John "Jonathan" Gilmore (July 5, 1935 – October 13, 2016)[1] was an American author and gonzo journalist known for iconoclastic Hollywood memoirs, true crime literature and hard-boiled fiction.

Gilmore's father became a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer, and also wrote and acted on radio shows, a police public service (the shows featured promising movie starlets as well as established performers like Bonita Granville, Ann Rutherford, the "jungle girl" Acquanetta, Joan Davis, Hillary Brooke, Ann Jeffreys, Brenda Marshall and other players young John Gilmore became acquainted with.

Actors Ida Lupino and John Hodiak were mentors to Gilmore, who worked in numerous television shows and feature films at Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, and Universal International studios.

After five years in which he wrote a dozen motion picture scripts and developed film projects with director Curtis Harrington, Gilmore eventually settled into a literary career as a journalist, true crime writer and novelist.

[3] Gilmore's acting career consisted mainly of guest spots on many of the most popular shows of the time such as Bonanza and Naked City, but it was his offscreen exploits which made him a familiar face to audiences.

While Gilmore was living in New York City in the spring of 1953, a mutual friend, movie bit-player and extra, Ray Curry, introduced him to actor James Dean.

In the late 1950s, John Gilmore spent time in Paris, France, frequented the Beat Hotel, sustained friendships with novelist Françoise Sagan and movie star Brigitte Bardot.

Occurring in 1947, at a time when his father was on the police force, Gilmore's book Severed: The True Story of the Black Dahlia Murder earned him wide recognition.

According to the Publishers Weekly review, in the book "Gilmore presents evidence that strengthens the LAPD's case against chief suspect Jack Wilson, a reclusive, alcoholic burglar and possible serial killer".

[15] The motion picture rights to Severed: The True Story of the Black Dahlia Murder had been under option by Edward Pressman Films for six years, during which time David Lynch was brought in to direct.

"[16] John Gilmore's second 1996 release received praise from the New York Times Book Review for his story on the life and crimes of multiple murderer, Charles Schmid.

In 1997, in "Laid Bare", his first book of memoirs, Gilmore recounts his associations beginning in the 1950s and through the 1960s with Hank Williams, Janis Joplin, Jack Nicholson, Jane Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Brigitte Bardot, Jean Seberg, Steve McQueen, Irish McCalla, Jayne Mansfield, Ed Wood, and other personalities.