Sidney Sheldon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sidney Sheldon
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| Born | Sidney Schechtel February 11, 1917 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | January 30, 2007 (aged 89) Rancho Mirage, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Novelist, screenwriter, television producer |
| Period | 1941–2007 |
| Genre | Crime fiction, thriller |
| Spouse |
Jane Kaufman Harding
(m. 1945; div. 1946)Jorja Curtright
(m. 1951; died 1985)Alexandra Joyce Kostoff
(m. 1989) |
Sidney Sheldon (born February 11, 1917 – died January 30, 2007) was a famous American writer. He was very successful starting in the 1930s. First, he wrote plays for Broadway, which is a famous theater area in New York City. Then, he wrote for movies. One of his most famous movie scripts was for the comedy The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947). This movie helped him win an Oscar award in 1948.
Later, Sidney Sheldon worked in television for over 20 years. He created popular TV shows like The Patty Duke Show (1963–66), I Dream of Jeannie (1965–70), and Hart to Hart (1979–84). After he turned 50, he started writing best-selling romantic suspense novels. Some of his well-known books include Master of the Game (1982), The Other Side of Midnight (1973), and Rage of Angels (1980).
Sidney Sheldon wrote 18 novels that have sold over 300 million copies. His books have been translated into 51 languages. He is often named as one of the top-10 best-selling fiction writers of all time.
Contents
Early Life and Beginnings
Sidney Sheldon was born Sidney Schechtel in Chicago, Illinois. His parents, Ascher "Otto" Schechtel and Natalie Marcus, were from a Russian Jewish background. His father managed a jewelry store. When Sidney was just 10 years old, he sold his first poem for US$5.
During the Great Depression, which was a very tough economic time, he worked many different jobs. After finishing high school at East High School in Denver, Colorado, he went to Northwestern University on a scholarship. He wrote short plays for drama groups there. However, he had to leave college after six months to help his family during the Depression.
During World War II, Sheldon joined the military as a pilot. He was part of the War Training Service, which was connected to the Army Air Corps. His unit was later disbanded. He was discharged from the military because of a recurring back problem before he was sent overseas.
Sheldon's Creative Career
In 1937, Sidney Sheldon moved to Hollywood. There, he reviewed movie scripts and helped write many B movies, which were lower-budget films.
Writing for Broadway
Sheldon started writing musicals for the Broadway stage. At the same time, he kept writing screenplays for big movie studios like MGM Studios and Paramount Pictures. He became known as a very productive writer. For example, at one point, he and his writing partner, Ben Roberts, had three musicals playing on Broadway at once. These included a new version of The Merry Widow, Jackpot, and Dream with Music.
In 1959, Sheldon won a Tony Award for his musical Redhead, which starred the famous actress Gwen Verdon. He also wrote other stage plays like Alice in Arms, The King of New York, The Judge, and Roman Candle. Only Roman Candle was published as a book. Another play called Gomes was performed only in London, not on Broadway.
Writing for Films
Sheldon's success on Broadway brought him back to Hollywood. His first big movie job was The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer. For this film, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1947.
He also helped write the script for the 1948 musical film Easter Parade. He was the only writer for the 1950 musical film Annie Get Your Gun. Both of these movies featured songs by the famous composer Irving Berlin.
Sidney Sheldon wrote many other movie scripts, including:
- South of Panama
- Gambling Daughters
- Dangerous Lady
- Borrowed Hero
- Mr. District Attorney in the Carter Case
- Fly-by-Night
- She's in the Army
- Nancy Goes to Rio
- Three Guys Named Mike
- No questions asked
- Rich, Young and Pretty
- Just This Once
- Remains to be Seen
- Dream Wife (which he also directed)
- You're Never Too Young
- The Birds and the Bees
- Anything Goes
- Pardners
- The Buster Keaton Story (which he also directed)
- All in a Night's Work
- Billy Rose's Jumbo
Writing for Television
When television became very popular, Sheldon decided to try writing for it. He once said he needed money, and he met actress Patty Duke. He then produced The Patty Duke Show. He did something unusual for TV writers: for seven years, he wrote almost every single episode of the series himself.
Sheldon cast Patty Duke as the two main characters, identical cousins Patty and Cathy Lane. He had seen her amazing performance as Helen Keller in the movie The Miracle Worker (1962).
In 1965, Sheldon created, produced, and wrote I Dream of Jeannie. This show starred Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman. He wrote almost all the scripts for five years, sometimes using different names (Mark Rowane, Allan Devon, and Christopher Golato). He did this because his name was appearing too often in the credits as the creator, producer, copyright owner, and writer for both I Dream of Jeannie and The Patty Duke Show.
Production for I Dream of Jeannie finished in 1970 after five seasons. Sheldon said that during the last year of I Dream of Jeannie, he decided to try writing a novel. Each morning, from 9 AM to noon, he would have his secretary hold all calls so he could focus on writing or dictating his book. After that, he would deal with his TV work.
In 1970, Sheldon wrote all 17 episodes of a short TV series called Nancy. In 1979, he created and wrote for the series Hart to Hart. This show starred Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers. It aired on ABC and ran for five seasons.
Writing Novels
In 1969, Sidney Sheldon wrote his first novel, The Naked Face. This book was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel. His next novel, The Other Side of Midnight, became a number one best-seller on The New York Times Best Seller list. Many of his later novels also became best-sellers. A number of his books were even made into movies or TV mini-series.
His novels often featured strong, determined women who succeed in a difficult world. The books were full of suspense and clever ways to keep readers hooked. He once explained:
"I try to write my books so the reader can't put them down. I try to construct them so when the reader gets to the end of it, he or she has to read just one more chapter. It's the technique of the old Saturday afternoon serial: leave the guy hanging on the edge of the cliff at the end of the chapter."
Most of his readers were women. When asked why, he said he liked to write about women who are talented and capable, but also keep their unique feminine qualities. He believed women have great power through their femininity.
Sheldon loved writing books the most. He felt that movies were a team effort where everyone had opinions, but with a novel, he was on his own. He called it a freedom that didn't exist in any other type of writing. He wrote 18 novels, selling over 300 million copies worldwide.
Three years before he passed away, the Los Angeles Times newspaper called Sheldon "Mr. Blockbuster" and "prince of potboilers," which means he wrote very popular, fast-paced books.
Personal Life
Sidney Sheldon was married three times. His first marriage was to Jane Kaufman Harding from 1945 to 1946. He later wrote that they quickly realized it was a mistake.
He was married for 30 years to Jorja Curtright. She was a stage and film actress who later became an interior designer. Jorja appeared in the 1955 film Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing. She also appeared in an episode of I Dream of Jeannie. Jorja passed away in 1985. Their daughter, Mary Sheldon, also became a novelist.
Sheldon married Alexandra Joyce Kostoff, a former child actress, in Las Vegas in 1989.
Sheldon lived with bipolar disorder for many years.
Death
Sidney Sheldon lived in Palm Springs, California. He passed away on January 30, 2007, from pneumonia. He was at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California, just 12 days before his 90th birthday. His body was cremated, and his ashes were buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.
Awards and Recognition
Sidney Sheldon won several important awards for his work:
- He won an Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay in 1947 for his movie The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer.
- He won a Tony Award in 1959 for his musical Redhead.
- He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on the TV show I Dream of Jeannie.
Sheldon was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1988. He also received a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars in 1994. In 1990, he received the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement.
See also
In Spanish: Sidney Sheldon para niños
