Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, the German-born novelist andaward winning screen writer for Merchant-Ivory Productions, died Wednesday ather home in New York. She is survived by three daughters.
The 85-year old writer, who set the locale of many of herstories in India, was suffering from pulmonary disorder, US media reported,quoting filmmaker James Ivory. Jhabvala was associated with Ivory since the1960s.
After moving to New Delhi with her Indian-born husband inthe 1950s, Jhabvala wrote a series of novels and short stories about India. Shewas invited in 1961 to write the script for "The Householder" byIsmail Merchant, a young producer of Indian origin. The movie was made by JamesIvory in 1963.
The trio went to become the most creative team in thecrossover movie industry, making more than 20 films. Jhabvala won the Oscar in1987 and 1993 for her screenplays of the "Room With A View" and"Howards' End" by E.M. Forster.
Born Rith Prawar in Cologne in Germany to Jewishparents, the family fled the Nazi regime in 1939 to Britain. She became aBritish citizen in 1948 and received her master's degree from the University ofLondon in 1951. She married Cyrus H. Jhabvala, an Indian Parsi architect, thesame year and came to India .
