Dame Joan tells how Marilyn Monroe warned her about ‘wolves of Hollywood’

DAME JOAN COLLINS has told how she was warned by Marilyn Monroe to “watch out for the wolves” of Hollywood in the earlier years of her career.

The British actress recounted a number of moments where she was “inappropriately” approached by film bosses, following the string of allegations of sexual harassment that have emerged against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Recalling meeting global star Monroe after first moving to the US in her early 20s, she said: “I met Marilyn at a party at Gene Kelly’s house. She told me ‘Watch out for the wolves in Hollywood, honey’.

“I said ‘I’ve been in British films for three years, I can handle wolves’, and she said ‘Not the power bosses, honey, if they don’t get what they want, they drop your contract’.”

Dame Joan went on to recall scenarios with “fat, old, ugly” producers and executives who pressurised her to engage in sexual acts in order to get film roles.

One, she said, exposed himself in a car, while another asked her to join him in the bath and, on one occasion, a married studio boss offered to buy her an apartment where he could visit her several times a week.

Meanwhile, actress Andrea Riseborough has told how experiencing sexually inappropriate behaviour on a weekly basis sometimes leaves her struggling to get out of bed.

The star, 35, said that she arms herself with metaphorical bumpers to give her the confidence to go out to work.

Her comments came amid the string of sex abuse allegations that have recently emerged from actresses such as Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow against Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. Asked if she had experienced sexually inappropriate behaviour in the acting industry, Riseborough said: “You know those bumpers in the two lanes when you go bowling? I go out there with two of them, metaphorically, every day.”