Jacqueline Susann

(1921 - 1974)

By 1949 Jacqueline Susann had a foundering acting career and was addicted to nicotine, alcohol, sleeping pills, and uppers. By 1962 she had completed a book about her poodle Josephine and undergone a radical mastectomy of her right breast. Susann published her first novel Valley of the Dolls in 1966, followed by The Love Machine in 1969 and Once Is Not Enough in 1973, becoming the first novelist to have three consecutive books ranked number one on the New York Times’ list of bestsellers. At the time of her death in 1974, Valley of the Dolls had become the best-selling book of all time.