Harold Robbins
| Harold Robbins | |
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Harold Robbins (1979)
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| Born |
Harold Rubin May 21, 1916 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | October 14, 1997 (aged 81) Palm Springs, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Cemetery, Cathedral City, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Author |
| Spouse(s) | Lillian Machnivitz (1937–1962; divorced) Grace Palermo (1965–?; divorced) Jann Stapp (1992–1997, his death) |
Harold Robbins (May 21, 1916 – October 14, 1997) was an American author of popular novels. One of the best-selling writers of all time, he penned over 25 best-sellers, selling over 750 million copies in 32 languages.
Born Harold Rubin in New York City, Robbins later claimed to be a Jewish orphan who had been raised in a Catholic boys' home, whereas in reality he was the son of well-educated Russian- and Polish-Jewish immigrants. He was raised by his father, who was a pharmacist, and his stepmother, in Brooklyn.
Robbins dropped out of high school in the late 1920s to work in a variety of jobs including errand boy, bookies' runner and inventory clerk in a grocer's. He was employed by Universal Pictures from 1940 to 1957, starting off as a clerk but attaining promotion to executive level.
His first book was Never Love a Stranger (1948). The Dream Merchants (1949) was a novel about the American film industry, from its beginning to the sound era. Again, Robbins blended his own experiences with historical facts, melodrama, sex and action, into a fast-moving story. His 1952 novel, A Stone for Danny Fisher, was adapted into a 1958 motion picture King Creole, which starred Elvis Presley.
Among his best-known books is The Carpetbaggers – featuring a loose composite of Howard Hughes, Bill Lear, Harry Cohn, and Louis B. Mayer.The Carpetbaggers takes the reader from New York to California, from the prosperity of the aeronautical industry to the glamor of Hollywood. Its sequel, The Raiders, was released in 1995.
After The Carpetbaggers and Where Love Has Gone (1962) came The Adventurers (1966), based on Robbins’s experiences living in South America, including three months spent in the mountains of Colombia with a group of bandits. He created the ABC television series The Survivors (1969-1970), starring Ralph Bellamy and Lana Turner.
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