Actress Collins Joan: biography, personal life, photo

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Thousands of films and television series are produced every year in the world, with an unimaginable number of actors in them. Not everyone manages to become famous and be remembered by the audience. However, the British Joan Collins (films with her participation are included in the treasury of world cinema) will be remembered by everyone. After all, for many years this actress successfully played the role of the ruthless and mean, but surprisingly charming Alexis Colby from the cult TV series Dynasty.

The early years of the actress

The future film and television star Joan Collins had a biography similar to many girls of her generation who dreamed of becoming actresses. She was born in London on May 23, 1933. The girl's father was a theater agent of Jewish origin, and her mother was a successful choreographer, which later allowed her to open her own nightclub. In the Collins family, Joan was not the only child. In addition to her brother Bill, the girl had a younger sister, Jackie, who later became a popular writer and inspired Joan to take up writing herself.

Acting talent manifested itself in the girl in early childhood, and in combination with marvelous beauty allowed herafter graduation, study drama at one of the most prestigious universities in the UK.

In addition, young Miss Collins managed to conclude a very lucrative contract with a British film company, and at the age of seventeen she starred in her first film.

First film success

Although Joan got only a minor role in her debut film, she was quickly noticed, and soon the girl began to offer the main roles. A fragile, graceful brunette with huge eyes, despite seeming weakness, was actually quite stubborn and had an amazing ability to work.

So, in just one 1952, three films with her participation were released at once, and in 1953 - already five. And Miss Collins did not plan to slow down the pace of work. Despite the workload on the set, the actress managed to combine work with studies, after which she received offers from the Twentieth Century Fox studio to act in Hollywood. Agreeing, Joan Collins signed with a contract and soon became a real star in the US.

Despite her extraordinary beauty, Joan quickly established herself as a serious and versatile actress.

Of course, her biggest success came with roles in large-scale historical productions of "Land of the Pharaohs", "The Virgin Queen", "Esther and the King".

But the girl did not refuse to tryother genre films: the true-life drama The Girl in the Pink Dress, the film adaptation of the popular novel The Lost Bus, the light comedy film The Opposite Sex, the western Bravados and many others.

Model Career

Collins Joan, while still an aspiring actress in the UK, actively filmed for various magazines. In the fifties, the genre of photography called pin-up was in vogue, and the actress's external data matched it perfectly.

Therefore, photos of the girl's seductive figure often appeared on the pages of many British magazines. Joan Collins has been recognized as one of the most beautiful women in the United Kingdom. It is possible that her fame as a fashion model contributed to the growth of her popularity as an actress.

Career in the 60s and 70s

After her meteoric success in the fifties, the actress took a short break in the early sixties. She gave birth to a child and stopped acting.

Collins Joan was already married for the second time, but kept her maiden name. But she did not enjoy the role of a housewife for long and soon returned to the profession. However, Joan quickly realized that she had wasted her time. Although the actress continued to shoot, most of the films of that period were no longer successful with the audience.

However, at that time, the beginning of the development of the television series industry. Realizing that in the movie as an actress she is unlikely to have the main roles, Joan begins acting in separate episodes. She alsoparticipated as a guest star in such popular projects as "Batman", "Mission Impossible", "Star Trek", "Starsky and Hutch" and others.

In addition, actress Collins Joan returns to British cinema in the early seventies.

Most of her work from this period is horror films. And although roles in such films as "Empire of the Ants", "Tales from the Crypt", and the like did not become particularly noticeable phenomena in Joan's career, they were a clear confirmation that the actress tried herself in new genres.

The younger sister of the heroine of our story by that time also made an excellent career, but in the literary field. She has already managed to publish several very successful novels, and one of them - "The Stallion" - was just planned to be filmed. Jackie helped her sister get a role in the upcoming film, and the actress did so well that she was invited to shoot its sequel the following year.

"Dynasty": a triumphant return

By the early eighties, Joan was almost fifty, and at that age, few people can expect a rise in their careers. In 1981, the actress was offered a role in the small series Dynasty, which was on the verge of closing. Her heroine, the ex-wife of an oil tycoon, returned to his life to reconcile with the children and try to recapture her husband from his new passion. In a word, the Collins character got negative.

Agreeing to participate in the project, JoanAt first, I had no big illusions. However, the actress got used to the role so much and gave it so many shades and new facets that the audience could not take their eyes off her heroine, and the ratings of the series began to grow, which means that the project was extended for new and new seasons. Other actors of the series were also quite popular, but Joan Collins, of course, made the greatest contribution to the success of this project.

Photos of her smiling face literally did not leave the pages of newspapers and magazines. She was interviewed, she was invited to host various ceremonies and shows, she was admired, imitated and envied.

And although the actress herself admitted that she did not have much in common with the character of her heroine, thanks to her role in Dynasty, Joan gained a reputation as a stylish and self-confident beast capable of anything.

Especially contributed to such a reputation as a bitch story with the contract of the actress. Due to the fact that she joined the Dynasty team only in the second season, Joan did not sign a standard contract like the rest of her colleagues. And when the ratings of the series crept up, Collins demanded an increase in her fee and threatened to leave the project in case of refusal. Fearing to lose one of the main stars, the producers made concessions, and soon Joan became one of the highest paid actresses on American television.

Thanks to the success of the series "Dynasty", Collins has become the idol of many ladies over forty. After all, she demonstrated by her own example that life at forty is just beginning.

One of the most extraordinary acts of that period was shooting for a magazinePlayboy Virtually Nude Joan Collins. The photo of a fifty-year-old woman on the cover of a popular erotic magazine inspired many women of her age to live life to the fullest and not give up on themselves.

Writing career

Collins Joan has long watched the successful career of her younger sister. And in the late eighties, when the actress was at the peak of popularity, she decided to try herself as a writer. In 1988, the book "Best Airtime" was published.

Unfortunately, this work was criticized by literary critics. However, thanks to the personal popularity of the author, readers instantly sold out all copies. Although peculiar, but still the success of the first book inspired the actress to continue working in this direction. It is noteworthy that until now, love and autobiographical novels continue to come out from the pen of Joan Collins.

Joan Collins Community Service

Biography, personal life and writing career of the famous actress have developed more than successfully. Therefore, Joan was able to afford to also devote time to social life. Even during the success of Dynasty, she began to actively engage in charity work. It is for this that Queen Elizabeth awarded Joan the Order of the British Empire in 2015.

After Dynasty ended in 1989, Collins decided to take part in theater productions. After a successful debut on Broadway, the actress began to actively play on stage and go on theatrical tours.

At the same time, Joan continues to act in films, although inmostly as a guest star and supporting roles (Winter's Tale, The Flintstones at Viva Rock Vegas, etc.). She remains in demand even now and appears on the screen more often than other colleagues of her age.

Among other things, Joan Collins tried herself as a producer in five television projects of the 80-90s. In two of them, the actress also played the main roles. These were the series "Monte Carlo" and "Sins".

Five marriages

Like her acting career, Joan Collins's personal life has had its ups and downs. The actress was married 5 times, not counting minor novels. From these marriages she had three children - two daughters and one son.

Joan's first husband was Maxwell Reed, a famous British actor in his time. However, the couple soon broke up.

Later, the actress admitted that her husband not only drugged her and raped her on the first date, but also tried to force her to provide sexual services for money.

Taught by bitter experience, the second time Joan ventured to marry only after almost 10 years - in 1963. Anthony Newley became her new chosen one. The marriage lasted eight years, during which Joan gave birth to two children.

Unlike the first husband, Anthony was a wonderful husband, but because of the difference in views on the relationship, the spouses were forced to leave. After her divorce from Newley, Joan was not single for long, literally a year later she became the wife of Ron Kass.

In this union, the actress gave birth to a daughter, but because of her husband's drug addiction, five years after her marriage, Collins left him. Despite this, they remained on good terms, and during his illness, Cassa Collins supported him until his death. In 1983, Joan met Peter Holm, a variety performer from Sweden. And two years later, the couple was legally married. However, the couple lived together for only thirteen months, after which they divorced.

This gap turned out to be the most unpleasant for the actress, as her husband tried to sue her for a decent amount of money. In the end, she had to pay, but much less than the greedy ex-husband asked.

After the sad experience, the actress hesitated for a long time to tie the knot again. But in 2002, Joan decided to go down the aisle again.

Her chosen one was the modest theater manager Percy Gibson, more than three decades younger than Collins herself. Fans of the actress sincerely hope that in this marriage she will finally find the long-awaited and well-deserved happiness.

Awards and achievements of Joan Collins

The filmography of the actress has more than one hundred and fifty roles in film and television. Unfortunately, most of them were not appreciated by critics. The greatest number of awards Joan brought the series "Dynasty" - 7 prestigious awards in various categories (including the "Golden Globe"). In addition, Collins was nominated for a Saturn Award for her participation in the film Empire of the Ants. The star failedto avoid a Golden Raspberry nomination for The Flintstones at Viva Rock Vegas.

In addition to having her own star on the legendary Walk of Fame, Joan Collins also received an MBE last year, so she should now be referred to as "Lady Joan".

Despite the fact that Collins does not have numerous prestigious awards, her greatest achievement is the loyal audience love.

Joan Collins is a woman of amazing destiny. Both personally and professionally, she was able to achieve a lot. And although fate often threw her trials, the actress endured them all with honor and dignity. Despite her advanced age, Joan continues to live life to the fullest and delight her fans with new works.