Background

Ethnicity: Joan Collins's father was of Jewish descent and a native of Port Elizabeth, whose parents had emigrated to South Africa from London. He had Dutch Jewish and German Jewish ancestry, as well as English-born Jewish ancestors going back to at least the 1700s. Joan Collins's mother was born in England.

Joan Collins was born on May 23, 1933, in Paddington, London, United Kingdom. She is the eldest daughter of Elsa Collins and Joseph William Collins. Joan Collins also had a sister, named Jackie, who was an author, and a brother, named Bill.

Education

Joan Collins attended Francis Holland School. At the age of sixteen she trained as an actress at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Career

Joan Collins started her career in 1951 when she made her feature film debut as a beauty contest entrant in Lady Godiva Rides Again. The teenage actress made ten more movies within the next three years – in most, playing an erring juvenile – and by the age of twenty, she was offered a motion picture contract with Fox Studios in the United States. Collins signed and moved to Hollywood. In 1955, she portrayed actress Evelyn Nesbit in The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing.

During the 1960s, Joan Collins decided to concentrate on her family life and did not work much. She made several guest appearances in television shows, such as Batman, Star Trek, The Virginian, and The Danny Thomas Hour. By the early 1970s, she was appearing primarily in forgettable horror films. Collins appeared as Joanne Clayton in the segment And All Through The House of the horror film Tales from the Crypt in 1972. The year 1981 saw her fortunes change for the better. She captured the interest of television producer Aaron Spelling and was cast in the role of Alexis Carrington on his prime-time television drama Dynasty. The series Dynasty came to an end in 1989.

In the 1990s, Joan Collins continued appearing in guest roles in television shows and played minor roles in films. She also returned to the stage and played Amanda in a revival of the play Private Lives in 1990. In the 2000s, she guest-starred and played supporting roles in various TV series. Collins played the recurring role of Crystal Hennessy-Vass in the British sitcom Benidorm from 2014 to 2017. She played Alexandra, Grand Duchess of Oxford in the American primetime TV soap opera The Royals from 2015 to 2018. In 2019, Collins joined the cast of American Horror Story for its eighth season American Horror Story: Apocalypse. She portrayed Evie Gallant, the glamorous and rich grandmother of Evan Peters' character, and later portrayed witch actress Bubbles McGee. In 2019, she starred in an episode of the TV series Hawaii Five-0. By 2020, Collins was 86 years old. She has never retired from acting and she continues to appear in new roles.

Joan Collins is also an established author. She has written several literary works in the genres of fiction, non-fiction, lifestyle books, and memoirs. Her best-selling novels include Prime Time, Passion for Life, and My Secrets. Her books have sold over 50 million copies worldwide.

Achievements

• Joan Collins is an English actress and writer who is famous for her role of Alexis Carrington Colby in the prime-time television drama Dynasty. She also starred in such movies as Turn The Key Softly, Land of the Pharaohs, and The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing. Collins also has authored many novels, non-fiction books, and memoirs.
  
  Joan Collins was awarded the Golden Globe Award in 1983. Besides, she has been nominated for the award five times. She also received the People's Choice Award in 1985 and the Golden Apple Award in 1982. She also was nominated for such awards as the Primetime Emmy Award, the CableACE Award, the NewNowNext Award, and the TV Land Award. Collins was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1983. In 2015, Collins was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II for services to charity.

Works

More photos

• book

  • My Secrets

    (Joan Collins shares with women the practical advice that ...)

    1994
  • Joan's Way: Looking Good, Feeling Great

    (Distilled from a lifetime in the limelight and enhanced b...)

    2002
  • Star Quality

    (Taking readers on a breathtaking journey from the music h...)

    2001
  • Second Act

    (A film, television, and theater star recounts stories not...)

    1996
  • Passion for Life

    (Having seemingly lived many different lives when most of ...)

    2013
  • Too Damn Famous

    (This novel is a gripping and utterly realistic portrait o...)

    1995
  • Health, Youth and Happiness: My Secrets

    (The actress shares her advice on how women can look and f...)

    1994
  • Past Imperfect

    (The beautiful and talented actress recounts her professio...)

    1978
  • My Friends' Secrets

    (Joan Collins' selection of candid interviews with fabulou...)

    1999
  • Infamous

    (Multi-talented superstar Joan Collins returns with her mo...)

    1996
  • Love & Desire & Hate

    (Murderous secrets and desperate passions shape the lives ...)

    1990
  • The St. Tropez Lonely Hearts Club

    (Contessa Carlotta di Ponti, stunningly beautiful and filt...)

    2015
  • The World According to Joan

    (A living legend and international icon, Joan Collins has ...)

    2011
  • The Joan Collins Beauty Book

    (Joan divulges some of her top beauty tips to readers and ...)

    1980

• movie

  • These Old Broads

    (Four of Hollywood's legendary leading ladies of the past ...)

    2001
  • Land of the Pharaohs

    (A captured architect designs an ingenious plan to ensure ...)

    1955
  • Decameron Nights

    (In the 14th century, famous writer Giovanni Boccaccio (Lo...)

    1953
  • The Virgin Queen

    (This movie features Sir Walter Raleigh, who wins favor wi...)

    1955
  • Fear in the Night

    (A prep-school headmaster's (Peter Cushing) wife (Joan Col...)

    1972
  • The Time of Their Lives

    (A former Hollywood star (Joan Collins) leaves her London ...)

    2017
  • Making of a Male Model

    (The head (Joan Collins) of a New York agency makes a ranc...)

    1983
  • Turn he Key Softly

    (A bitter burglar (Yvonne Mitchell), a prostitute (Joan Co...)

    1953
  • Annie - A Royal Adventure

    (Little Orphan Annie (Ashley Johnson) foils an English nob...)

    1995
  • The Bitch

    (After an extramarital affair destroys her marriage, a wom...)

    1979
  • Rally Round the Flag, Boys!

    (All about the citizens of Putnam's Landing and their reac...)

    1958
  • Lady Godiva Rides Again

    (An unsophisticated and impressionable young girl finds he...)

    1951
  • Devil Within Her

    (The story revolves around a pregnant woman who learns tha...)

    1975
  • Cosh Boy

    (A juvenile delinquent (James Kenney) and his gang prowl t...)

    1953
  • Sea Wife

    (A nun, purser, businessman and an officer survive when th...)

    1957
  • The Road to Hong Kong

    (Diana, a spy agent, mistakes Chester to be her secret con...)

    1962
  • Stopover Tokyo

    (An American intelligence agent is sent to Tokyo to track ...)

    1957
  • Esther and the King

    (Esther, a Jewish woman, catches the attention of Persian ...)

    1960
  • The Woman's Angle

    (The head of a family of musicians has a complicated love ...)

    1952

• TV-series

  • Dynasty: The Complete Series

    (Blake Carrington, a wealthy oil tycoon in Denver, deals w...)

    1981

Religion

Joan Collins's father was Jewish and her mother was Anglican. Collins once said that she was not a religious person, nor an atheist. She is more of an agnostic.

Politics

Joan Collins was a supporter of the late Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. She also was invited to attend Thatcher's funeral on April 17, 2013.

Collins is a staunch monarchist. She also supported British withdrawal from the European Union.

Views

Joan Collins has been actively involved in charities for years. She became a patron of the International Foundation for Children with Learning Disabilities in 1983. She is also an honorary founding member of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

Quotations: "Age is just a number. It's totally irrelevant unless, of course, you happen to be a bottle of wine."

"Show me a person who has never made a mistake and I'll show you somebody who has never achieved much."

"I've always maintained that there is a very fine line between a daring, sexy older woman and mutton dressed as lamb."

"The body is like a car: the older you become the more care you have to take care of it – and you don't leave a Ferrari out in the sun."

"If I need to cheer myself up, I will put on some fabulous '40s musical on video. But I'm very lucky. I seldom get depressed. Without question, I'm a 'glass half full' person. In fact, it's three-quarters full!"

"I don't look my age, I don't feel my age and I don't act my age. To me age is just a number."

"Loneliness is the universal problem of rich people."

Membership

Joan Collins is a member of the Actors' Equity Association, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and the Screen Actors Guild.

Personality

Over the years, Joan Collins has been named "England's most beautiful girl," "the most beautiful woman in the world," and "the world's sexiest woman."

One of Joan Collins's hobbies is collecting eighteenth-century antiques. She also enjoys reading and traveling.

Joan Collins is the godmother of supermodel-actress Cara Delevingne and former stepmother of Robert Kass.

Physical Characteristics: Joan Collins is allergic to shellfish.

Interests

• Traveling, collecting eighteenth-century antiques, reading

• Politicians

  Margaret Thatcher

Connections

Joan Collins married Irish actor Maxwell Reed in 1952. They divorced in 1956. Collins then married Anthony Newley in 1963. The marriage produced two children. Collins and Newley divorced in 1971.

Joan Collins exchanged wedding vows again in 1972 with Ron Kass. The couple had one child before divorce in 1983. Collins was married to singer Peter Holm from 1985 to 1987. Then, she married Percy Gibson in 2002.

Father:

Joseph William Collins

Joseph William Collins (November 3, 1902 – April 1, 1988) was a talent agent whose clients included Shirley Bassey, the Beatles, and Tom Jones.

Mother:

Elsa (Bessant) Collins

Elsa (Bessant) Collins (1906 – March 8, 1962) was a dance teacher.

Ex-husband:

Ronald Kass

Ron Kass (March 30, 1935 – October 17, 1986) was an American businessman, recording executive, manager of The Beatles, and film producer.

Ex-husband:

Peter Holm

Peter Holm (born June 13, 1947) is a former pop singer and Swedish playboy.

husband:

Percy Gibson

Percy Gibson (born 1965) is a producer.

Daughter:

Tara Newley Arkle

Tara Newley Arkle (born October 12, 1963) is an English writer, broadcaster, and producer.

Son:

Alexander Newley

Alexander Newley (born September 8, 1965), also known as Sacha Newley, is a British contemporary artist, portraitist, writer, and teacher.

Daughter:

Katyana Kennedy Kass

(born June 20, 1972)

Ex-husband:

Anthony Newley

Anthony Newley (September 24, 1931 – April 14, 1999) was an English actor, singer and songwriter.

Ex-husband:

Maxwell Reed

Maxwell Reed (April 2, 1919 – August 16, 1974) was a Northern Irish actor.

Sister:

Jackie Collins

Jackie Collins (October 4, 1937 – September 19, 2015) was an English romance novelist

Brother:

Bill Collins

Friend:

John Forsythe

John Forsythe (January 29, 1918 – April 1, 2010) was an American actor, producer, narrator, drama teacher, and philanthropist.

Friend:

Carole Bayer Sager

Carole Bayer Sager (born March 8, 1947) is an American lyricist, singer, and songwriter.

References

• Joan Collins's Instagram
• Joan Collins's Twitter