Jacqueline Susann sold. By 2016, the book had sold more than 31 million copies. In 1967, the book was adapted into the film of the same name, starring Barbara Parkins as Anne, Patty Duke as Neely, Sharon Tate as Jennifer, and Susan Hayward as Helen Lawson, the aging Broadway legend. Susann made a cameo appearance as a reporter at the scene of Jennifer North's suicide. "Valley of the Dolls" received scathing reviews, but was a widespread commercial success, becoming the sixth highest-grossing film of its year with $44.4 million at the domestic box office, a huge amount for its time. Susann herself
Jacqueline Susann out. Let's just say that now we're not speaking louder." Referring to Philip Roth and his best-selling novel "Portnoy's Complaint", notorious for its graphic descriptions of masturbation, she said to Johnny Carson, "Philip Roth is a good writer, but I wouldn't want to shake hands with him." Not everyone, of course was a fan. Gore Vidal said, "She doesn't write, she types." In July 1969, Truman Capote appeared on "The Tonight Show" and announced that Susann looked "like a truck driver in drag." On Susann's next visit to the show, Johnny Carson, gave her a chance to respond to Capote