Jacqueline Susann - Writing and TV Career

Writing and TV Career

In 1951, Susann hosted a talk show on the DuMont Television Network called Jacqueline Susann's Open Door but the show lasted less than two months.

In 1955, Susann acquired her poodle Josephine, and a contract to be the fashion commentator for "Schiffli Lace" on the Night Time, New York program. Susann wrote, starred in, and produced two live commercials every night. She continued to be the "Schiffli Girl" until 1961.

In the early 1960s, Susann tried writing a show business and illegal drug exposé that she intended to call The Pink Dolls. However, she changed her mind and wrote her first successful book, Every Night, Josephine!, which was based on her life with her poodle, Josephine. She sometimes dressed the dog in outfits to match her own. Although this book was widely viewed as a novelty, it sold well enough for her to write and publish her second book, the novel Valley of the Dolls.

Around that time, Susann developed breast cancer. She had a mastectomy on December 27, 1962, but she kept the cancer a secret. Despite her illness, Susann had determined that she would become a bestselling author, and she began writing her first novel, Valley of the Dolls.

Valley of the Dolls became the number one best-selling novel in the United States for many weeks. Next, she followed up this great success with her best-selling follow-up novels, The Love Machine, published in 1969, and Once Is Not Enough, published in 1973, the year before her death.