Oscar winner, prolific novelist and American icon Sidney Sheldon dies

SIDNEY Sheldon, an Oscar-winning Hollywood screenwriter who went on to become one of the world’s most prolific novelists, died in California on Tuesday at the age of 89, a publicist said.

Mr Sheldon died of complications from pneumonia at the Eisenhower Medical Centre in Rancho Mirage, near his Palm Springs home, said Sean Rossall, publicist at Warren Cowan and Associates.

Mr Sheldon became an American icon in the 1970s with novels like The Other Side of Midnight and Bloodline, bestsellers spun out of international intrigue and the sexual liberation of the era. Strong women were often the main characters.

He published 18 novels and sold 300 million copies, making him a paperback stand staple for decades.

Translations into 71 languages in 180 countries won him a listing in The Guinness Book of Records as “the world’s most translated author”. But before his career in fiction took off after turning 50, the Chicago native had made his mark in Hollywood movies and television as well as in Broadway theatre.

His big break came in 1948 when he won an Academy Award for original screenplay for The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer, starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy.

Working as a screenwriter at both MGM and Paramount Pictures, Mr Sheldon went on to write 25 films, including Easter Parade, showcasing Judy Garland and Fred Astaire.

In 1963, he turned to the fledgling television industry as screenwriter for The Patty Duke Show and followed up in 1964 by creating, producing and writing the hit show I Dream of Jeannie.

He is survived by his wife, Alexandra, his daughter, Mary, and a brother, Richard.

The family did not give details of funeral arrangements, but said a “celebration of his life” will be held at a date to be determined.