Jorja Sheldon, 64; Decorator, Actress Edited Husband’s Work

Jorja Curtfield Sheldon, a former actress, well-known interior decorator and editor of many of her husband’s novels, is dead of a heart attack.

She died at Cedars Sinai Medical Center Saturday at 64.

The former Jorja Curtfield wed Sidney Sheldon in 1952, five years after he had won an Academy Award for the screenplay of the film “The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer.”

As his fame grew they began to collect houses, which she would redecorate and then sell. Over the next 33 years they lived in 35 homes, including several in Los Angeles, London, Rome and New York.

From her success with her own residences, Mrs. Sheldon was asked to redesign the homes of others. At her death she had decorated more than 200 homes for friends and celebrities around the country.

Publicist Sharry Manning said that Mrs. Sheldon also edited her husband’s novels, among them such best sellers as “If Tomorrow Comes,” “The Other Side of Midnight,” “Bloodlines” and “A Stranger in the Mirror.”

As an actress, Mrs. Sheldon appeared in such films as “Whistlestop,” “Heaven Only Knows,” “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing” and “The Revolt of Mamie Stover.”

In addition to her husband, Mrs. Sheldon’s survivors include a daughter, Mary, and a granddaughter.

A private memorial service is scheduled for Friday.