Sidney Sheldon
Born in Chicago, Illinois in February of 1917, Sidney Sheldon had a way with words from the beginning. From the sale of his first poem at the young age of ten, Sheldon knew he was destined to embark on his dreams of fame.
After being an active member of many drama clubs in the area around Northwestern University while he studied, it was in 1937 that he took his travels to Hollywood to start his career. Starting out, he held less than desirable roles of going over scripts of movies that never truly made themselves a hit, and a bit disappointed he then enlisted to fight as a pilot in World War II.
Upon the end of his tour of duty, Sidney Sheldon then relocated to New York with the hopes of writing for Broadway. He continued to pen musicals while simultaneously writing screenplays.
He finally met success with 'The Merry Widow', 'Jackpot', and 'Dream with Music', all becoming hits on the Broadway stage. Garnering the interest of the film industry, he again returned to Hollywood and this time was a hit with 'The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer' meriting an Academy Award.
Following this came a string of classic television series, including 'The Patty Duke Show', shows on 'Hart to Hart', and then the iconic 'I Dream of Jeannie' which he both produced and created. Venturing outside of the small screen, he published 'The Naked Face' in 1969 as his first book and was then nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award.
Following this he was able to top the list of The New York Times best-sellers for multiple novels. He had a penchant for wit and timing which was adored by his fans, and his Tony Award, Academy Award for Writing an Original Screenplay and the Emmy Award nomination all attest to such.
Sidney Sheldon was laid to rest in January of 2007 due to pneumonia complications, but his legacy lives on.
