Jacqueline Susann accurately be described as a highly effective sedative, a living doll." Despite the poor reviews, the book was a commercial juggernaut. On May 8, 1966, in its ninth week on the list, the book reached #1 on the "New York Times" Best Seller List, where it remained for 28 consecutive weeks. With a total of 65 weeks on the list, the book became the best selling novel of 1966. By the time of Susann's death in 1974, it had entered the "Guinness Book of World Records" as the best selling novel in publishing history, with more than 17 million copies
Jacqueline Susann friend, actress Beatrice Cole (c. 1910–1998), Susann wrote a play called "The Temporary Mrs. Smith", a comedy about a one-time movie actress whose former husbands interfere with her scheme to marry a man of wealth. Retitled "Lovely Me", the play, directed by actress Jessie Royce Landis, and starring Luba Malina (1909–1982) and Mischa Auer, opened on Broadway at the Adelphi Theatre on December 25, 1946. Said to be an "audience-pleaser," the play nonetheless closed after just 37 performances. Four years later, Susann and Cole wrote another play, "Cock of the Walk", which was to open on Broadway with Oscar-winning actor