Jacqueline Susann on Findagrave
Birth: Aug. 20, 1918
Philadelphia
Philadelphia County
Pennsylvania, USA
Death: Sep. 21, 1974
New York County (Manhattan), USA
Jackie was born to Rose, a school teacher, and Robert, a famed portrait painter. She had an intense desire for attention and longed to be an actress. She was outgoing and loud. In 1938 Jackie married press agent and publicist Irving Mansfield. December 06, 1946 Jackie and Irving welcomed to the world their only child, a son, Guy. Guy was a special child and was diagnosed with autism when he was three. At four years old he was committed to an institution. Jackie never gave up hope that he would get better. Jackie and Irving were a great team. Masters at self-promotion they set out to make Jackie's second novel Valley Of The Dolls number one. They traveled to many major bookstores, met the owners and took notes on them so they would have them for future visits. VOTD was number one on the New York Times Best Sellers list for 28 weeks in 1966. Her first novel, Every Night, Josephine!, about her poodle was published in 1963 and made the best-seller list. During this time Jackie found out she had breast cancer and had a mastectomy. She hid her illness from everyone except the people who absolutely had to know. She thought of cancer as something that "losers" had. VOTD was made into a movie in 1967 starring Barbara Parkins, Patty Duke and Sharon Tate. The novels, The Love Machine and Once Is Not Enough soon followed and both made the #1 spot on the bestsellers list making Jackie the first author to have three number one's in a row. In 1973 Jackie was diagnosed with lung cancer and on September 21, 1974 she lost her valiant struggle with the disease. Jackie was cremated and her ashes were intered in an urn made to look like a book.
(bio by: Julie Karen Hancock (Cooper) Jackson)
Cause of death: Cancer
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