Thursday, December 31, 2015

PHOTO EXTRA : JOAN STAYS CLOSE TO HER FAMILY TREE!

Joan enjoyed a wonderful Christmas with all her family.. Children, Grandchildren, Neices and her brother Bill & wife Hazel. Joan takes time out in this photo to wish all her admirers & fans a very Happy 2016!

PHOTO UPDATE : JOAN STEPS OUT FOR DINNER IN CHELSEA!

Joan enjoyed dinner at The Ivy Chelsea Garden the other evening to celebrate the season, where she met up with good friends Michael & Shakira Caine...

PHOTO FLASHBACK : WHEN IN LONDON JOAN'S GOT A SPRING IN HER STEP!

This shot features Joan at a private party at the home of celebrated movie wig master Stanley Hall in 1960.. Joan is with Warren Beatty who was filming 'The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone' with Vivien Leigh who is also in the photo along with international star Lotte Lenya who also appeared in the film.... Vivien Leigh is one of Joan's favourite actresses..

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

PRESS UPDATE : EXPRESS & STAR WEEKEND .. DECEMBER 26TH 2015 ..

Interview: We chat to Joan Collins

Dame Joan Collins oozes glamour, but what’s her secret to looking good?
Dame Joan Collins
We’ve met dozens of stars, singers and TV personalities, but not one of them has been as refined as  actress and author Dame Joan Collins. From top to toe, Joan is the epitome of elegance, with her hair, make-up and outfits always pristine.
She won’t mind us talking about her looks – it’s something that she’s proud of. We want to know everything about how she achieves such a consistent level of physical beauty, but are worried that by doing so we may be accidentally objectifying her.
It’s not something we need to worry about. When we speak with her, the first thing we ask is whether she ever wants to just kick back in her tracksuit and relax – a perfect opportunity, we feel, for her to tell us off for focusing too much on how she looks. Ever the lady, she does no such thing.
“Not at all. I’ve always done my best to keep up my appearance. To be a glamorous woman is to be desirable, seductive and elegant. No one is born glamorous but I feel anyone can become glamorous.”
And making other women feel as refined as she does is a big part of what Joan works towards now. She has a beauty range, designed to give women the same confidence that she has. It’s called Timeless Beauty, an apt name for skin care, cosmetics and fragrances designed by the Dame, we thought. She tells us about it.
“I have been very fortunate to learn many beauty secrets from so many great make-up artists and celebrities through the years so I wanted to share my knowledge with other women, as I know how confident and great make-up makes me feel. Creating the Timeless Beauty range has enabled me to give others that same confidence when wearing make-up which is what inspired me in the beginning.
“Creating a line has been on my radar for years, however it is a very complicated process to put together from start to finish. You need a huge team with so many skills to do it right. My team is extensive and I couldn’t have done it without them – I have designers, chemists and experts whom specialise in the make-up industry. I know a lot about beauty but nobody knows everything about everything.”
We wonder whether Joan’s own beauty team – responsible for her own make-up – is as extensive. It turns out that she doesn’t have a force of experts applying her face every morning!
“It depends on the event which I am attending. I like my skincare regime to be quick, efficient and uncomplicated, but when I am doing my make-up it completely depends on what I am doing. For instance, if I’m going for a workout I just throw on my foundation and lipstick which takes one minute or less. However, if I’m going to a shoot or to an event it can take me up to an hour.”
We can barely even make it to the gym, let alone with a full face of make-up. That get-up-and-go, puts us to shame and makes us feel embarrassed.
Dame Joan Collins revealed she had learned of her sister's condition three weeks before she died
Dame Joan
“Age is just a number,” Joan says. “It’s totally irrelevant unless, of course, you happen to be a bottle of wine. However, if pushed for an answer as to when I felt most beautiful, I would say that I felt most confident in my appearance in my 40s. It’s easy to be stunning in your 20s and 30s, but it takes a commitment to preserving your beauty in your 40s and beyond.”
Dame Joan really is one of the last bastions of the quintessential Hollywood glamour. But there are a couple of stars that she feels have a real WOW factor.
“Cate Blanchett is absolutely beautiful and is one of the few people of today who I feel is truly glamorous. I also think Victoria Beckham has a particular style which I really like and it suits her.”
Being breathtakingly beautiful is, Joan tells us, not always all it’s cracked up to be. Last year, 38-year-old Liv Tyler claimed that there were limited roles in Hollywood for women a ‘bit older than she is’. We wonder whether Joan has ever felt that? “No, not at all. But I do think that being attractive can have a hindrance on your life. As an actress, one is always taken more seriously if one is not too attractive. Elizabeth Taylor and Vivien Leigh are examples of this. Their beauty stopped them from being acknowledged as good actresses until later in their lives.”
The secret to her own lasting beauty is not just based on good products, she reveals. “My top tip would be to always look after your skin and keep your face out of the sun. I am religious about my skincare regime, always making sure I keep my face out of the sun and protecting it with a good foundation such as my Timeless Beauty First Base and an SPF face cream, of course. A happy disposition, wherever possible, is a great help too.”
Sadly, things haven’t been entirely happy for Joan in the last year. We turn away from her own beauty and instead enquire about another, her late sister Jackie, who died of breast cancer in September aged 77. But Joan doesn’t wish to talk about it, instead pointing us in the direction of her official statement on her loss. We don’t blame her – the pair had grown closer than ever in their last few years together.
Dame Joan Collins (left) has paid tribute to her sister Jackie (right)
Dame Joan Collins (left) with her sister Jackie (right)
In the statement, she writes: “Anyone who knew Jackie well will tell you how courageous and selfless she was. This, of course, was one of the reasons for her great success in both her personal and professional life and why she was loved and admired by so many. I therefore choose to remember her as the strong, independent, loyal, caring, maternal, fun-loving, witty, joyful woman she was.
“I don’t think I will ever recover from the sadness of losing my beautiful baby sister. Someone once said ‘the reality is that you don’t ‘get over’ the loss of a loved one, you learn to live with it’. I think Jackie would have liked us to do more than that. As she requested, I will not mourn her death, but rather celebrate her life. She will live on in the wonderful memories I have of her from our childhood and particularly from the last fifteen years, during which we were closer than ever. I feel her spirit, I hear her wonderful laugh and I see her all the time in the hundreds of photos of her that are sprinkled around my home. She wasn’t just a star – to me she was an entire galaxy.”
By Kirsty Bosley

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

PRESS UPDATE : NEW YORK SOCIAL DIARY ... DECEMBER 29TH 2015 ..

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

LIZ SMITH: Females on the Beach

Liz and Joan in 1986.
 
by Liz Smith

Females on the Beach: Joan Collins turns deadly "The St. Tropez Lonely Hearts Club."

"AH, YES, marriage. The deep, deep peace of the double bed after the hurly burly of the chaise lounge!"

So says Sophie Silvestri, "aging film star of the 1960s" in the latest Joan Collins roman a clef, "The St. Tropez Lonely Hearts Club." This is Joan's 18th book. She has written about everything from herself to beauty and fitness to fiction to, well, herself!
Joan reading from her latest novel, "The St. Tropez Lonely Hearts Club." Click to order.
Her new one — which begins with a sly homage to "Sunset Boulevard" — takes place in St. Tropez, and it's just the sort thing to read on the beach in St. Tropez. Or curled up on your couch with a hot toddy in New Jersey. As usual with this kind of thing, one is encouraged to look beneath the make-believe characters and find the "real" person. (Taking into account that in showbiz, the latter is mighty hard to come by.)

La Liz — "Remembered" by Joan Collins in "St. Tropez?"
So various pop stars, tycoons, heiresses and social parasites have personality quirks one might recognize from glancing at the gossip columns or glossy magazines. But it's all in good fun. Miss Collins devises a story that is highly improbable and hilariously entertaining — there's a good deal of murder, too.

One character I did recognize right off was the above-mentioned Sophie Silvestri. She seems to be a teensy-weensy bit based on Joan's dear friend, the gone but immortal Elizabeth Taylor. Naturally, it's not an exact portrait. Sophie has never been wed. But somehow that makes the comparison all the more obvious. It's not unflattering — Sophie is described as "sweet and sad." After all, Joan can only write based on her own experiences, yes? Or things she's heard about and been witness to. Although I doubt she's ever been at a dinner where everybody contracts food poisoning — killing a famous star. (As happens in her novel.)

Now, I don't want to imply that Joan harbors any enmity toward Miss Taylor. They were friends. And the last time I did imply such a thing — after they had appeared together — along with Debbie Reynolds and Shirley MacLaine — in the wretched TV movie "These Old Broads," I received a tearful call from Joan, and then — stunningly — a stern phone call from La Liz herself. So there. ("Joan and I are friends, Liz," said ET with silky severity.)

P.S. Joan dedicates this book to her sister, the late Jackie Collins — "For Jackie. I will never forget you."
Joan and Jackie.
JOAN HAS also been in the news with the sale of some of her clothes and jewels and what-nots at Juliens Auctions in Beverly Hills. She pulled in a nice chunk of change for her belongings, which included several "love letters" from Warren Beatty and a 1973 British MG roadster she never drove. (Collins admits to being a shade on the hoarder side.)
Joan in her 1973 MG Midget Mark III Roadster, which sold for $10,880.

Sunday, December 27, 2015

PRESS UPDATE : THE MAIL ON SUNDAY .. DECEMBER 27TH 2015



'Oliver Twist is my favourite book of all time, but it gave me nightmares': Joan Collins on her cultural highlights

The flamboyant Hollywood star adores Sinatra, Strictly, Double Indemnity with Barbara Stanwyck, Homeland, the 'good-looking' Bradley Cooper and plays Michael Bublé all the time 
'When I was in Dynasty, we used to have screenings at my house in Hollywood and once George Hamilton brought Elizabeth Taylor. She lit a cigarette and set fire to one of her acrylic fingernails,' said Joan Collins
'When I was in Dynasty, we used to have screenings at my house in Hollywood and once George Hamilton brought Elizabeth Taylor. She lit a cigarette and set fire to one of her acrylic fingernails,' said Joan Collins

My TV gold
You can’t beat Homeland
Lucille Ball
Milton Berle was one of the funniest men ever and Lucille Ball (left) and Jack Benny were hilarious. For American dramas, you can’t beat Homeland
My father had one of the first TV sets when they came out in the early Fifties, but when I moved to America the first hotel that I went into had colour TV. Milton Berle was one of the funniest men ever and Lucille Ball and Jack Benny were hilarious.
Now I like to watch Sky News and Strictly Come Dancing. And for American dramas, you can’t beat Homeland.
When I was in Dynasty, we used to have screenings at my house in Hollywood and once George Hamilton brought Elizabeth Taylor. She lit a cigarette and set fire to one of her acrylic fingernails and I had to take her to the bathroom to fix it.

My movie magic
I love Double Indemnity with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck (pictured), I’ve watched Gone With The Wind ten times and I adore The Fabulous Baker Boys
I love Double Indemnity with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck (pictured), I’ve watched Gone With The Wind ten times and I adore The Fabulous Baker Boys
The first film I saw was either Snow White or a Shirley Temple movie, when I was very young. 
Two years ago, for my birthday, my husband Percy gave me my 100 favourite movies, which are now on my iPad. 
I love Double Indemnity with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck, I’ve watched Gone With The Wind ten times and I adore The Fabulous Baker Boys.
I don’t like watching myself in films or on TV but I did think I was very funny in Rally Round The Flag, Boys! with Paul Newman.

My favourite book by my late sister Jackie is The Power TripThe thing I like about Dickens is that he is wonderfully descriptive
I had nightmares after reading the scene in Oliver Twist, my favourite book of all time, where Bill Sikes killed Nancy. My favourite book by my late sister Jackie is The Power Trip
Words of wonder
I’m an avid reader and went through five books a week when I was small.
From childhood I loved Enid Blyton and Charles Dickens. But I had nightmares after reading the scene in Oliver Twist, my favourite book of all time, where Bill Sikes killed Nancy. The thing I like about Dickens is that he is wonderfully descriptive.
The last good book I read was Can I Go Now? The Life Of Sue Mengers, Hollywood’s First Superagent, which was really engaging. My favourite book by my late sister Jackie is The Power Trip.

The art in my heart
I have six or seven of Paul César Helleu’s late 19th-century portraits and about 15 works by Erté. I love Salvador Dali and also Emily Patrick. I have a wonderful Andy Warhol painting of me in my apartment in LA. I have some of Tracey Emin’s art – she’s a good friend of mine – and I have several portraits by Sacha Newley [her son] in my flat in London.

Music to my ears
Of the current artists, I like Pharrell Williams; Blurred Lines and Happy are great songs
I adore Frank Sinatra. Of the current artists, I like Pharrell Williams; Blurred Lines and Happy are great songs
I’m a fan of Latin American musician Sérgio Mendes, I love Chet Baker and I adore Frank Sinatra. 
I also play Michael Bublé all the time. 
Of the current artists, I like Pharrell Williams; Blurred Lines and Happy are great songs.

I remember being entranced by Dick Barton Special Agent when I was about 12
I remember being entranced by Dick Barton Special Agent when I was about 12
Don’t touch that dial
I listen to Magic FM when I am in London, or Riviera Radio when we are in St Tropez. When I was growing up in the Thirties and Forties, radio was terribly important. I remember being entranced by Dick Barton Special Agent when I was about 12. I also enjoyed Much-Binding-In-The-Marsh, and copied it when I edited my school magazine a bit later, calling it Much Binding in the Fourth Form. Then there was The Goon Show, which came a bit later. I loved Peter Sellers.

The play’s my thing
The last production I saw was Bradley Cooper in The Elephant Man. It was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen. He’s such a good-looking actor but he brilliantly transformed himself for the role.
I adore musicals and particularly Kiss Me, Kate. I used to go to the theatre all the time when I was growing up, as my father was a variety agent. My grandmother was a singer, dancer and entertainer, who had toured South Africa.Performing is in my blood. 
‘The St Tropez Lonely Hearts Club’ by Joan Collins is published by Little, Brown, priced £16.99

PRESS UPDATE : THE OBSERVER .. DECEMBER 27TH 2015

Jackie Collins remembered by her sister, Joan

4 October 1937 - 19 September 2015
The bestselling novelist was a generous champion of equality, whose raunchy, page-turning books gave readers access to life in Hollywood


She was more than a sister to me. I considered her a true and wonderful friend (whose advice I didn’t always listen to, unfortunately, and to my disadvantage). She and I understood and empathised with each other more than practically anyone I know and I felt her loyalty to me was unbounded and her love was unconditional. We shared so many of the same memories and confided in each other without fear. We gossiped and giggled when we were together and loved to go see the latest movies at weekend morning showings at our favourite Los Angeles shopping centre.
My sister always believed that truth is much stranger than fiction. This is why she became one of the most successful and top-selling novelists in the world. There were many imitators, but only Jackie Collins could tell you what really went on in the fastest lane of all. From Beverly Hills bedrooms to glittering rock parties and concerts, from stretch limos to the mansions of the power brokers, Jackie’s books chronicled the truth, which she knew from the inside looking out.
Director Louis Malle called her a “raunchy moralist” and Vanity Fair referred to her as “Hollywood’s own Marcel Proust”. She gave millions of her readers an unrivalled inside knowledge of Hollywood and the glamorous lives of the rich, famous and infamous. “I write about real people in disguise,” she once said. “If anything, my characters are toned down – the truth is much more bizarre.”
Born in London on 4 October 1937, Jackie started writing exciting stories at the age of 10, and made her schoolmates pay to read them. Expelled from school in her early teens, she became an actor for a while, appearing with Roger Moore in The Saint, Dirk Bogarde in Cocktails in the Kitchen and Alec Guinness in All at Sea. But it was the writing she adored and in 1968 she wrote the groundbreaking novel The World Is Full of Married Men. It became a sensation because of its open sexuality and how it dealt honestly with the double standards between men and women.

Jackie was always an advocate for equality. She believed deeply that children should grow up in a world where they are accepted for who they are and not where they come from or what sex they’re born. This great legacy will live on in the many terrifically entertaining and page-turning novels.
And she was tireless. In spite of raising three children and accompanying her husband, Oscar Lerman, to his nightclub, Tramp, several times a week, she still managed to write more than a dozen bestsellers in the next 15 years. She then moved to Beverly Hills where she wrote 20 more – all bestsellers.

She always put other people, particularly her family, ahead of herself, and she had more concern for others than she did for herself, even to the end. She tried to keep her illness to herself for many years to avoid saddling people she cared for with grief. Anyone who knew Jackie would tell you how courageous and selfless she was.
This was one of the reasons for her great success, both in her personal and professional life, and why she was loved and admired by so many people. She was a strong, independent, loyal, caring, maternal, fun-loving, witty, generous woman.
Her generosity was limitless and she never forgot to send a thank you note or Christmas card to everyone she worked with. Her munificence at Christmas was without par and no one could keep up with the lavish gifts she heaped upon her family and friends.

She was a woman of contrasts. She was completely disciplined about her writing but somehow also managed to watch practically every major TV show on air, and the various DVRs scattered throughout her house were constantly “on record”. She would shop at Tiffany’s but you would also be likely to see her at the bargain stores. She loved staying home and cooking for her family but she also loved the buzz and theatre of restaurant life. And although she was fearless about living alone in an enormous house, she couldn’t face a spider or cockroach.
The loss of Jackie has caused a massive hole in my heart. Like the Grand Canyon, I can’t ignore it, walk around it or get over it. I must simply face its empty majesty and it will remind me of my beautiful, brave and ballsy sister.

PHOTO EXTRA : JOAN'S TEXTS A MISSION FOR CHARITY!

Joan recently featured in the ITV Charity special for Text Santa.. In a short sketch filmed in Benidorm, Joan appeared as Crystal Hennessy Vass who gives the staff of the Solana headed by Joyce (Sherrie Hewson) a mission to find a cheque she left at the hotel for the charity.. Here is a photo of Joan's scene, where she appeared on a laptop, a spoof of the old Mission Impossible routine... 

Friday, December 25, 2015

PRESS ALERT : EXPRESS & STAR WEEKEND MAGAZINE .. DECEMBER 26TH 2015 ..

For those in the midlands.. Birmingham etc,.. Joan features on the cover of The Express & Star Weekend magazine, out tomorrow...