Joan Collins at 91: A life of stardom, scandal, and resilience

Joan Collins is one of the most recognizable actresses in the world. Her private life has also sparked interest—she has married five times and hasn’t shied away from affairs. She has also openly talked about a rape incident. On May 23, she turned 91 years old.

Joan Collins was born on May 23, 1933, in London. She was the eldest child of dance teacher and nightclub hostess Elsa Bessant and Joseph William Collins, a theatrical agent working with, among others, The Beatles and Tom Jones. Her younger sister Jackie was a popular writer and author of, among other things, sensational social novels set in Hollywood. Her brother, on the other hand, became a real estate agent.

Collins showed an interest in acting from childhood. She debuted on stage at the age of 12, playing a boy in Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House. The natural next step was to study at the prestigious British Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Joan Collins has played many theatrical and film roles. She appeared in productions such as "The Bravados" (where she played alongside Gregory Peck), "Tales from the Crypt," "The Big Sleep," and "My Friend Ozzie."

Her role as the demonic Alexis Carrington-Colby-Dexter in the series "Dynasty" brought her immense recognition worldwide, and the intrigues of her uncompromising character attracted viewers for several years. Her richly embellished costumes also drew attention. Collins herself admitted that she didn’t prepare much for the screen tests, but when she stepped in front of the camera in a ball gown surrounded by five greyhounds, it was immediately clear that this role was for her.

People were also intrigued by Collins’s private life. The actress has been married five times, and her first marriage to actor Maxwell Reed, 14 years her senior, was a consequence of tragic experiences she openly discussed years later in a BBC documentary, "This Is Joan Collins." The man invited her to his place, drugged her, and raped her.

Despite the shame, under her parents' pressure, Collins married Reed on May 24, 1952. The stormy marriage ended in 1956, and the actress married four more times. Her second husband, with whom she has two children, was Anthony Newley. Later, she married Ronald S. Kass, with whom she had a daughter. Joan Collins’s fourth husband was Swedish singer Peter Holm, and her fifth, whom she married in 2002, is 33 years younger than her, Percy Gibson.

Besides that, the actress did not shy away from affairs, and her lovers included Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, and George Hamilton, among others. She herself doesn’t hide that she tries to live life to the fullest, as can be seen on her Instagram profile. "I lived as I wanted and with whom I wanted. You may not like me, accept me, or appreciate me as an actress. I don’t care! I am Joan Collins. One of a kind and unique," she wrote in her memoirs "My Unapologetic Diaries."