After years as both an actor and a screenwriter, Cliff Dorfman is ready to set the stage for the next phase of his Hollywood career with his most personal project to date.
Dorfman, 58, rose to prominence in the 1990s with supporting roles on “Beverly Hills, 90210,” among other shows. After shifting his focus to screenwriting, he wrote 14 episodes of HBO’s “Entourage” and co-wrote the screenplay for the 2011 feature film “Warrior,” starring Tom Hardy.
Despite those accomplishments, Dorfman says, he never had a chance to “understand my own story — and to survive it” until he wrote Crime Family, his debut novel. Published in July, the 287-page thriller follows Chase Forman, a Hollywood writer who returns to his native Long Island, New York, to assist his family as his adoptive father’s health and mental acuity decline.
Though Chase has spent most of his adulthood distancing himself from the Formans, he soon discovers that his family is part of an organized crime empire, with his adoptive mother, Helene, personally overseeing an international money-laundering operation. What follows is a gripping bicoastal chase as Chase and his family members become fugitives on the run from the FBI.