Which 1967 film based on a Jacqueline Susann novel starred Barbara Parkins and Sharon Tate?

The 1967 film based on Jacqueline Susann’s novel and starring Barbara Parkins and Sharon Tate is Valley of the Dolls. Directed by Mark Robson, the drama follows three young women whose ambitions in entertainment lead them through friendship, fame, exploitation, and addiction.

Parkins plays Anne Welles, a young New England woman who arrives in New York and enters the theater and talent-management world. Sharon Tate plays Jennifer North, an aspiring actress whose beauty brings attention but not the respect she wants. Patty Duke plays Neely O’Hara, the third central figure and a volatile performer whose success comes with serious personal costs.

The title refers to the barbiturate pills used by the characters, who call them “dolls.” The film adapts Susann’s bestselling 1966 novel, which became a publishing sensation despite harsh reviews. Susann briefly appears in the movie as a reporter, but she reportedly disliked the adaptation.

The film was widely mocked by critics yet became a major box-office success and later a camp classic. It is sometimes confused with The Love Machine, another 1960s adaptation associated with Susann, but Valley of the Dolls is the story featuring Parkins, Duke, and Tate.