In episode one ofFeud: Capote vs.
He knows its coming: Why does she keep staring at me?
he slurs to his dining companions, Babe Paley (Naomi Watts), C.Z.
William “Bill” and Ann Woodward, photographed at the Embassy Club in 1955.
Guest (Chloe Sevigny), and Slim Keith (Diane Lane).
Maybe because you keep telling everyone shes a murderess, Slim replies.
You fucking little piece of shit, Ann says to Truman.
Despite their different backgrounds, William and Ann bonded over their love of horse racing and breeding.
You think you dont know?
I know what youre saying about me.
Youre telling people that I murdered my poor late husband?
A society photograph of Ann Woodward, date unknown.
Thats slander and libel!
Feud: Capote vs. Ann Crowell and William Bill Woodward met at the Copacabana nightclub in 1943.
He was a recent Harvard graduate serving in the navy, she a dancer in the chorus line.
They married soon after.
This was all far from where Crowell grew up, on a farm in Kansas.
(She had moved to New York City to be a model after graduating high school.)
Jealousy ran rampant between Ann and Bill.
She claimed it was an accident: Days earlier, their home had been burglarized.
When she heard noises in the middle of the night, she believed it was the intruder returning.
It was her husband.
Later that year, however, a grand jury found no crime had been committed.
(Poor Rich Boys on a 70G Budget, snarked theDaily Newsin October 1966.)
This all provided great gossip for Manhattans ladies who lunch.
(The fictionalized story subsequently caused his exile from high society.)
Calling her a malicious Betty Grable, Capote spun an origin story almost identical to their real-life counterparts.
While in the navy, David wandered into Cutlers club, where she was working with a dancer.
She certainly grasped the essentials, Ill say that.
She learned to ride and became the horsiest horse-hag in Newport.
A note was found by her bed.
In it, she asked the unaddressed reader to remember Ann Woodward.
La Cote Basque was published shortly after.
And the short story had been discussed before it was published in mid October.
Well have to see what the fallout will be like, he told theLos Angeles Timesdays before its publication.
After the runaway success ofIn Cold Blood, the author wanted to pursue another true-crime case.
Perhaps Ann surmised she was a target, or perhaps her demise had nothing to do with Capote.
To this day, the exact reasons for her suicide remain unknown.
Additional research provided by Deirdre McCabe Nolan.
