Judith Krantz American writer Date of Birth: 09.01.1928 Country: USA

Biography of Judith Krantz

American writer Judith Krantz (née Tarcher) was born on January 9, 1928, in New York City. She spent her childhood in New York City, where she was known as "the youngest, smartest, and shortest girl." After graduating from the prestigious Birch Wathen High School, Krantz, at the age of sixteen, enrolled at the equally prestigious Wellesley College. In 1982, Krantz revealed to the Boston Globe her reasons for attending Wellesley: to meet boys, read all the novels in the library, and graduate from the university. Known as "Torchy" by her dorm mates (a nickname derived from her last name, Tarcher), Krantz was the only girl in her class who went on 13 consecutive dates with 13 different men. Unfortunately, her academic achievements were not as impressive as her extracurricular activities. Krantz received an A in English, but scored Bs in her specialized subjects and Cs in all other disciplines. However, after taking a class in short story writing during her sophomore year, her grades improved significantly. In 1948, Krantz graduated from Wellesley and moved to Paris, where she worked in fashion public relations. She enjoyed attending fashionable parties, wearing couture dresses, and socializing with famous individuals such as Marilyn Dietrich, Orson Welles, and Hubert de Givenchy. The following year, Krantz returned to New York and became a journalist for Good Housekeeping magazine. She began in the magazine's art department and was later promoted to editor, which allowed her to write several articles for the publication. In 1953, at a party hosted by her high school friend, Krantz met her future husband, Steve Krantz, who later became a film and television producer. On February 19, 1954, Judith and Steve started a family, and three years later, they had their first son. At that time, Judith had to give up full-time work and become a stay-at-home mom. She worked as a freelance editor, writing for publications such as Macleans, McCalls, Ladies' Home Journal, and Cosmopolitan. For many years, Steve tried to convince Judith that she was a talented storyteller, and to prove him wrong about her lack of ability in fiction, she took up writing novels. Nine months later, Judith completed her first novel, Scruples. In 1978, when Krantz turned 50, the book was published. To her surprise, Scruples topped The New York Times bestseller list. Her second novel, Princess Daisy, earned Judith $5 million even before its official publication. Princess Daisy and her next two novels also became bestsellers. Krantz's books have been translated into more than 50 languages and have been adapted into films.