS television network, Slim Keith, C Z Guest, Ann Woodward, Lee Radziwill, and Joanne Carson, whom he dubbed “swans".
Keith was a fashion icon known for her long legs. Her first husband was film director Howard Hawks and her last, British aristocrat Kenneth Keith, a relation of Churchill. C Z Guest, born Lucy Douglas, was a model, columnist, and fashion designer who appeared on the front cover of Time magazine in 1962.
Meanwhile, Radziwill was a socialist interior decorator and younger sister to Jacqueline Kennedy. Joanne Carson was a model and wife to Johnny Carson, host of the Tonight Show. The last swan, Woodward, voted the “most beautiful girl” while working as a radio actress, became a socialite through marrying banking heir William Woodward Jr in 1943.
The swans were stylish, extravagant, and influential. In Laurence Leamer biography of Capote, he wrote: "Truman sailed on their yachts, flew on their planes, stayed at their estates, supped at their tables, and heard their most intimate tales.”
Capote later accumulated these tales into an article titled La Côte Basque, published in Esquire, causing him to be exiled from high society. His exposé revealed everything about the swans, from extramarital affairs, drug use, and allegedly murder and rape, through thinly disguised characters.
In the article, Keith becomes Lady Ina Coolbirth, who claims she was raped by John F Kennedy's father. And suspicion is raised over the death of Woodward's husband when Capote spills that 'Ann Hopkins' murders her husband for his wealth. Readers linked the story to Woodward, who shot and killed her husband in 1955, claiming she thought he was a burglar. The jury ruled it an accident, but Woodward later committed suicide using cyanide just days before the release of La Côte Basque. Paley's cheating husband is also exposed.Although two of the swans, Radziwill and Carson, remained loyal to Capote, he quickly turned into a social pariah. He became reliant on drugs and alcohol, but remained defiant in backing his reason for releasing the article, saying: "What did they expect? I'm a writer. I use everything.”
He died in 1984, aged 59, from liver disease.
Capote vs The Swans airs on FX on January 31 and will be available to stream on Hulu.
