Darwin Porter (born 1937) is known as one of the writers of the Frommer's travel guides and a sensationalist Hollywood biographer known for books whose source material derives from transcription of oral dialogues from living witnesses of not-widely-publicized events and relationships in the entertainment industry, or of conversations and events created from whole cloth.
Porter was born in western North Carolina and grew up in Miami Beach, Florida. He attended the University of Miami and graduated in 1959. At the age of 20, he became an entertainment columnist for The Miami Herald, later being made bureau chief in Key West.
He has written biographies of Merv Griffin, Michael Jackson, Steve McQueen, Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando, Howard Hughes, Katharine Hepburn, and Paul Newman, in many cases after their deaths. Some of his works have been serialized by major broadsheet newspapers in the UK, including The Sunday Times.
Many of his biographies were published by Blood Moon Productions (www.BloodMoonProductions.com), a New York City-based press directed by Danforth Prince. Blood Moon originated as the Georgia Literary Association in 1997.
Porter also recently contributed commentary tracks to numerous DVD releases of classic films.