American writer Jack Dunphy was BOTD in 1914. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to a working-class family, he trained as a ballet dancer, performing in the 1929 New York World’s Fair and touring with George Balanchine’s dance company. He married fellow dancer Joan McCracken in 1939, appearing together in the original 1943 Broadway production of Oklahoma! Following the United States’ entry into World War Two, he enlisted in the US Army, and began writing and publishing short stories while in active service. After the war, he and McCracken divorced, and he moved to New York City, publishing his debut novel John Fury in 1946. In 1948, he met the writer Truman Capote, beginning a non-exclusive relationship that lasted until Capote’s death. They maintained separate residences, though lived together in Taormina, Sicily throughout the 1950s. His subsequent novels and stage plays were poorly received, as his reputation became eclipsed by Capote’s celebrity. Dunphy remained friends until Capote’s death in 1984, and became the chief beneficiary of Capote’s will. In later life, he reluctantly agreed to write a memoir of his life with Capote, resulting in the slim and somewhat underwhelming biographical sketch Dear Genius, published in 1987. He died in 1992, aged 77. His ashes were scattered with Capote’s at a monument in Southampton, New York. He was portrayed by Bruce Greenwood in the 2005 biopic Capote, by John Benjamin Hickey in 2006’s Infamous and by Joe Mantello in Ryan Murphy‘s 2024 TV series Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, typically characterised as a stabilising and cautionary influence in Capote’s chaotic life.