Jacqueline Susann worldwide gross of just $3 million on a $44 million budget. Film critic Roger Ebert wrote, "Jackie Susann deserved better." Midler was nominated for a Razzie award as Worst Actress for her performance. 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. Reviews were mixed, but the production was a hit with audiences. Fran Drescher was reportedly cast for the Broadway production, but that production was cancelled. Susann was also the subject of a one-woman play by Paul Minx
Jacqueline Susann credited with creating the modern-day book tour. Michael Korda, editor of Susann's "Love Machine" said in 1995 that, prior to Susann, "people weren't so much interested in selling books as they were in publishing them." To what had once been considered a "gentleman's profession," she brought a show business sensibility. She toured extensively in support of each book, making appearances at bookstores and on countless television and radio shows. Her books were advertised on the entertainment pages of major newspapers, and Mansfield tested her book covers to see how they appeared on television. She even served coffee and doughnuts to