Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born May 23, 1933) is an English actress and author. She’s been married to her fifth husband, Percy Gibson, since 2002.
She trained as an actress at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London at age sixteen. She worked steadily in London and then made her Hollywood film debut in the historical drama The Virgin Queen in 1955.
After working in films and TV from the 50s-70s, Joan starred in the film version of her sister Jackie Collins’ novel The Stud in 1978, which was an international success. The sequel, The Bitch was released a year later. Both films helped her be cast in her most popular role as Alexis Colby in Dynasty, from 1981 to 1989.
Below we list some words of wisdom from Joan Collins.
“Age is just a number. It’s totally irrelevant unless, of course, you happen to be a bottle of wine.”
“The problem with beauty is that it’s like being born rich and getting poorer.”
“Love may be a dream but marriage is a nightmare.”
“The secret of having a personal life is not answering too many questions about it.”
“Life is a predator: you have to eat it before it eats you.”
“Life is not life unless you make mistakes”
“Dynasty was the opportunity to take charge of my career rather than waiting around like a library book waiting to be loaned out.”
“If you feel well and happy, your face will reflect this, but if you are down in the dumps and having a miserable time, your face will soon show this, too. In fact, you get the face you deserve by the time you’re forty, and one of the keys to looking and feeling younger is being active.”
“I used to not be confident. My father certainly didn’t add to my confidence. When I was 17 or 18, I was voted the most beautiful girl in England by the association of press photographers. When they called Daddy for a comment, he said, ‘I’m amazed. She’s a nice looking girl, but nothing special.'”
“My parents instilled in me that life was going to be very difficult and that I’d have to work for everything.”
“I never thought I was particularly good looking. But when I see old photographs, I realise that I was. I do wish I had known that at the time because beauty is power. I didn’t realise how lucky I was to be young, beautiful and in Hollywood. It didn’t hit me. Every day I woke up, went to the film studio and just got on with it.”
“It’s no one’s fault to be born ugly, but, honestly, must it be worn as a symbol of pride?”
“You can’t help getting older, but you can help yourself from becoming old and infirm, in mind as well as body.”
“I’ve always maintained that there is a very fine line between a daring, sexy older woman and mutton dressed as lamb.”
“My mother was a domestic goddess and Mother Earth figure. She was sweet and placid – just what the perfect wife was supposed to be and I was determined not to be.”
“I’ve made no secret of the fact that I often wear wigs and have in fact launched my own Dynasty range, named after various characters. I find this saves a ton of time – as well as my own hair.”
“Doing 20 minutes of stretching, light weights and floor exercises three times a week takes the same amount of time as a long coffee break – and eating a tuna fish salad, sardines on toast or scrambled eggs is surely preferable to a Big Mac or KFC.”
“However much some journalists may criticize me, I know that I look, feel, and behave several decades younger than my actual age, and much of that is because I believe you are what you think you are. This is called positive affirmation, and it’s a really strong tool.”
“Loneliness is the universal problem of rich people.”
“Every woman should wear make-up. It takes years off. I’m wearing lots of false eyelashes today, and to me, lipstick is the best cosmetic that exists.”
“Only fine cigars are worth smoking and only men who smoke fine cigars are worth kissing.”
“We live in a quick-fix society where we need instant gratification for everything. Too fat? Get lipo-sucked. Stringy hair? Glue on extensions. Wrinkles and lines? Head to the beauty shop for a pot of the latest miracle skin stuff. It’s all a beautiful £1 billion con foisted upon insecure women by canny cosmetic conglomerates.”
“Jennifer Aniston is cute, but I wouldn’t call her beautiful. I think that is why Cheryl Cole is so popular, because she is just so pretty and the public are starved of gorgeous people. When I was young, everybody on screen was gorgeous.”
“I have always tried to live my life with enthusiasm and pleasure.”
“No, that’s what I think God does to you. He gives you some great gig in which you make a whole heap of money, and you’re just on top of the world and on every magazine cover, but your personal life is miserable. And for most of that time, I have to say, my personal life was pretty miserable.”
“I have never been the mousy, stand-two-paces-behind, obedient ‘little woman’ type.”
“If you eat junk, you look like junk. People say, ‘It’s not my fault, it’s my glands.’ It’s not; it’s greed!”
“One of the rules about being an actor or an actress is that you never diss other actors or actresses, particularly when you don’t know them.”
“Gone are the days when a gentleman lightly took your hand in his and brushed his lips across it, or tipped his hat to acknowledge you as he chivalrously stepped aside to let you pass.”
“If I need to cheer myself up, I will put on some fabulous ’40s musical on video. But I’m very lucky; I seldom get depressed. Without question, I’m a ‘glass half full’ person. In fact, it’s three-quarters full!”
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