Joan Henrietta Collins was born on May 23, 1933 in
Paddington, London, England and brought up in Maida
Vale, the daughter of Elsa Collins (née Bessant, 1906–1962), a dance teacher,
and South Africa native Joseph William Collins (1902–1988), a talent agent whose
clients would later include Shirley Bassey, the Beatles and Tom Jones. She had
two younger siblings, Jackie (1937–2015), a novelist, and Bill, a property
agent. She was educated at the Francis
Holland School,
an independent day school for girls in London.
She made her stage debut in the Henrik Ibsen play A
Doll's House at the age of nine, and at the age of sixteen trained as an
actress at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. At the age of 17, Collins was signed
to the Rank Organisation, a British film studio.
She made her stage debut at the age of nine, trained at the Royal
Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London
and entered British films in 1951. With 1954's Our Girl Friday she
joined the stable of beautiful young starlets at Rank studios. In 1955 she went
to Hollywood
with a contract to 20th Century Fox. A selection of largely
forgettable roles followed, as the Londoner becoming better known for her
roster of high-profile boyfriends, which included James Dean, hotel heir Nicky
Hilton, Ryan O'Neal, Harry Belafonte and her former fiancée Warren Beatty, than
for her acting repertoire.In 1981, she landed the role of Alexis Carrington,
the vengeful and scheming ex-wife of John Forsythe's character, in the 1980s
prime time soap opera Dynasty, which made her an international superstar
and brought her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in 1982. In 2015, Collins
was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II for services to charity.
She is still working hard on both stage and screen, has a
second career as a novelist and in 1998 became a grandmother. Joan being Joan,
however, refuses to be known as "Granny", and her granddaughter Miel
calls her "DoDo" instead.
COLLINS, Joan
(Joan Henrietta Collins) [5/23/1933, Paddington, London,
England, U.K. - ] – producer,
theater, film, TV actress, singer, sister of producer, writer, actress Jackie
Collins (Jacqueline Jill Collins) [1937–2015], married to actor Maxwell
Reed [1919–1974] (1952-1957), producer, director, writer, composer, singer,
actor Anthony Newley (George Anthony
Newley) [1931–1999] (1963-1971)
mother of writer, actress Tara Newley Arkle (Tara Cynara Newley)
[1963- ], actor Alexander Newley (Alexander Anthony 'Sacha' Newley) [1965- ], married to
producer Ronald S. Kass (Ronald
Stanley Kass) [1935–1986]
(1972–1984) mother of actress Katyana Kass (Kennedy
"Katy" Kass) [1972- ], married to producer, actor Peter Holm
[1947-
]
(1985-1987), married to producer Percy Gibson [1965- ] (2002-
), awarded an OBE [1997].
The Great Adventure – 1974 (Miss Sonia Kendall)
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