Jacqueline Susann
Jacqueline Susann (August 20th, 1918 - September 21st, 1974) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a child her philandering painter father used to send her to the movies while he would rendezvous with his mistress. After the movie, he would pick her up and get her to tell him what the movie was about so he could tell his wife about it when they returned home.
At school Jackie was a lazy student, but she scored a 140 on a fifth grade IQ test. Writing was always something she was praised for, and her mother encouraged her to become a writer, she had other plans. Jackie wanted to become an actress simply because of the glamour.
In high school Jackie entered into the wrong crowd, she smoked pot, popped pills, and become a big partier. After graduating high school her mother wanted her to become a teacher, but she moved to New York to become an actress.
Arriving in New York she got bit-parts in movies and commercials. A year after arriving in New York she got decent theatrical job playing a lingerie model, she was paid $25.00 a week.
After marrying her husband Irving Mansfield, a press-agent, she began to get better jobs. She was placed into news columns, and was soon playing a wacky supporting player in "cancer on January 11th, 1973, she was determined to finish her last novel, "Once Is Not Enough." Like her other books it too was a roaring success - a success she couldn't enjoy as she was too sick and drained by the chemotherapy.
When she finally went to the hospital for the last time, she stayed in a coma for seven weeks before finally taking her last breath on September 21st, 1974.
Her last words were to her beloved Irving saying, in true Jackie style, "Let's get the hell outta here, doll."
Facts
- Jackie never wrote her stories - she typed them. She typed them all on a hot-pink IBM Selectric typewriter.
- She spent 7 to 8 hours a day working on the plots of her books. She used a blackboard and color co-ordinated chalks to keep track of where her book was heading.
- Her most famous book, "Valley of the Dolls" was so badly written her editor had to spend 6 weeks with her rewriting the book.
- When her books were coming out, she'd get up at dawn to take coffee and donuts to the truckers who were delivering her books - just to make sure the books arrived safe and sound.
- She and Irving would drive around the country to meet the sales clerks. She would keep track of everyone's birthdays, their kids' names, and their pets - all so she could talk to them more personally.
