US:Sidney Sheldon, the Oscar- winning Hollywood screenwriter who went on to become one of the world's most prolific novelists, died in California on Tuesday at the age of 89.
Sheldon died of complications from pneumonia at the Eisenhower Medical Center near his Palm Springs home. He became an American icon in the 1970s with novels like The Other Side of Midnight and Bloodline, best- sellers spun out of international intrigue and the sexual liberation of the era.
Strong women were often the main characters.
He published 18 novels and sold 300 million copies, making him a paperback stand staple for decades. Translations into 71 languages in 180 countries won him a listing in The Guinness Book of Records as "the world's most translated author".
Before his career in fiction took off after he turned 50, the Chicago native had made his mark in Hollywood movies and television and in Broadway theatre. After heading to Los Angeles at 17, he started as a script reader at major studios, and then had three Broadway musical hits by the age of 25.
His big break came five years later in 1948 when he won an academy award for original screenplay for The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy.
Working as a screenwriter at both MGM and Paramount Pictures, Sheldon went on to write 25 films, including Easter Parade, showcasing Judy Garland and Fred Astaire, Annie Get Your Gun, Jumbo, and Anything Goes, featuring Bing Crosby.
Sheldon is survived by his wife, Alexandra, a daughter, Mary, and a brother, Richard.