Robbins, Harold (1916–1997)

US writer. He produced a series of best sellers, mostly violent and sexually charged adventure novels such as The Carpetbaggers (1961). In later years he lived in Cannes, France. His other novels include The Adventurers (1966), The Betsy (1971), The Stallion (1996), and Tycoon (1997).

He was born in New York City. Abandoned as an infant, he was adopted in 1927 and took the name of Harold Rubin (when he began his writing career he legally changed his name to Harold Robbins). He studied at a high school in New York City, then held a variety of jobs, such as clerk, cashier, and bookies' runner 1927–31. He made a fortune in the food distribution business in the 1930s and lost it speculating. He worked as a warehouse clerk for Universal Pictures in New York (1940–41), and was a director of budget and planning there (1942–57).