It was Rose who added the second "n" to her husband's surname in order to make pronunciation easier for her students; Robert Susan retained the original spelling.

Because his surname was never legally changed, his daughter was born Jacqueline Susan, as confirmed in the 1920 and 1930 US census, and her father's record in the U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936–2007.

"[10] In New York, on June 2, 1937, aged 18, Susann landed a small role in the Broadway company of The Women, the "caustic" comedy of manners by Clare Boothe that had opened on December 26, 1936, and would run for 657 performances.

[15] Retitled Lovely Me,[note 1] the play, directed by actress Jessie Royce Landis, and starring Luba Malina and Mischa Auer, opened on Broadway at the Adelphi Theatre on December 25, 1946.

[17] Four years later, Susann and Cole wrote another play, Cock of the Walk, which was to open on Broadway with Oscar-winning actor James Dunn.

In 1970, Susann made a brief return to the stage when she appeared in Blanche Yurka's off-Broadway revival of Jean Giraudoux's The Madwoman of Chaillot.

Clive Barnes in The New York Times panned the production; of the cast, he praised only Yurka, but he did mention that "Jacqueline Susann looks a great deal prettier than the publicity stills on her book jackets might lead you to believe.

[29] In 1962, after encouragement from showman Billy Rose,[30] husband of Susann's friend, Joyce Mathews (1919–1999; twice married to Milton Berle), she began to adapt into book form letters she had written about her beloved poodle, Josephine.

[10] This affectionate account of Josephine's hijinks earned positive reviews[31][note 5] and appeared briefly on Time magazine's best seller list, peaking at #8.

[33] Valley of the Dolls spans twenty years (1945–1965) in the lives of three young women: Anne Welles, the New England beauty who liberates herself from her staid small town by coming to New York, where she falls in love with the dashing Lyon Burke; Neely O'Hara, an ebullient vaudevillian who becomes a Hollywood star and self-destructs; and Jennifer North, a showgirl with little talent but a gorgeous face and figure, who becomes a friend to both.

"[34] The story was said to be a roman à clef, with characters in the novel reportedly based on real-life celebrities such as Judy Garland, Dean Martin, and Ethel Merman.

[40] By the time of Susann's death in 1974, it had entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the best selling novel in publishing history, with more than 17 million copies sold.

[41] In 1967, the book was adapted into the film of the same name, starring Barbara Parkins as Anne, Patty Duke as Neely, Sharon Tate as Jennifer, and Susan Hayward as Helen Lawson, the aging Broadway legend.

Valley of the Dolls received scathing reviews,[42] but was a widespread commercial success, becoming the sixth highest-grossing film of its year with $44.4 million at the domestic box office,[43] a huge amount for its time.

"[46] Susann's second novel, The Love Machine, is the story of Robin Stone, a ruthless but tormented executive in the cut-throat world of 1960s network television, and three women who love him: Amanda, the doomed fashion model; Maggie, the independent television personality turned movie actress; and Judith, the insecure wife of the network founder.

Like Valley, the book was considered a roman à clef, with Robin reportedly based on former CBS president James Aubrey.

[51] Directed by Jack Haley, Jr., the film adaptation was released in 1971, starring Dyan Cannon, Robert Ryan, and John Phillip Law.

[52] After her death, film critic Andrew Sarris pointed out that "If there is any single key to the oeuvre of Jacqueline Susann it is to be found in an extended Electra complex.

The book was filmed in 1975 by Guy Green as Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough, with Kirk Douglas, Alexis Smith, Melina Mercouri, Brenda Vaccaro (in an Oscar-nominated performance), and Deborah Raffin.

[56] Yargo, Susann's romantic science fiction novel written during the 1950s, was published in February 1979 as a paperback original by Bantam Books.

"[65][note 7] In July 1969, Truman Capote appeared on The Tonight Show and announced that Susann looked "like a truck driver in drag.

"[67][note 8] On April 2, 1939, Susann married press agent Irving Mansfield, who had impressed her by successfully placing "items" about her in the theater and society pages of New York newspapers.

[41] With her diagnosis, Susann felt an urgency to make money as quickly as possible, to ensure her son would be properly looked after for the rest of his life.

[1] On August 8, 1969, she was invited to visit Sharon Tate at her house for a dinner party she was holding, as Susann was residing nearby at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

"[1] Later investigators found multiple witnesses who declared that no party had been planned for that evening at the Tate house, which contradicts Susann's account.

After suffering from a persistent cough, Susann, who was concerned about her upcoming book tour in support of Once Is Not Enough, checked into Doctors Hospital on January 11, 1973.

[74] Test results showed a nodular lesion in her right lung; she was transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital for a bronchoscopy and biopsy.

"[86] Scandalous Me was followed in 2000 by the theatrical film Isn't She Great, based on a New Yorker profile by Michael Korda, with Bette Midler and Nathan Lane.

[89] In November 2001, Paper Doll, a play by Mark Hampton and Barbara Zitwer, premiered at the Pittsburgh Public Theater, with Marlo Thomas as Susann and F. Murray Abraham as Mansfield.

Susann is mentioned by name (along with Harold Robbins) in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home by Admiral James T. Kirk.