Author. He wrote over 20 best-selling novels that sold over 750 million copies in 32 languages and has often been credited with launching the sex-power-glamour genre of romance novels popularized in later years by the likes of Jackie Collins and Danielle Steel. Among his best-known books is "The Carpetbaggers" (1961), which was loosely based on a composite of Howard Hughes, Bill Lear, Harry Cohn, and Louis B. Mayer, and transitions from New York to California, from the prosperity of the aeronautical industry to the glamour of Hollywood. It was adapted into both the 1964 film of the same title and the 1966 film "Nevada Smith." Born Harold Rubin to Jewish parents, his father was a pharmacist. At the age of 15, he left home to begin a series of low-paying jobs, including working as a numbers runner. At twenty, after buying options on farmers' produce, Robbins achieved wealth, but a move into the sugar futures wiped him out. He next took a job as a shipping clerk with Universal Pictures warehouse in New York and was soon promoted to executive director for budget and planning. On a bet with a studio executive, he wrote his first book, "Never Love a Stranger" (1948), which caused controversy due to its graphic sexuality. This was followed by "The Dream Merchants" (1949), a novel about the American film industry, from its beginning to the sound era. His next novel, "A Stone for Danny Fisher" (1952), was adapted into the 1958 motion picture "King Creole," which starred Elvis Presley. Following the success of "The Carpetbaggers," he wrote "Where Love Has Gone" (1962), and "The Adventurers" (1966), based on his experiences living in South America, including three months spent in the mountains of Colombia with a group of bandits, and which was adapted into the 1970 film by the same name. He created the ABC television series "The Survivors" that ran from 1969 until and starred Ralph Bellamy and Lana Turner. Other notable books include "The Betsy" (1971, adapted into the 1978 film of the same title), "The Pirate" (1974, made into a television movie in 1978), and "The Lonely Lady" (1976, adapted into the 1983 film of the same title). In 1997 he published his last novel "Tycoon," that follows the career and love-life of 'Jack Lear', an entrepreneur who builds an empire in broadcasting. He died of respiratory heart failure at the age of 81. Since his death, several new books have been published, written by ghostwriters and based on his own notes and unfinished stories, and in several of these books, Junius Podrug has been credited as the co-writer. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to films.