On May 23, 1933, Joan Collins was born in London, England. Best known for playing Alexis Carrington Colby on “Dynasty,” the renowned beauty has been a glamorous Hollywood fixture since the 1950s. She has also been a passionate philanthropist throughout her life. A film and television veteran, Collins continues to make headlines. She also recently spoke out about the challenges she faced when asking for equal pay in the 1980s. As gorgeous as ever, she turns 85 today!
Collins was born into a show business family. Her mother was a dance teacher and nightclub hostess, while her father was a music agent for artists like The Beatles and Shirley Bassey. Collins made her theater debut at nine years old in a production of “A Doll’s House,” and was educated at the Francis Holland School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
After acting in her first film in 1951, Collins moved to Hollywood, CA to become a movie star. With her dazzling good looks, flashy pink Thunderbird and celebrity boyfriends, including Warren Beatty and Dennis Hopper, she quickly became the celebrity she dreamed of becoming. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, she was often cast as a glamorous seductress. Even into her mid-40s, she was steaming up the big screen, especially in the sultry films “The Stud” (1978) and “The Bitch” (1979), based on books written by her younger sister, Jackie Collins.
In 1981, Collins landed her now-iconic role as the scheming ex-wife Alexis Carrington Colby on “Dynasty.” Collins once shared, “Dynasty was the opportunity to take charge of my career rather than waiting around like a library book waiting to be loaned out.” Introduced on the first episode of the second season, Collins’ conniving character gave the show a ratings boost. In less than a year, “Dynasty” became a top 10 show. By the spring of 1985, “Dynasty” was the number one show in America.
Despite the success she brought to the show, the Golden Globe Award-winning actress faced many obstacles when she asked for the same salary as her co-star John Forsythe. According to Collins, Forsythe called her “a diva and a b**ch” for asking for a raise. Collins finally got the producers to meet her salary demands by refusing to return to the show for the 1985-1986 season unless they showed her the money! Even though they finally started paying her more, she was still making $5,000 less than her male co-star. As she explained in a recent interview, “I
tried! I tried but now people like Jennifer Lawrence and other young actresses are standing up for it.”
Since her “Dynasty” days, Collins is still considered a Hollywood fixture. In 2015, she was recognized by the British royalty when Queen Elizabeth II made Collins a Dame for her philanthropic contributions. As she celebrates her 85th birthday, Collins is living proof that, as she once said, “Age is just a number. It’s totally irrelevant unless, of course, you happen to be a bottle of wine.”