Valley of the Dolls (miniseries)

Last updated
Valley of the Dolls
Written byLaurence Heath
Story byJacqueline Susann
Directed byWalter Grauman
Starring Catherine Hicks
Lisa Hartman
Veronica Hamel
Music by Fred Karlin
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerRenee Valente
CinematographyRobert L. Morrison
EditorSidney Katz
Running time3h 53min
Production company 20th Century Fox Television
Original release
Network CBS
ReleaseOctober 19 (1981-10-19) 
October 20, 1981 (1981-10-20)

Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls is an American television drama miniseries that aired on CBS in October 1981. The first two hours were broadcast on October 19, followed by three hours on October 20 during prime time; CBS originally intended it to last a total of four hours, but requests by the filmmakers for an further hour were granted in September. [1] The teleplay is adapted from the 1966 novel Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann. The miniseries was directed by Walter Grauman, with Susann's husband Irving Mansfield as executive producer. [1]

Contents

Plot

Ann Wells (Catherine Hicks) is an ambitious young lawyer working for a Hollywood entertainment conglomerate owned by mogul Henry Bellamy (James Coburn). She befriends club singer Neely O’Hara (Lisa Hartman), who is said to have had a traumatic youth, and starlet Jennifer North (Veronica Hamel), who is rumored to have worked in pornographic movies. Ann meets director Lyon Burke (David Birney) through her work and they begin a love affair. Burke is directing a movie musical called Fanfare, produced by Bellamy’s company, starring legendary star Helen Lawson (Jean Simmons), who is a former lover of both Henry and Lyon. Jennifer has a small role in Fanfare and Helen is jealous of her youth.

Ann suggests Neely for a key part in Fanfare. Neely is talented but overcome by nerves. The movie’s hairdresser, Teddi Casablanca (Steve Inwood), gives her pills to steady her nerves. Neely’s performance is a success and she becomes a major singing and acting star, but develops a drug and alcohol addiction.

Jennifer falls in love with her co-star, singer/actor Tony Polar (Bert Convy). She becomes pregnant and the couple plans to marry. Tony’s protective sister Miriam (Carol Lawrence) tells Jennifer that Tony has a congenital degenerative disease that will inevitably lead to his cognitive decline and early death, and she compels Jennifer to have an abortion. Tony – who does not know about his illness, and the risk to his unborn child – cannot forgive Jennifer for the abortion and ends the relationship. Jennifer flees to Paris and becomes addicted to drugs and alcohol. She later becomes an artist’s model and has a lesbian relationship with painter Vivienne (Camilla Sparv), who helps Jennifer overcome her problems.

In the second episode, Neely wins a prestigious movie award and forgets to thank Helen Lawson in her acceptance speech. The two women argue backstage at the awards ceremony and Neely pulls off Helen’s wig, spitefully flushing it down the toilet just before Helen is due on stage to accept a lifetime achievement award. Helen goes onstage anyway, exposing her natural gray hair, which earns her the respect of the industry. She decides to accept her age and move into supporting character roles.

After a brief affair with Lyon, who is in Paris working on a new movie, Jennifer returns to Hollywood and becomes a top model and spokesperson for a cosmetics company. She falls in love with the company’s founder, Kevin Gilmore (Gary Collins), but soon discovers that she has advanced cancer. Aware that Kevin’s first wife died of cancer, and wanting to spare him further suffering, she takes an intentional overdose of sedatives and dies the night before she is scheduled to have surgery.

Neely’s career skyrockets but her substance abuse continues. Teddi becomes controlling, taking over the management of her career and dictating her looks. After an argument with Teddi, Neely goes on a bender and attempts suicide; Lyon and Ann talk her down from a rooftop. Following a stint in rehab, she signs with new managers and throws Teddi out of her life. Unfortunately, she soon drifts back into using alcohol and drugs to manage her weight and stress. Neely breaks down on stage while performing a tribute to Jennifer. Suffering an amphetamine psychosis, Neely hallucinates that people are trying to harm her and is admitted to a sanatorium, where she meets Tony who has now succumbed to dementia.  

Lyon and Ann drift apart and she has a brief affair with her boss Henry, who is grooming her to be a “baby mogul” and take on increasing power in his company.  Ann and Lyon later reconcile and work together on a new movie, starring the now-recovered Neely. Ann discovers that Lyon and Neely are having an affair. She tells Neely that they will always be friends, but ends her relationship with Lyon for good.

Cast

Reception

The Washington Post 's Tom Shales reviewed the miniseries and called it a "leaden and laborious remake" and found the 1967 film to be superior. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dyan Cannon</span> American actress and filmmaker

Dyan Cannon is an American actress, filmmaker and editor. Her accolades include a Saturn Award, a Golden Globe Award, three Academy Award nominations and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was named Female Star of the Year by the National Association of Theatre Owners in 1973 and the Hollywood Women's Press Club in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacqueline Susann</span> American novelist and actress (1918–1974)

Jacqueline Susann was an American novelist and actress. Her iconic novel, Valley of the Dolls (1966), is one of the best-selling books in publishing history. With her two subsequent works, The Love Machine (1969) and Once Is Not Enough (1973), Susann became the first author to have three novels top The New York Times Best Seller list consecutively.

<i>Valley of the Dolls</i> (novel) 1966 novel by Jacqueline Susann

Valley of the Dolls is the first novel by American writer Jacqueline Susann. Published in 1966, the book was the biggest selling novel of its year. As of 2016, it has sold more than 31 million copies, making it one of the all-time best-selling fictional works in publishing history.

<i>Beyond the Valley of the Dolls</i> 1970 film

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is a 1970 American satirical musical melodrama film starring Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers, Marcia McBroom, Phyllis Davis, John LaZar, Michael Blodgett, and David Gurian. The film was directed by Russ Meyer and screenwritten by Roger Ebert from a story by Ebert and Meyer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bert Convy</span> American actor, singer, game show host and panelist (1933–1991)

Bernard Whalen "Bert" Convy was an American actor, singer, game-show host, and panelist known for hosting Tattletales, Super Password, and Win, Lose or Draw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michele Lee</span> American actress, producer, and director

Michele Lee is an American actress, singer, dancer, producer and director. She is known for her role as Karen Fairgate MacKenzie on the prime-time soap opera Knots Landing, for which she was nominated for a 1982 Emmy Award and won the Soap Opera Digest Award for Best Actress in 1988, 1991, and 1992. She was the only performer to appear in all 344 episodes of the series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Birney</span> American actor and director (1939–2022)

David Edwin Birney was an American actor and director whose career included performances in both contemporary and classical roles in theatre, film, and television. He is noted for having played the title role in the television series Serpico. He also starred in Bridget Loves Bernie, an early 1970s TV series about an interfaith marriage that also starred Meredith Baxter. He also portrayed Dr. Ben Samuels in St. Elsewhere from 1982 until 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Flannery</span> American actress (born 1964)

Kate Flannery is an American actress. Following her early theatre work, Flannery had her screen breakthrough playing Meredith Palmer on the NBC series The Office, which won her two Screen Actors Guild Awards. She went on to guest star on CBS shows Magnum PI and Young Sheldon. She competed on the 28th season of Dancing with the Stars and voiced Barb on the animated series Steven Universe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anita Gillette</span> American actress and singer

Anita Gillette is an American actress and singer. She has performed numerous roles on Broadway, American television, and in feature films.

<i>The Love Machine</i> (novel) 1969 novel by Jacqueline Susann

The Love Machine is the second novel by Jacqueline Susann, the follow-up to her enormously successful Valley of the Dolls (1966). Published by Simon & Schuster in 1969, the book was a New York Times number-one best seller.

<i>Valley of the Dolls</i> (film) 1967 American drama film

Valley of the Dolls is a 1967 American drama film directed by Mark Robson and produced by David Weisbart, based on Jacqueline Susann's 1966 novel Valley of the Dolls. The film stars Barbara Parkins, Patty Duke, and Sharon Tate as three young women who become friends as they struggle to forge careers in the entertainment industry. As their careers take different paths, all three descend into barbiturate addiction—"dolls" being a slang term for depressant pills or "downers". Susan Hayward, Paul Burke, and Lee Grant co-starred.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jayne Houdyshell</span> American actress

Jayne Houdyshell is an American Tony-winning actress known for her performances on stage and screen. She earned her first Tony Award nomination for her Broadway debut as Ann in the play Well in 2006. Since then, she has received four more Tony Award nominations for her performances in the revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical Follies in 2012, the new play by Lucas Hnath A Doll's House, Part 2 in 2017, and the revival of Meredith Willson's The Music Man in 2022. She won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for the 2016 play The Humans.

Stephen Rebello is an American writer, screenwriter, journalist and former clinical therapist.

Camilla Sparv is a Swedish actress, noted for her role opposite James Coburn in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966).

<i>Valley of the Dolls</i> (soundtrack) 1967 studio album by Various artists

Valley of the Dolls is a 1967 film soundtrack album released by 20th Century Fox Records, from the studio's film of the same name. It features several songs performed in the film, as well as the musical score by John Williams and Dory and André Previn.

<i>Daddys Gone A-Hunting</i> (1969 film) 1969 film by Mark Robson

Daddy's Gone A-Hunting is a 1969 American thriller film directed by Mark Robson and starring Carol White, Paul Burke, and Scott Hylands. Its title comes from the lullaby "Bye, baby Bunting".

<i>The Forest</i> (1982 film) 1982 American film

The Forest is a 1982 American supernatural slasher film directed, written, edited and produced by Don Jones and starring Gary Kent, Tomi Barrett and John Batis. The film was shot in Sequoia National Park in California in 1981.

Valley of the Dolls is an American drama series that aired in Syndication that ran from June 13 until September 9, 1994, and ran for 65 episodes with a running time of around 30 minutes per episode.

Steve Inwood is an American actor.

<i>Dolls! Dolls! Dolls!</i> Book by Stephen Rebello

Dolls! Dolls! Dolls!: Deep Inside Valley of the Dolls, the Most Beloved Bad Book and Movie of All Time is a non-fiction book by Stephen Rebello. It details the creation of the 1966 novel of the same name by first-time novelist Jacqueline Susann and documents every aspect of the creation of the 1967 motion picture adaptation Valley of the Dolls.

References

  1. 1 2 O'Connor, John J. (October 19, 1981). "TV: 'Valley of the Dolls' Gets Facelift". The New York Times . Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  2. Shales, Tom (October 19, 1981). "A Leaden Remake of 'The Dolls'". The Washington Post . Retrieved January 8, 2018.