Valley of the Dolls
Encyclopedia
Valley of the Dolls is a novel by American writer Jacqueline Susann
, published in 1966. The "dolls" within the title is a slang
term for downer
s, barbiturates used as sleep aids.
Valley of the Dolls was an instant success when it was first published. Since then it has sold more than 30 million copies. As the first roman à clef
by a female author to achieve this level of sales in America, it led the way for other authors such as Jackie Collins
to depict the private lives of the real-life rich and famous under a veneer of fiction.
from Lawrenceville
, Massachusetts
, and finds employment with a talent agency representing the Broadway
musical Hit the Sky. She meets Neely O'Hara (who changed her name from Ethel Agnes O'Neill), a vaudeville star living in her building, and recommends her for a role in the show’s chorus. Jennifer North, a showgirl with limited talent regarded for her beauty, appears in the play as well. The three women become fast friends. Over the next twenty years, the women embark on careers that bring them to the heights of fame and eventual self-destruction.
As Jennifer is only regarded for her body and is desperate for money, she decides to perform in French art films. Stress and smoking make her an insomniac, and she begins to use the titular "dolls" (barbiturates) as sleep aids, as she had during the time she was in Hit the Sky.
Jennifer returns to the United States after years in Europe, where she's gained moderate success as an actress. She meets and falls in love with a middle-aged Republican senator who has hopes of becoming President. While preparing for her wedding she is diagnosed with breast cancer
. She is told she must have a mastectomy
, and that she will never be able to have children. When Jennifer speaks with the Senator, she tells him about not having children, but before she can say anything about the mastectomy he responds that he is uninterested in children. He enthuses that his love for her body, breasts especially, will sustain the relationship, and that he can't stand to think of anything happening to the "perfection" of her bosom. Unable to have children and faced with another man who only loves her for her body, Jennifer commits suicide.
During an out of town trip for the debut of Hit the Sky, Anne realizes that she is in love with Lyon Burke, a lawyer at the agency. When she tells Allen, he angrily breaks off the relationship. Though Lyon is not ready for a serious relationship with her, Anne remains in love with him for years.
Anne becomes the face of Gillian Cosmetics, and becomes romantically involved with Kevin Gillmore, the owner of the company. She remains in love with Lyon, and arranges with Harry Bellamy to create a job for Lyon to keep him in the U.S. The two eventually wed. Lyon discovers the ruse when tax time approaches. Angry about the way she "emasculated" him, Lyon continues to have affairs. Though Anne stays with Lyon, she plans to raise her daughter to be independent-minded and avoid the mistakes she made in her life. To cope with Lyon’s infidelity, Anne begins to take pills to sleep.
After numerous suicide attempts, a year long black list
from the entertainment world and two failed marriages, Neely is committed to a psychiatric hospital. Upon release she works (and begins an affair) with Lyon Burke to revitalize her career. She quickly returns to her vicious, arrogant behavior. However, her attraction to the dolls is too strong, and she seems to spiral into a final decline.
, whom Susann had known personally and reportedly had been sexually involved with.
The character of Neely O'Hara with her excess of talent coupled with her self-destructive alcoholism and dependency on prescription drugs, is said to be based upon Judy Garland
. Her powerfully energetic stage and screen image are closer to those of Betty Hutton
. Like Neely, Hutton had an ingenue
role in a musical (Panama Hattie
) opposite Merman — and had her one song cut from production by Merman, exactly as Lawson does to ingenue Terry King in the novel, because it drew attention away from the star. Garland was originally cast in the movie as Lawson, until her constant tardiness on the set and disapproval of the script led to her dismissal and Susan Hayward
replaced her.
O'Hara's treatment in the sanitariums is a milder version of the fate that befell actress Frances Farmer
. Susann was well acquainted with institutions and mental hospitals because of her struggle to find an acceptable milieu for her autistic
son. The tragic character of Jennifer North is said to be based upon actress/pin-up girl Carole Landis
, who had been romantically involved with Susann in their Hollywood days. Like Jennifer, Landis was seen as an ambitious blonde with little real talent, and after a series of failed relationships and a career that had quickly stagnated, she committed suicide with an overdose of barbiturates. Certain aspects of her personality resemble those of Marilyn Monroe
, particularly her actual yet often overlooked intelligence. Her involvement with Senator Adams is comparable to Monroe's rumored affair with John F. Kennedy
. The character of Tony Polar, the mentally impaired singer, was rumored to be based on Frank Sinatra, but Susann herself was quoted in her biography Lovely Me saying that she got the idea for Polar when she tried to interview Dean Martin
after one of his shows; he was too engrossed in a comic book to pay attention to her.
which was directed by Mark Robson
, and stars Susan Hayward
, Barbara Parkins
, Sharon Tate
, Patty Duke
, and Paul Burke
.
, a TV miniseries adapted from the novel.
, Valley of the Dolls, starring Sally Kirkland ran for one season using a loose adaptation of the premise.
has announced plans to bring another series to the air that will air weekdays on NBC as a daytime drama. Director Lee Daniels
is attached to develop the series.
Jacqueline Susann
Jacqueline Susann was an American author known for her best-selling novels. Her most notable work was Valley of the Dolls, a book that broke sales records and spawned an Oscar-nominated 1967 film and a short-lived TV series.-Early years:Jacqueline Susann was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to...
, published in 1966. The "dolls" within the title is a slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
term for downer
Depressant
A depressant, or central depressant, is a drug or endogenous compound that depresses the function or activity of a specific part of the brain...
s, barbiturates used as sleep aids.
Valley of the Dolls was an instant success when it was first published. Since then it has sold more than 30 million copies. As the first roman à clef
Roman à clef
Roman à clef or roman à clé , French for "novel with a key", is a phrase used to describe a novel about real life, overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people, and the "key" is the relationship between the nonfiction and the fiction...
by a female author to achieve this level of sales in America, it led the way for other authors such as Jackie Collins
Jackie Collins
Jacqueline Jill "Jackie" Collins is an English novelist and former actress. She is the younger sister of actress Joan Collins. She has written 28 novels, all of which have appeared on the New York Times bestsellers list. In total, her books have sold over 400 million copies and have been...
to depict the private lives of the real-life rich and famous under a veneer of fiction.
Plot summary
In 1945, Anne Welles moves to New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
from Lawrenceville
Lawrenceville
Lawrenceville is the name of several places in the United States:*Lawrenceville, former name of Alleene, Arkansas*Lawrenceville, Georgia*Lawrenceville, Illinois*Lawrenceville, Indiana*Lawrenceville, New Jersey**The Lawrenceville School*Lawrenceville, Ohio...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, and finds employment with a talent agency representing the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical Hit the Sky. She meets Neely O'Hara (who changed her name from Ethel Agnes O'Neill), a vaudeville star living in her building, and recommends her for a role in the show’s chorus. Jennifer North, a showgirl with limited talent regarded for her beauty, appears in the play as well. The three women become fast friends. Over the next twenty years, the women embark on careers that bring them to the heights of fame and eventual self-destruction.
Jennifer
Jennifer begins a relationship with nightclub singer Tony Polar; believing his childish behavior is caused by his overprotective half-sister and manager Miriam, she persuades him to elope. She travels with him to Hollywood to pursue his career, and becomes pregnant. Upon discovering Tony’s infidelity, Jennifer ends the relationship but chooses to keep this child. Miriam explains that Tony has a congenital brain condition that causes seizures and dementia, and will culminate in total insanity. Upon learning that the child is likely to inherit the sickness, Jennifer has an abortion, without telling anyone why. This puzzles her friends, because they know her dearest wish is to have many children on whom she can lavish the affection and approval she never had.As Jennifer is only regarded for her body and is desperate for money, she decides to perform in French art films. Stress and smoking make her an insomniac, and she begins to use the titular "dolls" (barbiturates) as sleep aids, as she had during the time she was in Hit the Sky.
Jennifer returns to the United States after years in Europe, where she's gained moderate success as an actress. She meets and falls in love with a middle-aged Republican senator who has hopes of becoming President. While preparing for her wedding she is diagnosed with breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
. She is told she must have a mastectomy
Mastectomy
Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. Mastectomy is usually done to treat breast cancer; in some cases, women and some men believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operation prophylactically, that is, to prevent cancer...
, and that she will never be able to have children. When Jennifer speaks with the Senator, she tells him about not having children, but before she can say anything about the mastectomy he responds that he is uninterested in children. He enthuses that his love for her body, breasts especially, will sustain the relationship, and that he can't stand to think of anything happening to the "perfection" of her bosom. Unable to have children and faced with another man who only loves her for her body, Jennifer commits suicide.
Anne
In her administrative job, Anne’s beauty and class gain her attention. Millionaire Allen Cooper falls for her after only six weeks of dating, and demands her hand in marriage. Not ready to settle, Anne refuses.During an out of town trip for the debut of Hit the Sky, Anne realizes that she is in love with Lyon Burke, a lawyer at the agency. When she tells Allen, he angrily breaks off the relationship. Though Lyon is not ready for a serious relationship with her, Anne remains in love with him for years.
Anne becomes the face of Gillian Cosmetics, and becomes romantically involved with Kevin Gillmore, the owner of the company. She remains in love with Lyon, and arranges with Harry Bellamy to create a job for Lyon to keep him in the U.S. The two eventually wed. Lyon discovers the ruse when tax time approaches. Angry about the way she "emasculated" him, Lyon continues to have affairs. Though Anne stays with Lyon, she plans to raise her daughter to be independent-minded and avoid the mistakes she made in her life. To cope with Lyon’s infidelity, Anne begins to take pills to sleep.
Neely
Neely becomes famous on the Broadway scene, moves to Hollywood to work in movies, and becomes a superstar in Hollywood musicals. Her handlers demand that she lose weight. Jennifer introduces her to dolls, and she quickly becomes addicted to "uppers" (dexedrine) to lose weight and stay awake during the day and barbiturates (seconal, nembutal) to sleep. The grueling, unglamorous work of being a Hollywood actress is described in detail and Neely's dependence on the pills is shown as understandable. She combines the pills and often uses alcohol to enhance their effect. Partly due to the effects of the pills, she earns a reputation as demanding, spoiled, and difficult to handle. Her movies earn high returns at the box office, but it isn't enough -- the studio consistently loses money on her pictures due to her erratic behavior.After numerous suicide attempts, a year long black list
Black List
Black List is the second of two L.A. Guns compilation albums featuring their third singer Paul Black.-Track listing:#"Stranded in L.A."#"L.A.P.D."#"Show No Mercy"#"One More Reason to Die"#"Looking Over My Shoulder"#"Love & Hate"#"On And On"...
from the entertainment world and two failed marriages, Neely is committed to a psychiatric hospital. Upon release she works (and begins an affair) with Lyon Burke to revitalize her career. She quickly returns to her vicious, arrogant behavior. However, her attraction to the dolls is too strong, and she seems to spiral into a final decline.
Background
Much of the narrative is drawn from the author's experiences and observations as a struggling actress in the Hollywood of the early forties. Helen Lawson, the aging stage actress who befriends and uses Anne, is based closely on Ethel MermanEthel Merman
Ethel Merman was an American actress and singer. Known primarily for her powerful voice and roles in musical theatre, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." Among the many standards introduced by Merman in Broadway musicals are "I Got Rhythm", "Everything's...
, whom Susann had known personally and reportedly had been sexually involved with.
The character of Neely O'Hara with her excess of talent coupled with her self-destructive alcoholism and dependency on prescription drugs, is said to be based upon Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
. Her powerfully energetic stage and screen image are closer to those of Betty Hutton
Betty Hutton
Betty Hutton was an American stage, film, and television actress, comedienne and singer.-Early life:Hutton was born Elizabeth June Thornburg, daughter of a railroad foreman, Percy E. Thornburg and his wife, the former Mabel Lum . While she was very young, her father abandoned the family for...
. Like Neely, Hutton had an ingenue
Ingenue (stock character)
See also Disingenuous, which is not quite the antonym that it may seem!The ingénue is a stock character in literature, film, and a role type in the theatre; generally a girl or a young woman who is endearingly innocent and wholesome. Ingenue may also refer to a new young actress or one typecast in...
role in a musical (Panama Hattie
Panama Hattie
Panama Hattie is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Herbert Fields and B. G. DeSylva. It is also the title of a 1942 MGM musical based upon the play...
) opposite Merman — and had her one song cut from production by Merman, exactly as Lawson does to ingenue Terry King in the novel, because it drew attention away from the star. Garland was originally cast in the movie as Lawson, until her constant tardiness on the set and disapproval of the script led to her dismissal and Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward was an American actress.After working as a fashion model in New York, Hayward travelled to Hollywood in 1937 when open auditions were held for the leading role in Gone with the Wind . Although she was not selected, she secured a film contract, and played several small supporting...
replaced her.
O'Hara's treatment in the sanitariums is a milder version of the fate that befell actress Frances Farmer
Frances Farmer
Frances Elena Farmer was an American actress of stage and screen. She is perhaps better known for sensationalized and fictional accounts of her life, and especially her involuntary commitment to a mental hospital...
. Susann was well acquainted with institutions and mental hospitals because of her struggle to find an acceptable milieu for her autistic
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
son. The tragic character of Jennifer North is said to be based upon actress/pin-up girl Carole Landis
Carole Landis
Carole Landis was an American film and stage actress whose break-through role was as the female lead in the 1940 film One Million B.C.. Landis has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 1765 Vine Street....
, who had been romantically involved with Susann in their Hollywood days. Like Jennifer, Landis was seen as an ambitious blonde with little real talent, and after a series of failed relationships and a career that had quickly stagnated, she committed suicide with an overdose of barbiturates. Certain aspects of her personality resemble those of Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, particularly her actual yet often overlooked intelligence. Her involvement with Senator Adams is comparable to Monroe's rumored affair with John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. The character of Tony Polar, the mentally impaired singer, was rumored to be based on Frank Sinatra, but Susann herself was quoted in her biography Lovely Me saying that she got the idea for Polar when she tried to interview Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
after one of his shows; he was too engrossed in a comic book to pay attention to her.
1967 film
In 1967 it was adapted into a dramatic film of the same nameValley of the Dolls (film)
The soundtrack was released in 1967. Dionne Warwick sang the title track; however, her version is not on the soundtrack. Warwick was signed to Scepter Records at the time and could not contractually appear...
which was directed by Mark Robson
Mark Robson
Mark Robson was a Canadian-born film editor, film director and producer in Hollywood.-Career:Born in Montreal, Quebec, he moved to the United States at a young age. He studied at the University of California, Los Angeles then found work in the prop department at 20th Century Fox studios...
, and stars Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward was an American actress.After working as a fashion model in New York, Hayward travelled to Hollywood in 1937 when open auditions were held for the leading role in Gone with the Wind . Although she was not selected, she secured a film contract, and played several small supporting...
, Barbara Parkins
Barbara Parkins
Barbara Parkins is a Canadian television and film actress.-Early life and rise to stardom:Parkins was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. At the age of sixteen, she and her mother moved to Los Angeles, where she enrolled at Hollywood High School and began to study acting, tap, ballet, and...
, Sharon Tate
Sharon Tate
Sharon Marie Tate was an American actress. During the 1960s she played small television roles before appearing in several films. After receiving positive reviews for her comedic performances, she was hailed as one of Hollywood's promising newcomers and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for...
, Patty Duke
Patty Duke
Anna Marie "Patty" Duke is an American actress of stage, film, and television. First becoming famous as a child star, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 16, and later starring in her eponymous sitcom for three years, she progressed to more mature roles upon playing Neely...
, and Paul Burke
Paul Burke (actor)
Paul Burke was an American actor best known for his lead roles in two 1960s ABC television series, Naked City and Twelve O'Clock High...
.
1981 TV miniseries
The novel was adapted again for television in 1981 as Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the DollsJacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls
Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls is a 1981 television miniseries based on Jacqueline Susann's novel of the same title....
, a TV miniseries adapted from the novel.
1994 TV series
In 1994 a late-night, syndicated television soap operaSoap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
, Valley of the Dolls, starring Sally Kirkland ran for one season using a loose adaptation of the premise.
Upcoming TV series
American television network NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
has announced plans to bring another series to the air that will air weekdays on NBC as a daytime drama. Director Lee Daniels
Lee Daniels
Lee Louis Daniels is an American actor, film producer, and director. He produced Monster's Ball and directed the film Precious, which received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Director; the film won two of the awards.-Early years:Daniels was born on Christmas Eve, 1959, in...
is attached to develop the series.