In the years before she became synonymous with glossy television drama and sharp-tongued glamour, Joan Collins was already building a reputation as one of Britain’s most striking young screen actresses.

Born on May 23, 1933, in London, England, Collins emerged in the postwar era with a screen presence that set her apart, often cast as bold, alluring characters who challenged convention.

Decades later, she would become world-famous as Alexis Carrington on the hit television series Dynasty from 1981 to 1989, a role that defined her public image but only told part of her story.
Collins was raised in London as the eldest of three children in a family closely connected to the entertainment world.

Her father worked as a theatrical agent, while her mother had trained as a dancer, giving all three children early exposure to stage life and performance.

Joan’s interest in acting developed quickly, and while still a schoolgirl she made her stage debut in a 1946 production of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House.

At fifteen, she entered the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she refined her skills and began to take her ambitions seriously.
During this period, she also worked as a model to supplement her allowance, an opportunity that led to her being noticed by a film agent.

Her first on-screen appearance came in 1951 with an uncredited role in Lady Godiva Rides Again.

The following year, she earned her first official film credit in Judgement Deferred, portraying a troubled teenager, and her performance in I Believe in You soon secured her a five-year contract with J. Arthur Rank’s organization.

Throughout the early 1950s, Collins was frequently cast as rebellious young women and morally ambiguous figures, roles that earned her the nickname “Britain’s Bad Girl.”

One of her most significant early breakthroughs came with Land of the Pharaohs in 1955, directed by Howard Hawks, where she played the calculating Princess Nellifer.

The film introduced her to Hollywood audiences and caught the attention of studio executive Darryl F. Zanuck, leading Twentieth Century-Fox to buy out her British contract.
Although typecasting followed her across the Atlantic, shifting from troubled teens to seductive vamps, Collins sustained a long and varied career in both film and television.

She later drew attention for her appearances in The Stud and The Bitch, adaptations of novels by her sister Jackie, before achieving her most iconic success as Alexis Carrington on Dynasty and its 1991 reunion film.

After the series ended, Collins returned to her early love of the stage, making her Broadway debut in Private Lives in 1992, and continued working steadily across stage and screen well into the 21st century.
Joan Collins has been married five times, with her current marriage lasting nearly as long as her previous four combined.

Her first marriage was to Irish actor Maxwell Reed in 1952, when she was nineteen; the union ended in divorce in 1956 after several years of separation.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, she was romantically linked to producer Arthur Loew Jr. and later engaged to actor Warren Beatty, though that relationship ended in 1960.
In 1963, Collins married singer-songwriter Anthony Newley, with whom she had two children, Tara and Alexander, before divorcing in 1971.

She later married American businessman Ron Kass in 1972 and welcomed a daughter, Katyana, with the marriage ending in 1983, followed by a brief and troubled marriage to Peter Holm from 1985 to 1987.

Collins has been married to her fifth husband Percy Gibson, who is 32 years her junior, since 17 February 2002.

The couple met in 2000 when Collins and her ex-boyfriend George Hamilton performed the play Love Letters at the Marines’ Memorial Theatre in San Francisco and Gibson was the producer.

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