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 in which she played Lola (later Jackie) the Cigarette Girl to Amsterdam's nightclub emcee. In 1951, she hosted "Jacqueline Susann's Open Door" (DuMont), the premise of which was to help people—most of whom had experienced hardships—find jobs. She also appeared in such series as "Danger" (CBS), "Studio One" (CBS), and "Suspense" (CBS), but found herself typecast: "I got cast as what I looked like—a glamorous divorcée who gets stabbed or strangled." In the summer of 1956, she appeared in NBC's revival of the panel show "This Is Show Business", which was produced by her husband. In addition to her acting