Valley of the Dolls the Mount Everest of her dreams, only to find herself back in the valley of the dolls. Susann had apparently been thinking about the novel for some time. Some years earlier, she had begun "Underneath the Pancake", a show business novel, with her actress friend Beatrice Cole (c. 1910–1999). Later, she considered writing a novel about drug usage in show business to be called "The Pink Dolls". "Valley of the Dolls" is considered to be a "roman à clef", with its characters based on famous figures such as Judy Garland, Carole Landis, Dean Martin, and Ethel Merman. In 1973, after
Jacqueline Susann the truck drivers who would be delivering her books. She lavished attention on booksellers, sending them thank you notes, and even bought copies of her book for bookstore clerks. "A new book is like a new brand of detergent," she said. "You have to let the public know about it. What's wrong with that?" In 1998, Susann was played by actress Michele Lee in the television film "Scandalous Me: The Jacqueline Susann Story" (USA), based on Barbara Seaman's biography "Lovely Me: The Life of Jacqueline Susann". Peter Riegert played Mansfield; also in the cast was Barbara Parkins (who played Anne