BETWEEN THE COVERS : JOHNNY TURNS A TRAMP INTO A SOLID GOLD ATTRACTION!

This weeks book exerpt comes from an autobiography by Joan's longtime friend Johnny Gold, who along with Jackie's late husband Oscar Lerman opened the legendary disco/night club Tramp in 1969. Joan of course filmed the discotecque scenes in 'The Stud' at Tramp... The book 'Tramp's Gold' was published in 2001 by Robson Books.....
'Jackie Collins has written of Tramp... "Bill Ofner found it, Oscar Lerman designed it and Johnny Gold ran it".. I had known the Collins family ever since I hit London, everybody knew them. The two beautiful sisters, Joan and Jackie, were a forceful presence in the entertainment scene. This was hardly a surprise since their father, Joe, ran a theatrical agency with Lew Grade. The sisters were close, so much so that when Jackie was pregnant and penniless it was to Joan's husband, Anthony Newley, that she turned for help. People often ask me about the relationship between the Collins sisters. The press like nothing better than to come up with some story showing they detest each other. But it simply isn't true. Both of then are friends as loyal as you could wish for. Both are witty, beautiful and tenaciously ambitious. Joan is never happier than when she is in front of a camera, at work or at play. Jackie would rather be at her desk, sweating out a new novel, then party at night with friends.

JOHNNY WITH ANTHONY NEWLEY AND THEIR NEW BABIES

We worked for most of 1969 to get Tramp ready for business, however in August of that year I fulfilled a promise I made to Tony Newley that if ever he played Las Vegas, I would come and see him. Joan rang and reminded me..'You're coming to stay with us in Beverly Hills and then we'll go to Vegas!'... Tony went down a treat. He had cleverly studied the Vegas shows and knew just the right combination of strutting his stuff and interconnecting with the audience. We had a wonderful time. Every night we used to go and see a different show. One evening, Joan said..'Good news! We're going to see Elvis tonight.'.. I was not a great fan, so I gracefully declined. This was not something Joan would accept. 'Oh.Come on, We're going..Stop being a boring old fart!'.. So I got dragged to see Elvis. Never have my preconceptions changed so immediately. He was utterly fantastic. I went mad with the rest of the audience, standing on the table and hollering for more. I was woken the following morning by an early call from an unusually sombre voiced Tony Newley. 'Can you come over to the suite as soon as you can?'

JOHNNY WITH JOAN AND BRITT EKLAND

I scrambled into my clothes and went across. Tony had left the door ajar and Joan was on the phone. 'Have you heard the news? Sharon Tate's been murdered. They've just announced it on the news.' I racked my brains trying to think whether Roman was in the country. What I did know was that his wife was pregnant with their first child. Joan, Dori Previn and I packed quickly and set out for LA.Tony would fly in later for the funeral. We attended the funeral with my good friends Leslie and Evie Bricusse. Afterwards we went back to the house of Bob Evans, the producer of Love Story.

JOHNNY WITH WIFE JAN AND JACKIE AND OSCAR LERMAN

Joan and Jackie have shared many experiences together, but they don't live in each other's pockets. Although usually seperated by the Atlantic ocean, they are at each other's side when help is needed. Jackie has been a host at Tramp, in the UK and LA... Joan would rather be a guest. When Jackie and Oscar moved back to the states, Jackie wrote of the club in her inimitable way...'It reminds me in the nicest way of a seasonal but friendly and very accommodating old whore. Always there, always ready for your demands and always prepared to give you a good time!' In the first year of the club she wrote her bestseller 'The Stud', about a millionaire's wife who installs her lover as the manager of her husband's discotheque.... Oliver Tobias played the title role in what proved to be a very successful film of the book, much of which was shot in Tramp. But the biggest benefactor of the movie was Joan as the scheming wife.

FILMING THE STUD AT TRAMP..

(C) 2001..JOHNNY GOLD....