Sheldon's novels have sold over 300 million copies in 51 languages.[3] He is consistently cited as one of the top 10best-selling fiction writers of all time.[4]
Sheldon was born Sidney Schechtel inChicago, Illinois. His parents, of UkrainianJewish ancestry, were Ascher "Otto" Schechtel (1894–1967), manager of a jewelry store, and Natalie Marcus. At age 10, Sidney made his first sale, $5 for a poem. During theGreat Depression, he worked at a variety of jobs, and after graduating fromEast High School inDenver, Colorado, he attendedNorthwestern University on a scholarship, and contributed short plays to drama groups. He had to drop out after six months to help support his family.[5] Sheldon enlisted in the military duringWorld War II as a pilot in theWar Training Service, a branch of theArmy Air Corps.[6] His unit was disbanded, but he was discharged because of a recurring slipped disc before he was deployed.[7]
Sheldon began writingmusicals for the Broadway stage while continuing to write screenplays for bothMGM Studios andParamount Pictures. He earned a reputation as a prolific writer; for example, at one time,Ben Roberts and he had three musicals on Broadway - a rewrittenThe Merry Widow,Jackpot, andDream with Music.[8] Sheldon received aTony Award in 1959 for his musicalRedhead, starringGwen Verdon.[9] His other stage plays includeAlice in Arms,The King of New York,The Judge, andRoman Candle. OnlyRoman Candle has been published as a book. The playGomes was performed only in London and not on Broadway.
When television became the new popular medium, Sheldon decided to try his hand in it. "I suppose I needed money," he remembered. "I metPatty Duke one day at lunch. So I producedThe Patty Duke Show, and I did something nobody else in TV ever did. For seven years, I wrote almost every single episode of the series."[8]
After seeing Duke's performance asHelen Keller inThe Miracle Worker (1962), Sheldon cast the actress as the two sitcom leads, identical cousins, Patty and Cathy Lane.[12] Following the show's success, Sheldon had signed an agreement withScreen Gems to handle the development of various television series.[13]
In 1965, Sheldon created, produced, and wroteI Dream of Jeannie starringBarbara Eden andLarry Hagman.[14] He wrote all but two dozen scripts in five years, sometimes using three pseudonyms (Mark Rowane, Allan Devon, and Christopher Golato), while simultaneously writing scripts forThe Patty Duke Show. He later said that he did this because he felt his name was appearing too often in the credits as creator, producer, copyright owner, and writer of these series.[15]
Production forI Dream of Jeannie ended in 1970 after five seasons. "During the last year ofI Dream of Jeannie, I decided to try a novel," he said in 1982. "Each morning from 9 until noon, I had a secretary at the studio take all calls. I mean every single call. I wrote each morning — or rather, dictated — and then I faced the TV business."[8]
In 1970, Sheldon wrote all 17 episodes of the short-lived seriesNancy.[16]
In 1969, Sheldon wrote his first novel,The Naked Face, which earned him a nomination for theEdgar Allan Poe Award from theMystery Writers of America in the category of Best First Novel. His next novel,The Other Side of Midnight, climbed to number one onThe New York Times Best Seller list, as did several ensuing novels, a number of which were also made into motion pictures or TV miniseries. His novels often featured determined women who persevere in a tough world run by hostile men.[8] The novels contained suspense and devices to keep the reader turning the page:[8]
"I try to write my books so the reader can't put them down," he explained in a 1982 interview. "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.[8] Asked why this was the case, he said: "I like to write about women who are talented and capable, but most important, retain their femininity. Women have tremendous power — their femininity, because men can't do without it."[8] Books were Sheldon's favorite medium. "I love writing books," he commented. "Movies are a collaborative medium, and everyone is second-guessing you. When you do a novel, you're on your own. It's a freedom that doesn't exist in any other medium."[8] He was the author of 18 novels, which have sold over 300 million copies.
Sheldon was first married to Jane Kaufman Harding (1945–1946). Later, he wrote, "Regretfully, in less than a month, Jane and I realized we had made a mistake. We spent the next nine months trying in vain to make the marriage work."[20]
He was married for 30 years toJorja Curtright, a stage and film actress, who later became an interior designer.[21] She played Suzanne in the 1955 film,Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing, and appeared as Madame Zolta in season one ofI Dream of Jeannie[22] in episode 25, "Bigger Than a Bread Box".[23] Curtright died of a heart attack in 1985. Their daughter, Mary Sheldon, became a novelist, as well.[24][25]
Sheldon married Alexandra Joyce Kostoff, a former child actress,[26][27] in Las Vegas in 1989.[28]
Sheldon struggled withbipolar disorder for years; he contemplated suicide at 17 (talked out of it by his father, who found him with a bottle of whiskey and several bottles of sleeping pills), as detailed in his autobiography published in 2005,The Other Side of Me.[29]
A resident of Palm Springs, California,[30] Sheldon died on January 30, 2007, of pneumonia at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California, 12 days before his 90th birthday.[6][1] His remains were cremated; the ashes were interred inWestwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.
These books were published to introduce English-language novels in Japan. Some of the books have also been translated to Spanish, German, and Portuguese. The English versions of these books are not available outside of Japan.
^Alexandra Sheldon herself received a Golden Palm Star on thePalm Springs Walk of StarsFrenzel, Gerhard G. (1999).Portrait of the Stars. Palm Springs, CA: Palm Springs Walk of Stars. p. 99.LCCN98093956.OCLC41260876.
