Born in Philadelphia on August 20, 1921, Jacqueline Susann attended public schools. She persuaded her parents to allow her to forgo college in order to pursue her theatrical ambitions. For some 20 years she worked as a model, played roles in 21 plays, and appeared on television in dramatic productions, panel shows, and commercials. Although steadily employed, she achieved no great success beyond repeated selections as the best dressed woman on television, In 1963 she abandoned acting in favor of writing.
Her first book, Every Night, Josephine, 1963, concerned her pampered pet poodle and was a remarkably successful debut. The Valley of the Dolls, 1966, became a publishing phenomenon. As the year╒s best-selling fiction book, it sold over 275,000 copies in hardback; sales in paperback eventually pushed the total over 17 million, making it the best-selling novel of all time. Roundly derided by critics, the book combined sex, sensationalism, skillfully handled and fast-paced dialogue, and a decided knack for storytelling. The Love Machine, 1969, a roman ê clef set in New York╒s television industry, was also a best-seller at 293,000 copies in hardback the first year, followed by a huge paperback circulation. Once Is Not Enough, 1973, reached the second position on that year╒s best-seller list with a titillating glimpse into the fictionalized world of the thinly disguised socially prominent.
All three novels were made into successful motion pictures as well. Throughout her brief and spectacular career as an author Jacqueline Susann was aided and advised by her husband, Irving Mansfield, a producer and press agent. She died in New York City on September 21, 1974. Dolores appeared in 1976, and in 1979 a novel of science fiction and romance that she had written in the 1950s was published as Yargo.
₧styl ` ! ¬ 5¬ 5¬ 1 !I 4 5¬ 5 !I E !I [ !I ¡ !I ─ !I D !I T !I !I !I ╜ 5¬ ╛ !I ╒ !I ▌ !I U !I Z !I link `
