BESTSELLING novelist Harold Robbins, who chronicled the lives of the jet set in such books as The Carpetbaggers, has died aged 81 of respiratory heart failure.
Robbins sold more than 750 million books in a career that spanned a half-century.
His wife, Jan, was at his bedside in hospital in Palm Springs. Robbins, who is also survived by two daughters, Adreana and Caryn, was married six times.
Robbins suffered a stroke in 1982 and also had hip problems that kept him in a wheelchair.
He wrote his first book, Never Love a Stranger, to win a $100 bet with a former executive of Universal Pictures where Robbins worked at the time. ''I bet I could write a better story than whatever the studio was then considering,'' he said at the time. Never Love a Stranger became a bestseller and a hit movie with Steve McQueen.
It was followed by 22 other novels, most of which were made into films. His novels, often criticised for their steamy sex and outrageous situations, were translated into 32 languages.
In 1961, he wrote one of his most popular books, The Carpetbaggers, a tale of modern empire-building that some saw as inspired by billionaire recluse, Howard Hughes.
Among his best-known books were A Stone for Danny Fisher, based on his early life and which the critics actually praised, The Inheritors, The Betsy and The Lonely Lady.
Books and movie versions earned Robbins millions. In addition to a mansion in Beverly Hills, he owned homes in France and Acapulco, an 85ft yacht and over a dozen cars.
It was a far cry from his childhood in an orphanage in the Hell's Kitchen section of New York City. Born Frank Kane on May 21, 1916, his name was changed to Harold Rubin by foster parents and changed once again when his publisher said Harold Rubin was no name for a writer. He made it Harold Robbins.
Robbins left home and high school at age 15 to work in a succession of odd jobs. While a grocery clerk, he noticed the high demand for canned foods and, by age 20, became a millionaire through brokering commodities, but lost it all.
In an interview, Robbins said: ''I won't leave any unfinished manuscripts. I'll live till I'm 200 years old, and I'll write all the stories that are in me. Put it on my tombstone: 'He finished his job and went home'.''
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