Quicknation    Jacqueline Susann

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(August 20, 1918 – September 21, 1974 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was a Jewish-American author known for her mass-appeal novels. Her most notable book was i

As a child, Susann lived in an unusual household. Her philandering painter father would send her to the movies while he met with his mistress; after the movie, he would ask her to summarize the movie for him, so he could then tell his wife about it when they returned home.

At school, Susann was a lazy student, but she scored a 140 on a fifth-grade IQ test. Writing was always something she was praised for, but Susann was determined to become an actress. After she graduated from high school, her mother wanted her to become a teacher, but she moved to New York to become an actress.

Arriving in New York City she got bit parts in movies and commercials. A year later, Susann landed a decent theatrical job playing a lingerie model, earning $25.00 a week.

After marrying Irving Mansfield, a press agent, she began to get better jobs. She was placed in news columns, and soon was playing a wacky supporting player in b). It was canceled after 37 performances.

In 1955, she acquired her pet poodle Josephine and a contract to be the fashion commentator for Schiffli Lace on an all-night show called i which ran 1-7 a.m. weeknights. She wrote, starred in, and produced two live commercials every night. She continued as the "Schiffli Girl" until 1961.

which was based on her experiences with her poodle, whom she sometimes dressed up in outfits to match her own. Although the book was widely viewed as a novelty, it sold well enough for her to publish her second book, i.

The book was an instant smash, and broke many sales records (at around 19 million copies, it has been cited as the best-selling novel ever.) The book also served as a cultural touchstone; though some people considered Susann's writing to be loud, bombastic and brash (an assesment Susann herself would have agreed with) and the subject matter inapproporiate, the mixture of soap-opera storytelling with bold, non-traditional characters - a model, a singer and a bombshell actress - reaped huge sales. It may have also been successful because some of the story was a roman á clef - the character Neely O'Hara was said to be loosely based on Judy Garland, while the character of Broadway legend Helen Lawson appeared to be a take on Ethel Merman, and starlet Jennifer North on tragic 1940s actress Carole Landis.

Once she was famous, Mansfield devoted himself to supporting and helping her, acting as her agent. Susann went on to publish several more novels, all in a similar vein to "Dolls". She also became a fixture on television, particularly as a guest on talk shows. Her pointed repartee added spice to the programs she was featured on. However, not everyone was a fan; Truman Capote - himself a talk show fixture and controversial figure - created a media malestrom when he appeared on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson and opined that Susann looked like "a truck driver in drag" and then went on to apologize to truck drivers. (Susann was not amused.)

Susann experienced several health battles throughout her life, including recurring bouts with breast cancer. She was shocked when she learned in January 1973 that her cancer had returned in a major way. She was determined to finish her last novel, i. Like her other books, it too was a roaring success, but she was too sick and drained by chemotherapy to enjoy the success or tour behind the book.

Susann's health began rapidly failing. When she was admitted to the hospital for the last time, she stayed in a coma for seven weeks before her death on September 21, 1974, aged 56. Her last words to Mansfield, in true "Jackie was published posthumously. Written in the late 1950's, the novel is not similar to Susann's other works and was a radical and somewhat bizarre departure, likely published only due to the sustained interest in Susann.

In 1996, a biography of Susann's life (the source for the citations of this article) was published: "Lovely Me" by Barbara Seaman. The book was, in part, the basis for the 1999 feature film iShe spent 7 to 8 hours a day working on the plots of her books. She used a blackboard and color co-ordinated chalks to keep track of where her book was heading.When her books were coming out, Susann would rise at dawn to take coffee and doughnuts to the truck drivers who were delivering her books. She and Mansfield would also drive around the country to meet sales clerks at the bookstores. She would keep track of everyone's birthdays, their kids' names, and their pets, so she could talk to them more personally. Susann's shrewdness ensured her book would be prominently displayed and enthusiastically recommended by booksellers.Susann also made a point of appearing regularly on TV talk shows, and even game shows, to promote her latest book. She continued to do this even into her last months; Susann never talked about her illness.Soap writer Robert Soderbergh has cited Susann as being the basis for the character Felicia Gallant on the soap opera Another World.