He is the son of the the writer Dominick Dunne and the nephew of two more writers, John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion. That’s not really an accomplishment; it’s an accident of birth, like being French, only better, but it would have seemed coy, somehow, not to mention it. I first became aware of him in 1981 when he starred in An American Werewolf in London. Since then, he’s acted in scores of movies, and directed both movies and television shows. A fine talker, too. Listen.

• PERSON: his grandfather Thomas Griffin
• PLACE: pond on his property in Dutchess County
• THING: photo of him meeting the Beatles

• RANDY’S THING: Insomnia