“It is my understanding from a college lit. course that Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird) pretty much wrote the book; in the recent movies on Capote she certainly plays a prominent role. IMHO.”
I don’t think Capote needed Lee to write the book for him, he was talented enough himself. Lee & Capote were friends from childhood, that’s why she shows up in the recent movies. A lady I worked with lived in the same area in Alabama as Harper Lee. When they were both adults, Capote would come and visit Lee on occassion, staying overnight at her house. This was considered scandalous at the time, the local residents being blissfully unaware that Capote was gay.
I do not think she showed up in the movie because they were childhood friends, she showed up in the movie because she worked with him on the book.