On The Cover Joan Collins 70 Years Of A Screen Legend
We celebrate the extraordinary life and loves of Dame Joan Collins
Diana Dors took top billing for the 1951 film LadyGodivaRides Again, but amongst the supporting cast were several uncredited actors who would go on to find fame: Alastair Sim, Googie Withers, Jean Marsh, Trevor Howard … and a certain raven-haired teenager we know today as Joan Collins.
This was the start of an incredible showbusiness career that has embraced more than 70 feature films, multiple stage productions and numerous TV shows, bringing Joan legendary status home and abroad.
With a few more films and stage productions under her belt, 22-year-old Joan headed west in the mid-1950s, having impressed Hollywood studio executive Darryl Zanuck with her role in LandofthePharaohs. She made her Hollywood debut in the historical film TheVirginQueen, enjoying equal billing with Bette Davis, and went on to work with many of the greatest names of the big screen, including Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum and Elizabeth Taylor.
The 1978 film TheStud garnered a great deal of attention. Joan took the lead role of Fontaine in this film version of her younger sister Jackie’s racy novel, and swiftly reprised it for the sequel, TheBitch.
These films also brought Joan to the attention of the creators of glamorous primetime soap opera Dynasty. Ratings for season one in 1981 had been disappointing, but then came season two. Enter manipulative, vengeful Alexis, in a trademark wide-brimmed hat, the first wife of Blake Carrington and an instant adversary to the second Mrs Carrington, the gentle, flicky-fringed Krystle. Initially cast for six weeks but staying for nine years, Alexis was a character Joan mined for all her worth across 205 episodes of catfights, business wheeling and dealing, champagne-toting bubble baths, handsome (and rich) husbands and lovers, all while decked out in the full, shoulder-padded glory of 80s couture.
“There is a bit of Alexis in me; the resilience, strength and ambition,”
Joan reflected.
Alongside her award-winning acting work, Joan has launched make-up, eye wear and wig brands. Already an OBE for her services to the arts, in 2015 she became Dame Commander of the British Empire for her lifetime contribution to charity work.
Seven memory-packed decades on from that first film foray, it was an accolade of which that 18-year-old never dreamed, as Joan reflected.
“Not in a billion years did I think I would be made a dame. It wasn’t anything I ever aspired to. I just wanted to be jobbing actress.”