Harold Robbins was born in New York City on May 21, 1916. He later claimed to be a Jewish orphan who had been raised in a Catholic boys' home, but in reality he was raised in Brooklyn by his father and stepmother. He made his first million at the age of twenty by selling sugar for wholesale trade. By the beginning of World War II, he lost all his fortunes. He eventually moved to Hollywood and worked for Universal Pictures.
His first book, Never Love a Stranger, was published in 1948. He began writing full time in 1957. He published more than 20 books during his lifetime including The Dream Merchants (1949), The Betsy (1971), The Storyteller (1982), and The Carpetbaggers (1961). His novel, A Stone for Danny Fisher (1951), was adapted into a 1958 motion picture King Creole starring Elvis Presley.
He died from respiratory heart failure on October 14, 1997 at the age of 81. Since his death, several new books have been published, written by ghostwriters and based on his notes and unfinished stories.
030