‘Sweet Valley High’ Creator Francine Pascal Dies Aged 92 After Blood Cancer Battle
Francine Pascal passed away at age 92.
July 30 2024, Published 2:57 p.m. ET
Francine Pascal, the creator of Sweet Valley High, has died at the age of 92, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Pascal passed away following a battle with lymphoma.
Pascal died on Sunday after a battle with blood cancer.
The beloved author first captivated audiences when Sweet Valley High debuted in 1983, after a friend reportedly mentioned to Pascal there was no teen version of then-hit soap opera Dallas.
Pascal was inspired by her friend's comment to create the fictional series centered around California twin sisters Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield.
Brittany and Cynthia Daniel brought Pascal's Wakefield sisters to live in the TV adaptation.
Sweet Valley High's debut was met with massive success, with numerous sequels and spin-offs — including The Unicorn Club and Sweet Valley University — that followed the Wakefield twins through various phases of their life from middle school to college.
While Pascal only authored the first 12 books of the series, she had her hand in writing the outlines for several others. The books eventually transcended mediums when they were adapted into a TV series in 1994 and ran for four seasons starring twins Brittany and Cynthia Daniel.
Selling over 200 million copies, Pascal's Sweet Valley High is considered one of the most successful teen series of all time — and spawned a new genre focusing on teen audiences.
In the years since the series debut, shows such as Dawson's Creek, Degrassi and the OC drew inspiration from Pascal's characters and entertained audiences in the '90s and early 2000s.
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Pascal's series helped bring the young adult genre into the mainstream.
While Sweet Valley High was born out of an idea to cater to teen culture and audiences, the series was revamped in 2011 with Sweet Valley Confidential, which followed the Wakefield sisters in their 30s.
Before Pascal became a best-selling young adult author, she worked for a variety of publications including Ladies' Home Journal, True Confessions and Cosmopolitan. While she is best known for Sweet Valley High, Pascal published her first young adult novel — Hangin’ Out With Cici — in 1977.
Like Sweet Valley High, Hangin' Out With Cici was also adapted into a TV special.
Pascal was born in 1932 in Manhattan. She grew up in Queens and went on to attend New York University, where she studied journalism. Pascal married first husband Jerome Offenberg in 1958. Pascal and Jerome shared three children together and divorced in 1963.
Pascal married second husband John Pascal in 1964. The husband-wife duo were hired as writers for the soap opera The Young Marrieds and later wrote a Broadway musical, George M! with her brother, Michael Stewart.
Pascal and John were married until his death in 1981.
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