Jacqueline Susann was an American author who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Robert Susan (spelled with one "n"), a portrait painter, and Rose Jans, a school teacher. In elementary school, Susann scored 140 on an IQ test, leading her mother to predict that she would become a famous writer.http://amsaw.org/amsaw-ithappenedinhistory-082004-susann.html After graduating from West Philadelphia High School in 1936, Susann went to New York City to pursue an acting career.http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Susann__Jacqueline.html

Susann struggled for years to achieve fame as an actor, and eventually enjoyed success as a bestselling novelist. Her Valley of the Dolls was the number one selling work of fiction in the United States for 22 weeks. It eventually sold over 17 million copies, in hardcover and paperback. Her subsequent novels, The Love Machine and Once Is Not Enough also ranked number one on the New York Times bestseller list.http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/01/04/home/susann-obit.html

Valley of the Dolls is a fictional exposé on show business and drugs. The manuscript was at first rejected by many publishers, due to its taboo subject matter. The word "dolls" in the book's title is a slang term for amphetamines. The novel was finally published by Bernard Geis Associates on February 10, 1966. From the outset, Susann's book was surrounded by unconfirmed gossip and scandal. Some speculated that the book was based on the lives of real celebrities, possibly Ethel Merman or Judy Garland.http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Susann__Jacqueline.html

In 1967, the book was made into a film starring Patty Duke, Sharon Tate, and Barbara Parkins.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062430/ The movie was remade for television in 1981, as Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082573/

Susann made her acting debut in a 1937 stage production of The Women. Over the following years, she played supporting roles in minor stage productions, never achieving the fame as an actor she had envisioned. In 1939 she married her press agent, Irving Mansfield. After the wedding, Mansfield went on to manage Susann's acting career. Susann wrote her first play, Lovely Me, in 1946. The play received poor reviews, and the Broadway production closed after 37 performances.http://amsaw.org/amsaw-ithappenedinhistory-082004-susann.html

In 1946, Susann and Mansfield had a son, Guy. At the age of three Guy was diagnosed with autism, and his parents sent him to Arizona to be institutionalized. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0839797/bio#trivia

Starting in 1955, Susann and her poodle Josephine starred in a series of live nightly television commercials for Schiffli Lace, an embroidered fabric used in bridal gowns. Susann produced these commercials, and dressed herself and her dog in matching costumes. Susann's first book, Every Night, Josephine!, is based on her experiences with her poodle.http://www.amazon.com/Every-Night-Josephine-Jacqueline-Susann/dp/B000BTH5CG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294097796&sr=8-1

In 1962, Susann developed breast cancer and had a mastectomy in December of that year. She chose to keep her cancer a secret. She wrote in a journal entry dated December 25, 1962:

“I can’t die without leaving something. Something big.”

It was during her first bout with cancer that she finished writing Valley of the Dolls.http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Susann__Jacqueline.html

During her 1974 book tour for Once is Not Enough, Susann was admitted to the hospital as her cancer had returned. While at the hospital, she went into a coma that lasted for seven weeks. She died on September 21, 1974 at the age of 56.http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Susann__Jacqueline.html.

"Acting is glamour but writing is hard work, so I'm going to be an actress." — Jacqueline Susannhttp://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/jacqueline_susann.html

"As a writer no one's gonna tell me how to write, I'm gonna write the way I wanna write!" — Jacqueline Susannhttp://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/jacqueline_susann.html

"I don't think any novelist should be concerned with literature." — Jacqueline Susannhttp://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/jacqueline_susann.html

"The second draft is on yellow paper, that's when I work on characterizations. The third is pink, I work on story motivations. Then blue, that's where I cut, cut, cut." — Jacqueline Susannhttp://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/jacqueline_susann.html

"Hiya, doll. Let's get the hell outta here." — Jacqueline Susann, dying words to Irving Mansfieldhttp://www.enotes.com/topic/Jacqueline_Susann

• Every Night, Josephine! (1963)
• Valley of the Dolls (1966)
• The Love Machine (1969)
• Once Is Not Enough (1973)
• Dolores (1976)
• Yargo (1979)http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_tc_2_0?rh=i:stripbooks,k:Jacqueline+Susann&keywords=Jacqueline+Susann&ie=UTF8&qid=1294092204&sr=1-2-ent&field-contributor_id=B000AP9Q5A