Sidney Sheldon, born February 11, 1917 in Chicago,
Illinois, is an American screenwriter and novelist.
Sheldon's career began in 1937 in Hollywood, California where he
reviewed scripts and collaborated on a number of B-movies. After
a stint in the military during World War II, Sheldon returned to
civilian life and began writing musicals for the Broadway stage
while continuing to write screenplays for both MGM Studios and Paramount
Pictures.
Over the years, Sheldon has written for television,
film, and stage, winning an Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay
(1947), a Tony Award (1959) for his musical Redhead, and earned
Emmy nominations for his work on I Dream of Jeannie.
In 1969, Sheldon wrote his first novel, The Naked
Face which earned him the Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writer's
of America. His next novel, The Other Side of Midnight, went to #1
on the New York Times bestseller list as did several ensuing novels,
a number of which were also made into motion pictures or TV miniseries.
