Judith Krantz
Encyclopedia
Judith Krantz is an American
novelist who writes in the romance
genre
. Her works include Scruples
, Princess Daisy, and Till We Meet Again
.
. She was the "youngest, smartest, and shortest girl" in her year. After graduating from the upscale Birch Wathen School
at age 16, Krantz enrolled at Wellesley College.
Krantz told the Boston Globe in 1982 that she attended Wellesley with three goals: to date, to read every novel in the library, and to graduate. "Torchy", as her dormmates named her, held the dorm dating record as the only one to have 13 consecutive dates with 13 different men. Her grades, unfortunately, were not as impressive as her extracurricular activities. Krantz earned one A-plus in English, but had a B- average in her major and C average in everything else. Krantz had the opportunity to improve her marks when she took a short-story class during her sophomore year. Although the professor enjoyed her writing, he refused to give her an A because she had atrocious spelling, and he thought the B would teach her a lesson. Krantz claims to have learned the lesson well -- she did not write fiction again for 31 years.
After graduating from Wellesley in 1948, Krantz moved to Paris
, where she worked in fashion public relations
. She enjoyed attending elegant parties, borrowing couture
gowns, and meeting famous people such as Marlene Dietrich
, Orson Welles
and Hubert de Givenchy
.
before being promoted to fashion editor and having the opportunity to write several articles for the magazine.
In 1953 Krantz attended a Fourth of July party hosted by her high school friend, Barbara Walters
. There she met her future husband, the future film producer
and television producer
Steve Krantz
. The two were married the following year, on February 19, 1954. Three years later, she gave birth to their first son, and she gave up her full-time job, choosing instead to write part-time from home. She wrote many free-lance articles for Maclean's, McCall's
, Ladies' Home Journal
, and Cosmopolitan
. Her best-known article by far was "The Myth of the Multiple Orgasm", which was published in Cosmopolitan. Her magazine career gave Krantz an opportunity to interview many prominent women.
She completed her first novel, Scruples
, nine months later. The year it was published, 1978, Krantz turned 50. In an unusual turn of events for the time, the books were not copyrighted under her own name but by Steve Krantz Productions. That first novel reached the number one spot on the New York Times bestseller list. Her second novel, Princess Daisy, netted her an astounding $5 million before its publication. The paperback rights sold for a then-record $3.2 million. Princess Daisy and her next two novels also became number one bestsellers. Over 80 million copies of her books are in print in over 50 languages. Seven of her novels have also been adapted for television (as either films or mini-series), with her husband serving as executive producer for some of them. She has also written one original mini-series for television, Judith Krantz's "Secrets", in 1992.
, an organization dedicated to providing choices for the dying. In 2006 she also joined the Board of the Music Center of Los Angeles County.
Krantz's husband Steve Krantz died in 2007 of pneumonia. They had two sons, Tony and Nicholas Krantz, both of whom reside in Los Angeles
. Krantz was the sister-in-law of Shari Lewis
, who was married to Krantz's brother, Jeremy. Mrs. Krantz now has two grandchildren, Kate and Michael Krantz.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novelist who writes in the romance
Romance novel
The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late...
genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
. Her works include Scruples
Scruples (novel)
Scruples is a 1978 novel by Judith Krantz. A direct sequel, Scruples Two, was published in 1992.The novel details the life story of protagonist Wilhelmina Hunnewell Winthrop , as she evolves from the overweight "poor relation" in an aristocratic Boston Brahmin family to become a thin, stylish...
, Princess Daisy, and Till We Meet Again
Till We Meet Again (Judith Krantz)
Till We Meet Again is a novel by Judith Krantz. It was also made into a 1989 television mini-series, Judith Krantz's Till We Meet Again starring Bruce Boxleitner, Hugh Grant, Courteney Cox, Michael York, Lucy Gutteridge, Charles Shaughnessy, Mia Sara, and Barry Bostwick....
.
Early years
Judith Krantz, known as Judy, grew up in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. She was the "youngest, smartest, and shortest girl" in her year. After graduating from the upscale Birch Wathen School
The Birch Wathen Lenox School
The Birch Wathen Lenox School is a New York City college preparatory K-12 school on New York City's Upper East Side of Manhattan. BWL comprises approximately 500 students from all around New York City...
at age 16, Krantz enrolled at Wellesley College.
Krantz told the Boston Globe in 1982 that she attended Wellesley with three goals: to date, to read every novel in the library, and to graduate. "Torchy", as her dormmates named her, held the dorm dating record as the only one to have 13 consecutive dates with 13 different men. Her grades, unfortunately, were not as impressive as her extracurricular activities. Krantz earned one A-plus in English, but had a B- average in her major and C average in everything else. Krantz had the opportunity to improve her marks when she took a short-story class during her sophomore year. Although the professor enjoyed her writing, he refused to give her an A because she had atrocious spelling, and he thought the B would teach her a lesson. Krantz claims to have learned the lesson well -- she did not write fiction again for 31 years.
After graduating from Wellesley in 1948, Krantz moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where she worked in fashion public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
. She enjoyed attending elegant parties, borrowing couture
Haute couture
Haute couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses,...
gowns, and meeting famous people such as Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
, Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
and Hubert de Givenchy
Hubert de Givenchy
Count Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy is a French aristocrat and fashion designer who founded The House of Givenchy in 1952. He is famous for having designed much of the personal and professional wardrobe of Audrey Hepburn, as well as clothing for clients such as Jacqueline Kennedy...
.
Magazines
The following year, Krantz returned to New York, where she embarked on a career in magazine journalism. She worked in the fiction department at Good HousekeepingGood Housekeeping
Good Housekeeping is a women's magazine owned by the Hearst Corporation, featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, health as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Housekeeping Seal," popularly known as the...
before being promoted to fashion editor and having the opportunity to write several articles for the magazine.
In 1953 Krantz attended a Fourth of July party hosted by her high school friend, Barbara Walters
Barbara Walters
Barbara Jill Walters is an American broadcast journalist, author, and television personality. She has hosted morning television shows , the television newsmagazine , former co-anchor of the ABC Evening News, and current contributor to ABC News.Walters was first known as a popular TV morning news...
. There she met her future husband, the future film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
and television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
Steve Krantz
Steve Krantz
Stephen Falk Krantz was a film producer and writer who was most active from 1966 to 1996.- Career :Born in Brooklyn, New York, Steve Krantz graduated from Columbia University and went on to serve in the U.S. Army Air Forces in the Pacific during World War II as a second lieutenant.He worked as a...
. The two were married the following year, on February 19, 1954. Three years later, she gave birth to their first son, and she gave up her full-time job, choosing instead to write part-time from home. She wrote many free-lance articles for Maclean's, McCall's
McCall's
McCall's was a monthly American women's magazine that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. It was established as a small-format magazine called The Queen in 1873...
, Ladies' Home Journal
Ladies' Home Journal
Ladies' Home Journal is an American magazine which first appeared on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States...
, and Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
. Her best-known article by far was "The Myth of the Multiple Orgasm", which was published in Cosmopolitan. Her magazine career gave Krantz an opportunity to interview many prominent women.
Novels
In 1976, Krantz's husband decided to take flying lessons. Krantz chose to join him, despite the fact that she was afraid of flying. Having conquered that fear, she determined to face her other fears. For the first time since college, she attempted to write fiction. Although her husband had been insisting for years that she was a natural storyteller, Krantz believed that she was writing the book simply to prove to him that she was not able to write good fiction.She completed her first novel, Scruples
Scruples
The word scruples or scruple can mean: – a doubt or hesitation that troubles the conscience or that comes from the difficulty of determining whether something is right...
, nine months later. The year it was published, 1978, Krantz turned 50. In an unusual turn of events for the time, the books were not copyrighted under her own name but by Steve Krantz Productions. That first novel reached the number one spot on the New York Times bestseller list. Her second novel, Princess Daisy, netted her an astounding $5 million before its publication. The paperback rights sold for a then-record $3.2 million. Princess Daisy and her next two novels also became number one bestsellers. Over 80 million copies of her books are in print in over 50 languages. Seven of her novels have also been adapted for television (as either films or mini-series), with her husband serving as executive producer for some of them. She has also written one original mini-series for television, Judith Krantz's "Secrets", in 1992.
Family
Krantz serves on the Advisory Board of Compassion & ChoicesCompassion & Choices
Compassion & Choices is a nonprofit organization in the United States working to improve patients' rights and choices at the end of life...
, an organization dedicated to providing choices for the dying. In 2006 she also joined the Board of the Music Center of Los Angeles County.
Krantz's husband Steve Krantz died in 2007 of pneumonia. They had two sons, Tony and Nicholas Krantz, both of whom reside in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Krantz was the sister-in-law of Shari Lewis
Shari Lewis
Shari Lewis was an American ventriloquist, puppeteer, and children's television show host, most popular during the 1960s and 1990s...
, who was married to Krantz's brother, Jeremy. Mrs. Krantz now has two grandchildren, Kate and Michael Krantz.
Novels
- ScruplesScruples (novel)Scruples is a 1978 novel by Judith Krantz. A direct sequel, Scruples Two, was published in 1992.The novel details the life story of protagonist Wilhelmina Hunnewell Winthrop , as she evolves from the overweight "poor relation" in an aristocratic Boston Brahmin family to become a thin, stylish...
(1978) (adapted as a TV mini-series in 1980) - Princess DaisyPrincess Daisy (novel)Princess Daisy is a 1980 romance novel by American author Judith Krantz.-Plot summary:The novel tells the story of Princess Marguerite "Daisy" Valensky. She is the daughter of Prince Alexander "Stash" Valensky, a wealthy Russian-born polo player and former playboy, and his wife Francesca Vernon, a...
(1980) (adapted as a TV mini-series in 1983) - Mistral's Daughter (1982) (adapted as a TV mini-series in 1984)
- I'll Take ManhattanI'll Take ManhattanFor the song, see Manhattan .I'll Take Manhattan is a 1986 novel by Judith Krantz.The book was turned into a CBS television miniseries, I'll Take Manhattan, in 1987....
(1986) (adapted as a TV mini-series in 1987) - Till We Meet AgainTill We Meet Again (Judith Krantz)Till We Meet Again is a novel by Judith Krantz. It was also made into a 1989 television mini-series, Judith Krantz's Till We Meet Again starring Bruce Boxleitner, Hugh Grant, Courteney Cox, Michael York, Lucy Gutteridge, Charles Shaughnessy, Mia Sara, and Barry Bostwick....
(1988) (adapted as a TV mini-series in 1989) - Dazzle (1990) (adapted as a TV mini-series in 1995)
- Scruples Two (1992)
- Torch SongTorch Song (1993 film)Judith Krantz's Torch Song is a 1993 Made-for-TV drama film directed by Michael Miller. It stars Raquel Welch, Jack Scalia and Alicia Silverstone.- Plot :...
(1993) (adapted as a made-for-TV movie in 1993) - Lovers (1994)
- Lexus (1995)
- Spring Collection (1996)
- The Jewels of Tessa Kent (1998)
Non-fiction
- Sex and Shopping: The Confessions of a Nice Jewish Girl (2000) (autobiography)
Original Television Work
- Judith Krantz's "Secrets" (1992 TV mini-series, not based on a source novel)