Long before she became famous for glamorous television roles, Joan Collins was already recognized as one of Britain’s most striking young actresses. Born in London on May 23, 1933, she stood out in postwar cinema with confident, bold performances that challenged the norms of the time.
Years later, her role as Alexis Carrington in Dynasty made her a global icon, but that success only highlighted one chapter of a career that had been taking shape since her earliest days on screen.
Joan Collins grew up in London as the oldest of three children in a family already immersed in the arts. With a father who worked as a theatrical agent and a mother trained in dance, the world of performance was part of her everyday life from an early age.
Her passion for acting surfaced quickly. While still in school, she appeared on stage in a 1946 production of A Doll’s House. By the age of fifteen, she had enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where her talent sharpened and her determination to build a career in acting truly took shape.
During these early years, Joan also modeled to earn extra money, which eventually caught the attention of a film agent. Her screen debut came in 1951 with a small, uncredited role in Lady Godiva Rides Again.
Not long after, she received her first official credit in Judgement Deferred, playing a troubled young woman. A strong performance in I Believe in You soon followed, leading to a five-year contract with J. Arthur Rank’s film organization and marking the true beginning of her career.
In the early 1950s, Joan Collins was often chosen for roles as defiant, complex young women, a pattern that earned her the nickname “Britain’s Bad Girl.” These bold performances helped set her apart from more traditional actresses of the era.
Her major breakthrough came in 1955 with Land of the Pharaohs, directed by Howard Hawks, where she portrayed the ambitious Princess Nellifer. The film introduced her to American audiences and drew the attention of studio executive Darryl F. Zanuck, prompting Twentieth Century-Fox to buy out her British contract and bring her to Hollywood.
Even as she moved to Hollywood, Joan Collins continued to be cast in bold, seductive roles, but she built a career that stretched across both film and television. She later gained attention in The Stud and The Bitch, based on novels by her sister Jackie, before reaching her most famous success as Alexis Carrington on Dynasty and its 1991 reunion film.
After the series ended, she returned to the stage, making her Broadway debut in Private Lives in 1992. From there, she continued working steadily in theater, film, and television well into the new century.
Joan Collins has been married five times, and her current marriage has lasted almost as long as all of her previous ones combined. She first married Irish actor Maxwell Reed in 1952 at the age of nineteen, but the relationship ended in divorce four years later after a long separation.
In the years that followed, she was linked romantically to producer Arthur Loew Jr. and later became engaged to actor Warren Beatty. That engagement, however, came to an end in 1960, marking another chapter in her very public personal life.
In 1963, Joan Collins married singer and songwriter Anthony Newley. The couple had two children, Tara and Alexander, before their marriage ended in 1971. She later wed American businessman Ron Kass in 1972, and they had a daughter, Katyana, before divorcing in 1983.
A few years later, she entered a short and difficult marriage with Peter Holm, which lasted from 1985 until 1987, closing another chapter in her personal life.
Joan Collins has been married to her fifth husband, Percy Gibson, since February 17, 2002. He is 32 years younger than her, and their relationship has become her longest-lasting marriage.
The two first met in 2000 when Collins was appearing in the play Love Letters at the Marines’ Memorial Theatre in San Francisco. Gibson was the show’s producer at the time, and their connection soon grew into a lasting partnership.
(Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons / Pinterest / Flickr / IMDB).
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