How the flawless Briton and rival Elizabeth Taylor stayed the vamp for 70 years: Joan Collins

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Actress Joan Collins is eighty-six. For seventy years, she has not left the image of a fatal beauty, stylish and well-groomed, and for some reason seems invulnerable - either thanks to the classic British upbringing and the ability to flawlessly behave in public, or because the actress is used to being identified with one of the heroines, Alexis Colby from the "Dynasty", and this lady could be unsettled by little.

How Joan Collins became an actress and Elizabeth Taylor's rival

Joan Henrietta Collins - and under this name the actress lives her whole life, despite numerous marriages - was born on May 23, 1933 in London. Her mother, Elsa Bessant, taught dance art, and her father, Joseph William Collins, worked as a theater agent, or rather, a talent manager. Among those whose stage career he happened to be engaged in were Tom Jones, the Beatles quartet, actress Shirley Bessie. It was thanks to her father and his stories about the seamy side of cinema, theater and show business in general that Joan remembered what helped her build a career as an actress, not counting on fleeting success, but relying on skill and hard work. The glory and brilliance of youth is transient, and true professionalism is always appreciated, at any age, so Joan did not consider herself a star, preferring to be called an actress.

Her childhood fell on difficult times, Collins remembered the raids and how she had to hide from them in a bomb shelter. But still, at the age of nine, she played her first role, performing on the theatrical stage in the play "A Doll's House" based on the play by Ibsen. After graduating from a private school for girls, Joan entered the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and at the age of seventeen she already received her first offers to shoot in films.

Of course, this was facilitated by the connections of her parents - first of all, her father, but Joan's success was also caused by her serious attitude to acting, and - not least - by her amazing appearance. Collins was deservedly considered the most beautiful girl in Great Britain at that time. Later, in an interview, the actress recalled that she owed her feminine and impeccably elegant style to her mother and her numerous sisters, who were brought up in the old traditions, sewed outfits from dressmakers, divided the wardrobe into day and evening clothes, and generally became a reference point for Joan in fashion. For a while, she even thought about a career as a designer.

The girl, of course, was noticed by overseas film companies. At twenty-two, Joan moved to Hollywood, where she signed a contract with Twentieth Century Fox. This was followed by roles in a good movie; Collins' partners were already recognized stars - Gregory Peck, Paul Newman, Bette Davis. In the fifties and sixties, the career of the actress went uphill, it was the time of filming in English and American films, and in addition - roles in the theater. Collins was then the second Elizabeth Taylor. But in "Cleopatra" in 1963, film producers still invited an American star. Collins soon severed ties with the studio.

"Dynasty" - a new round of popularity

Of course, Joan Collins was not deprived of male attention. Already at nineteen, she first jumped out to marry - the Irish actor Maxwell Reid became the chosen one. The couple broke up four years later. In 1963, Collins married a second time, to Anthony Newley, an actor and singer. In the marriage, a son and a daughter were born. For a while, taking a timeout in her career to devote time to family and children, Joanne nevertheless continued shooting, now also starring in television films. But by the age of forty, Collins' career seemed to be on the decline, in any case, there was no such resounding success in commercially successful films as in his youth. But in 1981, Joan was invited to play in the TV series "Dynasty".

It was a Dallas-inspired project, one of many. And so he would have been destined to remain, if not for the zest that was given to "Dynasty" by Alexis Colby, the main villainess played by Joan Collins. With her appearance on the screen, the ratings of the series crept up, and in 1985 it was already the leader among American soap operas. For her role in each episode, Collins received more than $ 120,000. By the way, initially Sophia Loren was offered to play Alexis, but she refused, and the "glamorous bitch" was eventually played by an English actress.

"Dynasty" was perhaps the most important event in Collins' career. But after the end of the project, the actress did not succumb to the temptation to lead an idle life of a TV star, but continued to do what she considered her profession. For some time she focused on the theater, performed in Broadway productions, and also, following her younger sister Jackie, turned to literary activity. The book "Prime Time", published in 1988, became a bestseller, the works that followed it enjoyed success, they were successfully sold and translated into dozens of languages. In addition, Collins was a columnist for a British newspaper.

Joan Collins' five marriages and other accomplishments

Joan Collins got married five times, the last one in 2002, when Percy Gibson became the actress's choice, more than 20 years younger than his wife.

Joan Collins is supposed to add the title "lady" to the name of Joan Collins, in 2015 Collins received the Order of the British Empire for her merits in the field of charity. Joan refers to herself as a monarchist, she was opposed to the entry of Great Britain into the European Union. Collins sometimes calls himself a "gypsy" because he lives in several cities at once - London, Los Angeles, New York and Paris. Collins does not plan to stop filming in films and on television.

The actress, as before, cannot be seen with a casual hairstyle or in jeans: constantly impeccable style and elegance have long been part of the image of Joan Collins.

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