By Ellen Madden
Danielle Fernades Dominique Schuelein-Steel was born on the 14th of August 1977 in New York, America. Her father was John Schuelein-Steel, a German-Jewish immigrant, while her mother was Norma da Camara Stone des Reis from Portugal. She was raised in France and took part in her parents’ dinners with wealthy friends. When Danielle was 8 years old, her parents divorced, and her father gained custody.
However, her parents’ divorce never stopped her from falling in love multiple times and getting married 6 times to Claude-Eric Lazard, Danny Zugelder, William George Toth, John Triana, Thomas Perkins, and Ian Matthews. It did cause a lot of heartbreak as each love story ended in divorce. When Danielle was married to John Trina, he privately adopted her son Nick. However, these records were released to the public as a result of a court case involving the adoption information being in a book, as the judge believed they didn’t deserve privacy due to Steels’ fame.
Throughout her life she authored stories, poetry and novels, spending most of her career in California. She is known for selling over 800 fictional copies of her 190 books and 140 novels. Most of her life she was writing at least five books at one time. These publications included various troubling scenarios, including fraud, extortion, prison, and suicide. These publications were adapted into 43 languages, 22 television shows and 2 were nominated for Golden Globes.
Danielle is known for being a romantic contemporary author, but she also wrote a non-fiction book on miscarriage and 57 children’s books, which were based on new milestones such as first sleepover, doctor visit and family.
Danielle’s career started in 1965 when she completed her first manuscript at nineteen years old. While working at Supergirls and an American public relations agency, she later moved to San Francisco as Grey Advertising’s copywriter. Due to her passion for being an author, she became “permanently” listed as one of the New York Times paperback and hardcover bestsellers. This led to her breaking a Guinness World Record for being a New York Times bestseller for 456 weeks.
Between 2003 and 2007, Danielle established an art gallery showcasing paintings and sculptures created by upcoming artists. In 2006, Danielle partnered with Elizabeth Arden to create a new perfume called “Danielle by Danielle Steel.” She also partnered with SFGate in 2014 on an article about San Francisco changing.
She used her platform to bring awareness towards mental health and was awarded numerous service awards, including the American Psychiatric Associations’ “Distinguished Service Award” and Induction into the California Hall of Fame in 2009.