Joan Henrietta Collins was born on May 23rd at Bayswater Nursing Home in London. The eldest of three children, she was named for her father Joe and grandmother Henrietta Collins. Joan was infatuated with movies from the moment she saw "The Wizard of Oz" and began to crystalize the image of herself on the stage.
When she asked her father if she could audition for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, her father reluctantly agreed on the condition that if she didn't pass she would be his secretary. Well she did, and to date Joan has appeared in 58 films, over 80 television shows, and nine theatrical plays.
She has been married five times. Her first marriage was to British film personality Maxwell Reed, which Joan had dissolved on her twenty-first birthday. Her second marriage to singer/songwriter Anthony Newley with whom she had two children; daughter Tara Cynara Newley and son Alexander Anthony Newley who is more fondly referred to as Sacha was probably her most notable because she and Newley became great friends after their divorce, a first in Hollywood. Her third husband Ron Kass was the head of Apple Records during The Beatles reign. She and Ron had daughter Katyana Kennedy Kass, Katy for short. That marriage fell apart after Kass fell into drug abuse. Her fourth marriage was to Swedish singer Peter Holm, which ended after a year and a very acrimonious divorce. Joan tied the knot with Percy Gibson on February 17, 2002 at Claridges Hotel in London.
On October 5, 1998 she was presented with her first grandchild. Daughter Tara gave birth to an adorable baby girl, Miel Celeste Adam. Tara has since also given birth to son Weston Faulconroy. In 2004 son Sacha and his wife Angela excitedly presented thier daughter, Ava Grace, to an ecstatic Joan. But Joan being Joan, does not allow her grandchildren to call her "Granny" they refer to her as "Dodo" instead.
Joan is an actress, producer, lifestyle guru and is also a celebrated author who has just released her 12th book titled Misfortune's Daughters. Her others include:
Past Imperfect - An Autobiography
Katy: A Fight For Life
The Joan Collins Beauty Book
Prime Time
Love & Desire & Hate
My Secrets (a.k.a. Health, Youth & Happiness)
Too Damn Famous (a.k.a. Infamous)
Second Act - An Autobiography
My Friends' Secrets
Star Quality
Joan's Way
Although most of these titles are now out of print, if you would like a copy check out your local library or click here to order one from her fan club. If you're willing to wait a little while, you can even have it signed!
Joan appeared on the cover of Playboy, December 1983 at the age of 50.
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By the end of Dynasty's run on television, Joan was making a whopping $120,000 per episode.
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Joan was a great admirer of former prime minister, Margaret Thatcher.
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Turned down Frank Sinatra, Robert F. Kennedy, Darryl F. Zanuck and Dean Martin.
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She had affairs with Dennis Hopper, Arthur Lowe, Sydney Chaplin, Ryan O'Neal, and George Englund (Cloris Leachman's husband).
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Refused to return to work on
Dynasty (1981) at the beginning of the 1985-1986 season until she was given a raise, forcing the writers to write her out of the first episode of the season. It was a bold move on her part, because the previous season's cliffhanger was the infamous "Moldavian Massacre", in which all the characters were shot. It would have been very easy for the producers to fire her and eliminate the character of Alexis by having her being killed in the shootout. However, she successfully negotiated a raise to around $60,000 per episode and returned to work, missing only one episode.
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Joan is allergic to shellfish.
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Only appeared in 13 of 22 episodes during the final season of
Dynasty (1981) because the producers told her they couldn't afford to pay her every week.
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Once engaged to Warren Beatty.
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The eldest of three children, she is the sister of famous novelist Jackie Collins.
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Joan: Dynasty was the opportunity to take charge of my career rather than sitting around like a library book waiting to be loaned out.
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Joan: According to my sister, the expert novelist Jackie Collins, most men stray. And sex doesn't mean anything to most men. But I wouldn't date a man who slept around. Absolutely not. I've divorced men for that.
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Joan: Show me a person who has never made a mistake and I'll show you someone who has never achieved much.
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Joan: Cosmetic surgery is the plain woman's revenge. I think everybody should do what they want to do, if they want to have lips like a trout, let them.
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Joan: The thing about sex is you should have as much of it as you can.
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Joan: You can't stop getting older, but you can stop getting old.
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Joan: Loneliness is the universal problem of rich people.
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Joan: People still want to talk to me about that Star Trek episode,some seem to remember me more for that than anything else I've done.
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Joan: The easiest way to convince my kids that they don't really need something is to get it for them.
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Joan: The problem with beauty is that it's like being born rich and getting poorer.
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Joan: Age, in my opinion, has no bearing at all, that is unless, of course, one happens to be a bottle of wine.
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Joan: I've never been that keen on Shakespeare.
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Joan: After a certain age, you get the face you deserve.
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Joan: I've never chased fame. I came into this business to be a theatre actress. I was nine when I first appeared on stage. But I can't say I would turn my back on fortune. I'm someone who enjoys the benefits of money. I created a lifestyle for myself. Nobody else did it for me. Everything I have I've bought with my own money.
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Joan: I have always tried to live my life with enthusiasm and pleasure.
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Joan: It is unseemly to undress on stage. I won't do that.
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Joan: The secret of having a personal life is not answering too many questions about it.
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Joan: The unfortunate statistics are that there are far more available and fabulous over 40 women than there are available and fabulous over 40 men.
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Joan: I enjoyed being an adulteress, taking a certain vengeance for the fact that my husband was not being faithful.
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