Jacqueline Susann of her own books. "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. All three women fall prey to the "dolls," amphetamines and barbiturates, a euphemism which Susann coined. The book was published
Jacqueline Susann in the 1967 film adaptation of "Valley") as agent Annie Laurie Williams. The film was not well-reviewed, with "Variety" writing, "None of the storied genius that Susann exhibited in promoting herself along with her books is much in evidence. ... [it is] a movie that broadly captures all of the famed author's flaws but none of her essence." "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. The film was not well-received critically and was a box office bomb, with a