BETWEEN THE COVERS : TV BABYLON ..1984..

Over the years Joan has appeared on the cover of various books, other than her own, plus she has been mentioned in various books by people she has worked with. I have many of those books and would like to start a new thread featuring such books.  Today Joan is featured on the cover of this popular 1984 book "TV BABYLON" by Jeff Rovin, who at that time was one of America's leading writers about TV. As well as writing for such popular publications such as Ladies Home Journal, Video Movies and TV-Cable Week, he has also written best-selling biographies of Richard Pryor and Joan herself in 1984. The cover of "TV Babylon" features a photo used in the shoot for the cover of the paperback edition of the revised "Past Imperfect"..  TV Babylon features stars who have either committed suicide, became drunks or died in tragic circumstances.. Joan has her own chapter entitled "The Ultimate TV Bitch!".. Here is an edited version of the chapter..

" There are two kinds of people in TV Babylon, the survivors and the dead. The survivors, those who don't gulp down an overdose of pills or put a slug in their brain, cope with TV Babylon in two ways...by capitulating to the powers that be..or by kicking, screaming and fighting until the people around them give in from sheer exasperation. Joan Collins of "Dynasty" is the premier example of an actress who kicked and screamed her way to stardom.. TV Guide once noted of the character she plays, Alexis Carrington Colby, that "when she flings herself assertively onto an oversized white sofa and crosses her shapely legs all in one motion, we know that Alexis is out for blood or money." Of course Joan Collins has paid her dues..in spades. For most of her career, she has had to develop a thick skin to survive the years of bad films and anonymous work in television, where it was often a struggle to earn a living.. Ironically things finally got going for Collins in the late 70's when she made the low budget film's "The Stud" and "The Bitch" and she then was offered the role in "Dynasty"...In fact when Collin's agent phoned to tell her about the role, among the first words out of his mouth was "She's a bitch!"...Goodness and sweetness won't help you to survive in the peculiar land of TV Babylon..Joan Collins has learned to roll with the punches. She has learned to sell herself as a bitch goddess and to stay in control of her own image... Which, as we shall see, is as neat a trick as there is in Babylon!!
Apart from Joan also featured in the book are...Inger Stevens.. Nick Adams.. Freddie Prinze.. John Belushi.. Brenda Benet.. George Reeves.. Pete Duel.. Jack Cassidy.. Bruce Lee.. Barbara Colby.. Boris Sagal.. Sal Mineo.. Farrah Fawcett..James Garner.. Robert Blake.. Mackenzie Phillips.. Dick Van Dyke.. David Soul.. Sid Caesar.. Robert Young.. Rod Serling.. Pernell Roberts.. Lorne Greene.. Mary Tyler Moore.. Suzanne Somers.. Lynda Carter and many more....