Saturday, October 31, 2015
PHOTO FLASHBACK : MUM'S THE WORD FOR THIS TITLED DAME!
Friday, October 30, 2015
PHOTO FLASHBACK : WHEN IT COMES TO BEAUTY .. JOAN WROTE THE BOOKS!
Thursday, October 29, 2015
PHOTO FLASHBACK : JOAN JUST LOVES LETTERS FROM TEXAS!
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
EVENT ALERT : AN EVENING WITH JOAN COLLINS AT WATERSTONES PICCADILLY LONDON .. MONDAY NOVEMBER 2ND 2015 ..
Book Joan Collins at Waterstones Piccadilly here!
EVENT ALERT : THE ST TROPEZ LONELY HEARTS CLUB SIGNING SELFRIDGES OXFORD STREET LONDON TUESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER 2015
PHOTO FLASHBACK : JOAN NEVER MAKES A SPECTACLE OF HERSELF!
Joan attends an event to launch new additions to her highly successful range of Eyewear.. Not certain of the location..
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
PHOTO FLASHBACK : WHEN IN VENICE ITS A SIN NOT TO HAVE A BALL!
Monday, October 26, 2015
EVENT UPDATE : THE CTBF ROYAL FILM PERFORMANCE PREMIERE OF SPECTRE .. THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL .LONDON .. MONDAY OCTOBER 26TH 2015
Joan looking fabulous as ever attended the Royal Film Premiere of the latest OO7 Adventure 'Spectre' at the Royal Albert Hall earlier.. |
| Daniel with co-stars Lea Seydoux & Monica Belucci |
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| Dame Shirley Bassey |
PRESS UPDATE : THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT LIFE MAGAZINE .. OCTOBER 26TH 2015 ..
Style Queen Joan Collins shows she still reigns supreme
Grand dame of style Joan Collins was here for the opening of an exhibition of her clothes......
Joan Collins shows no trace of the curmudgeonly ageing Hollywood star, the fast-fading Norma Desmond in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, when she says emphatically that there is little style or substance in today's world of instant celebrity and untutored talent. She still exudes the epitome of style and sophistication she has for so long brought to the world stage; the kind of classy and sophisticated woman who has men - and indeed women - audibly holding their breath when she enters the room; who has them, the men at least, rushing to offer a chair or proffer a chilled glass of Groot Constantia Chardonnay or Dom Perignon White Gold. The kind of woman who brings out, indeed expects, the best in men who have not confined chivalry or good, old-fashioned seduction to the lexicon of yesteryear.
Today, she's attired in a simple but elegant two-piece, a white wool-linen mix, the jacket, lapelled with billowing bell-sleeves, nestled on her slim waist, the skirt, knee-length, pencilled, giving way to a box pleat and three-inch black and white patent leather heels. Shock-black little-girl curls of shoulder-length hair generously frame the mature, good looks of a countenance carefully created with long, dark lashes and ruby-red lips.
"This is my own design," she gestures towards her jacket, "for the investiture last year. You know, darling, Prince Charles. Do you like it?" she asks, and touches the garment ever so slightly, brushing down the skirt, running a hand down the tan sheen of her right leg. "I hope they're not going to ladder," she says of her stockings, and then crosses her legs again. I am seduced, hankering back to Cole Porter and that tantalising glimpse of stocking in Anything Goes.
Dame Joan Collins hankers back to those days of old, though not in a self-detrimental way, to when stars were stars, and sophistication and style were the stuff of the Hollywood dream - the days a young-would-be English starlet set foot, back in 1955, on its back-lots and sound stages in search of that dream.
"My mother was always the glamorous, but domestic, goddess. She may well have been sweet and placid - the perfect wife I was determined not to be - but she was always wonderfully dressed. There were something like 11 or 12 aunts in my childhood and all wonderful-looking women, beautifully dressed. They were an aspiration as to how women should present themselves.
"The thing is, like the song, accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative. So, make use of and put emphasis on the good parts of your body. If you have great shoulders, wear pieces that accentuate them and cover up your legs, or vice versa," she enthuses.
"I mean, do you know of any actress today who weighs more than eight stone? I cannot think of one. Where's the room for the curves and the shapes? And what style is there in torn jeans? A lot of today's stuff is designed for 16 to 20-year-olds, girls, not women, those of us with a woman's figure," opines the woman who counts among her favourite designers, Ralph Lauren (naturally), and Michael Kors - "he designs for real women".
One is tempted to roll off a short list of contemporary actresses, but the still wonderfully alluring Collins has a point. Both she and I are with Cole Porter on this one.
The Newbridge Silverware Museum of Style Icons is an apt setting for our interview, an appropriate backdrop for La Collins, the grand dame of style, among the costumes, frocks and outfits of 20th century style icons: Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Princess Grace and Princess Diana, all immortalised here with their outfits in glass boxes, many of them creations from that hankered-after era of sass and sophistication.
The day we meet, Joan Collins brings some of that decadence and glamour to Newbridge as she officially unveils an exquisite collection representing her life and career.
The collection showcases an array of fashion and jewellery, among them a custom-made white fox and mink cape from the house of furrier Edward Lowell and, among the curiosities that catch my eye, a gold perfume bottle given to her as a present by Robert Wagner and the late Natalie Wood.
The collection, on a small tour which began in Julien's Auction rooms in Beverley Hills, will be on display in the Newbridge museum that boasts one of the world's largest and unique collections of style and cinema memorabilia, until Sunday, November 8, after which the lots will go for auction in December, back in Hollywood.
Chief among the collection are some of those wickedly wonderful pieces from the role she is best known for - Alexis Carrington in the long-running 1980s TV soap, Dynasty.
Alexis was unique perhaps among the TV heroines of the day for her belligerent badness: the captivating, conniving, calculating, commanding ex-wife of chief protagonist and tycoon Blake Carrington (John Forsythe) who, at the beginning of season two, returned to Denver, Colorado to reclaim her former husband and grown-up children and to take on new wife Krystle (Linda Evans) to the bitter end.
This was the show (it ran for nine years) - along with Dallas - that gave us power and greed, infidelity and overt sexuality, and set the gold standard in scratching, clawing, bitching and cat-fighting. Oh, it gave us the padded shoulders, beautiful gowns, chiffon and lace, sequins and silk.
"They at first wanted Alexis in tweed and pearls, the quintessential English woman. I mean, can you imagine?" Joan said. "That is not her, I told them. Alexis has travelled the world, is rich in her own right, knows who and what she wants and what she doesn't. It's not mothballs, darling…"
Aaron Spelling, the show's creator, said of Collins: "She did not play Alexis Carrington. Fifty other actresses could have played the part but Joan Collins made Alexis. She was Alexis."
To an Ireland of the 1980s, in another recession, before Sky and Netflix and Reality TV, the world of Dynasty seemed a world away, not least because of its portrayal of power, and its panache and pizzazz.
She laughs: "No, it was not like that at all. Not glamorous at all on set. We used to call it The Factory. We were just a bunch of actors doing a job, long hours and copious cups of Styrofoam coffee. But the dresses, the costumes, they were real. Not just stitched up. Wonderful. Glamorous. The work of the genius that was Nolan Miller - he had been an East European immigrant - who said he never wanted any of Dynasty's females to wear the same outfit twice.
"All those delicious sequined gowns, luncheon suits, wide-brimmed hats, frivolous veils, fur stoles and, yes, the occasional turban."
In this age now of reality TV and Kardashians and Real Housewives of Beverley Hills, could the Dynasty dynamic work for a digital, world- savvy audience?
"Oh, I think people will always want that style and fashion, something bigger than the everyday," she says. "Every so often, there is talk of a comeback. But it is just talk. It will never happen. It was a different era."
She pauses momentarily and then says: "There were great actors, some became friends I keep in touch with, especially with Diahann Carroll (Blake's sister Dominique Deveraux) who lives in the same apartment block as me in LA."
Talk of actors begs the question, who for her stands out today?
"Meryl Streep is still a wonderful actress, Cate Blanchett, but there are so many young actors today who have never learnt their skill properly, never done the time," says the actress who came through the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Still a London girl at heart - "it's the tea and the rain, darling," she quips as she sips from a china cup.
Collins grew up during the Second World War. She made her stage debut in Ibsen's A Doll's House at the age of nine. After 18 months at Rada, she was signed to a contract by the Rank Organisation and appeared in a number of supporting roles in British films.
At the age of 22, Collins headed to Hollywood and landed roles as the wannabe sultry siren in several films, notably The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955) and Rally Round the Flag, Boys! (1958), most now largely confined to the redundant reels of yesterday.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, her career fairly much marched to a slow pace, after she had appeared in a number of horror movies from the house of Hammer, Tales From The Crypt, with the wonderful Peter Cushing, and Fear In The Night, again with Cushing and Ralph Bates.
It was near the end of the decade, that she resurfaced to acclaim when she starred in two films based on best-selling novels by her younger sister Jackie Collins - The Stud (1978) and its sequel The Bitch (1979). "All very tame now, but they shocked back then," she says, smiling at the memory of, I imagine, her flaunting around like a Playboy playmate with Oliver Tobias.
She also worked aside some of Hollywood's most popular stars, including Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Bette Davis, Paul Newman, Gregory Peck, and Kirk Douglas. Her work in television included Starsky & Hutch, Mission Impossible, and The Man from UNCLE.
And, if it were the Dynasty character that finally paid off for Collins, giving her the role that has immortalised her, I wonder if she had any regrets about roles not offered or ones turned down?
She muses, "I turned down the role of Clara Dawes with Dean Stockwell in DH Lawrence's Sons And Lovers. Mary Ure, the Scottish actress married to John Osborne, got the part and was nominated for an Oscar. I should have … but there were other commitments then, though what they were are lost on me now."
Married for the fifth time for the past 13 years, she and her husband Percy Gibson are frequent visitors to Ireland - "Isn't the K Club just darling?"
She recalls coming to stay, as a young woman, in the Irish home of John Houston - "Angelica was just a child, precocious and wonderful" - and she was friends for years with Irish socialite Ned Ryan, he of Princess Margaret fame, and late of Tipperary, who became something of the modern Dick Whittington of London society and racing circles.
She smiles when I ask has she learnt anything from her previous marriages that she has brought to No. 5? "Oh dear. I mean sex and passion are all so important but with Percy - we met in San Francisco doing a play he was directing - he is also my confidant, my soulmate. We are very happy, and good for each other."
And the secret of still looking so damn good? "Lots of laughter, exercise, hard work, never get too thin or too fat!," she declares with a laugh, refusing to be defined by age. "One grows old, but one should never get old …"
And what would Joan Collins like to be remembered for? "My sister Jackie said if you can be remembered for having brought joy and happiness to people, then it's a life well lived."
I take this as an opportunity to ask about her thoughts on her sister and her recent death from cancer?
But she vehemently won't go there. She brushes me away with a wave of her hand. "It's still too raw, too painful," she says, a tear threatening to play havoc with her mascara.
And for a brief moment there's a tantalising glimpse of the woman beneath the style and sophistication, a woman older now with memories of another era, of her and a sibling, dancing away for a domestic goddess who rarely kissed or cuddled them but taught them to be strong and self-reliant in a world potentially fraught with instant celebrity and untutored talent.
A moment when there is no sign of Alexis Carrington.
Visitors to Newbridge can view the Joan Collins Collection from October 5 to November 8 from 9am-5pm daily. To find out more information, visitwww.newbridgesilverware.com
Sunday Independent
PHOTO FLASHBACK : JOAN MAKES EVERY EVENT SPECTACULAR!
Sunday, October 25, 2015
RADIO ALERT : WOMAN'S HOUR .. MONDAY OCTOBER 26TH 2015
Don't forget to tune into BBC Radio 4 from 10AM on Monday 26th as Joan chats to Jane Garvey about her exciting and unmissable new novel 'The St Tropez Lonely Hearts Club' which is out everywhere on November 5th! To listen to the show click here, from Monday 26th!Woman's Hour with Dame Joan Collins
PRESS UPDATE : THE EXPRESS .. OCTOBER 25TH 2015 ..
Jackie Collins' daughters pay tribute to 'incredible' mother as she's honoured with award
JACKIE COLLINS' daughters paid tribute to their late mother as they collected an award on her behalf on Friday, just five weeks after her death.
PHOTO FLASHBACK : IS THIS CASHMERE? NO IT'S CAMEL DEAR!
PROMO UPDATE : GREAT BRITONS OF STAGE AND SCREEN .. BARBARA ROISMAN COOPER .. OUT OCTOBER 2015
Great Britons of Stage and Screen
In Conversation
Hardback
eBook
Although there are encyclopedias and biographical dictionaries of contemporary British film and theatre actors, most lack the intimacy of face-to-face interviews. Typically drawn from secondary sources, collections of interviews often repeat tired anecdotes about an actor’s film or stage roles, with very little nuance or fresh insights.
Great Britons of Stage and Screen: In Conversation features interviews with some of the leading actors of the last fifty years and more. In this collection, Barbara Roisman Cooper presents interviews she personally conducted with more than twenty stars of film, television, and theatre. Held in intimate surroundings—including the actors’ private homes and theatre dressing rooms between performances—these interviews provide readers with a rounded understanding of the creative process and the dedication required to develop a performance.
Including many well-known Oscar, Tony, Olivier, and BAFTA winners, each interview is preceded by a short introduction and followed by the performer’s most significant credits, both on the stage and screen. The actors and actresses who shared their stories in this volume include
Designed to serve as a resource for those studying or writing about the worlds of theatre and film in general—and the art and craft of acting, specifically—Great Britons of Stage and Screen will also appeal to the many fans of the artists who have entertained audiences for decades. « less
Great Britons of Stage and Screen: In Conversation features interviews with some of the leading actors of the last fifty years and more. In this collection, Barbara Roisman Cooper presents interviews she personally conducted with more than twenty stars of film, television, and theatre. Held in intimate surroundings—including the actors’ private homes and theatre dressing rooms between performances—these interviews provide readers with a rounded understanding of the creative process and the dedication required to develop a performance.
Including many well-known Oscar, Tony, Olivier, and BAFTA winners, each interview is preceded by a short introduction and followed by the performer’s most significant credits, both on the stage and screen. The actors and actresses who shared their stories in this volume include
- Dame Eileen Atkins
- Isla Blair
- Simon Callow
- Dame Joan Collins
- Peggy Cummins
- Sinéad Cusack
- Samantha Eggar
- Stephen Fry
- Julian Glover
- Stephen Greif
- Jeremy Irons
- Sir Derek Jacobi
- Felicity Kendal
- Sir Ben Kingsley
- Dame Angela Lansbury
- Sir John Mills
- Alfred Molina
- Lynn Redgrave
- Jean Simmons
- David Suchet
- Richard Todd
- Michael York
Designed to serve as a resource for those studying or writing about the worlds of theatre and film in general—and the art and craft of acting, specifically—Great Britons of Stage and Screen will also appeal to the many fans of the artists who have entertained audiences for decades. « less
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 424 • Size: 6 x 9
978-1-4422-4620-1 • Hardback • October 2015 • $42.00 • (£27.95)
978-1-4422-4621-8 • eBook • October 2015 • $41.99 • (£27.95)
Saturday, October 24, 2015
PHOTO FLASHBACK : JOAN'S GOT THE TRAVEL & LEISURE WELL COVERED!
Joan is surrounded by the crew of the photo shoot for the cover of USA magazine 'Travel & Leisure' in 1986.. Also in the pic is Joan's PR Agent Jeffrey Lane..
Friday, October 23, 2015
PRESS UPDATE : INDEPENDENT ONLINE .. MOLLY MOON REVIEW .. OCTOBER 23RD 2015 ..
MOVIE REVIEW: Molly Moon and the incredible book of hypnotism
MOLLY MOON AND THE INCREDIBLE BOOK OF HYPNOTISM
DIRECTOR: Christopher N Rowley
DIRECTOR: Christopher N Rowley
CAST: Raffey Cassidy, Emily Watson, Dominic Monaghan, Joan Collins, Leslie Manville, Sadie Frost, Celia Imrie, Jadon Carnellie Morris
CLASSIFICATION: PG
RUNNING TIME: 97 minutes
RATING: 3 stars (out of 5)
Theresa Smith
Cute and terribly sweet, this family film skews quite young. It is aimed at the tweens who are familiar with the idea of famous children, but don’t really know much about how other children live their lives.
Parents will be slightly tickled by the cast of adults who include a flashback in the form of a deliciously bitchy Joan Collins and some hefty acting chops from an always solid Emily Watson, surprisingly funny Celia Imrie and Dominic Monaghan as a would-be bank robber.
Unprepossessing pre-teen Molly Moon (Cassidy) lives in a tiny orphanage in the English countryside, constantly harassed by the orphanage director, Miss Adderstone (Manville).
Best friends with another orphan, Rocky Scarlett (Morris), she has the best of intentions, but other people’s plans are constantly getting in her way. When Molly discovers a book on hypnotism she picks up some useful skills, but then Rocky is adopted and her life really takes a turn for the dismal.
Based on Georgia Byng’s popular book series, this film doesn’t take Molly to New York as the book does, but deposits her in London in search of Rocky.
Determined to make things right with her friend, Molly makes her way to the big city and finds him, but then gets sidetracked by the idea of becoming famous. She hypnotises her way onto a popular televised stage show and persuades herself she is living the life. The orphanage story arc has a timeless feel to it, while the big city story is all bright lights and wide-eyed wonder at the shiny things.
All this time a would-be robber has been looking for Molly’s book and eventually Nockman (Monaghan) comes after her because he needs the hypnotism skills for his next big score, which is where the film turns heist story.
Suffice it to say, this being a family film aimed at little people, lots more happens, but it all eventually works out and Molly learns the importance of family.
While it doesn’t have the bright pallette of Nanny McPhee, Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism does have that same fantastical feel to it because of Molly’s quickly- learnt hypnotism skills and the story’s allegoric message around family and doing the right thing.
In this world big people are the enemy – adopted parents are cruel, the orphanage is a nasty place of gross food, headed by a cruel tyrant of a director – so some old stereotypes are regrettably exploited to tell a modern Annie meets Oliver Twist story.
Molly is a plucky little heroine they can identify with, this film will appeal most to the female pre-teen market, though the message that she conquers the world through hypnotism is perhaps no more a good message to spread than presenting little girls with a Barbie doll as a positive role model.
If you liked the remake of Annie or Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, you will like this.
EVENT UPDATE : JAKE PRESENTS AN EVENING WITH DAME JOAN COLLINS .. THE MAYFAIR HOTEL .. NOVEMBER 1ST 2015 ..
JAKE + DAME JOAN COLLINS
Jake hosts an exclusive evening with Dame Joan Collins
Sunday, 1st November
6.30pm for a prompt 7.15pm start
The May Fair Hotel
Stratton Street, London, W1J 8LT
£10
For one night only, we have Dame Joan Collins all to ourselves!
Actress, philanthropist, national treasure, legend… there is nothing like a Dame, and no-one else quite like Joan Collins. This is a rare opportunity to be in the company of an icon, with a whole bunch of other gay men to boot.
Dame Joan will be introducing her new novel, The St. Tropez Lonely Hearts Club, answering questions, even taking questions from Jake members in the audience, then signing your personal copies (now, THAT'S what we call a Christmas present!).
It all happens at The May Fair on 1st November. Arrive at 6.30pm for pre-drinks in The Salon then we'll use the private staircase to the May Fair Theatre where Dame Joan will be presented by Jake founder - and Joan's best friend - Ivan Massow, and the evening will begin in earnest.
After the event, we'll be going back up those stairs to The Salon for drinks and the chance for Dame Joan to personally sign your copy of her book, which will be there for you to buy before the official publication date.
This will be a night to remember, so tickets will go fast!
ON THE NIGHT
6.30pm
Salon
Guests arrive, pre-drinks
7.15pm
Theatre
Dame Joan reads from her new novel, The St. Tropez Lonely Hearts Club, followed by a Q&A
8.15pm onwards
Salon
Meet Dame Joan, as she signs copies of her new novel for Jake members.
Drinks in the Salon
Book here!
PHOTO FLASHBACK : LUNCH IS ALWAYS FULL OF VARIETY FOR JOAN!
Thursday, October 22, 2015
EVENT ALERT : AN EVENING WITH JOAN COLLINS IN CONVERSATION WITH EVE POLLARD.. WATERSTONES PICADILLY .. MONDAY NOVEMBER 2ND 2015
Joan will be in conversation with Eve Pollard at Waterstone's Picadilly London on Monday November 2nd... See link for details!An Evening With Joan Collins in Conversation with Eve Pollard
PHOTO FLASHBACK : TO LOVE THE THEATRE IS AN EASY VIRTUE!
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
PHOTO UPDATE : JOAN'S GOT ST TROPEZ COVERED!
Order your copy of Joan's Sinsational new novel here!
PHOTO FLASHBACK : JOAN'S NOVEL WAY OF SIGNING IN!
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
PROMO UPDATE : NEVER BE WITHOUT AMANDA IN YOUR PRIVATE LIVES!
Order here ...Order 'Amanda' here!
PHOTO OF THE DAY : IT'S NOT JUST THE CHAMPERS THAT'S ON SPARKLING FORM!
Monday, October 19, 2015
PHOTO FLASHBACK : GARY'S GOT JOAN COVERED!
This rare shot from 1988 was taken during a shoot for the cover of Joan's first novel 'Prime Time'.. This shot was not used on the final cover, but was used for early drafts of the cover.. The final cover used a red outfit.. Another stunning shot by Gary Bernstein.. Joan's 6th novel 'The St Tropez Lonely Hearts Club' is out on November 5th...
Sunday, October 18, 2015
PRESS UPDATE : VARIETY .. OCTOBER 17TH 2015 ..
The Academy Puts Strong Accent on British Members During London Film Festival
On Oct. 14, the Academy organized a tony soiree for its members across the pond during the BFI London Film Festival, where foreign-language Oscar winner Pawel Pawlikowski is currently serving as president of the jury.
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| Dame Joan Collins with Tom Hooper |
Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs toasted London-area members at the historic Winfield House, a villa once owned by Barbara Hutton and husband Cary Grant, which now houses the American ambassador to the U.K., Matthew Barzun — a film fan clearly delighted to host a roster of Oscar nominees ranging from Rooney Mara (accompanied by “Carol” co-star Cate Blanchett and director Todd Haynes) to Ridley Scott, whose latest, “The Martian,” holds the top spot at the box office.
Following a similar event a year earlier at 10 Downing St., the party brought together newly inducted European members, such as Gugu Mbatha-Raw and honorary Oscar winner Kevin Brownlow, with high-caliber veterans, including Joan Collins and Patrick Stewart, rubbing elbows with the likes ofKate Beckinsale and “The Danish Girl” director Tom Hooper.
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| Academy CEO Dawn Hudson and Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs with Academy members. VARIETY/REX SHUTTERSTOCK |
Brownlow, who’d only just returned from the Pordenone Silent Film Fest, beamed when asked about the Cinematheque Francaise’s recent discovery of material thought lost from Abel Gance’s silent-film “Napoleon,” saying, “I’m delighted that so much money will be spent proving the film is even better than I thought it was!”
In her remarks, Academy CEO Dawn Hudson acknowledged the presence of the org’s oldest member, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” cinematographer Douglas Slocombe, stressing the fact that 40 percent of last year’s Oscar nominees hailed from Europe, half of whom were British.
AMPAS’ ongoing commitment to strengthening its international ties was the focus of a festival panel moderated by Variety chief international film critic Peter Debruge, during which Hudson, foreign-language committee chair Mark Johnson, Academy awards manager Meredith Shea and “Ida” director Pawlikowski attempted to demystify how voting for the Oscar foreign-language prize works.
Two days later, the Academy held a similar event in Paris, where Roman Polanski joined fellow European members at the Mona Bismarck American Center for Art & Culture...