HAPPY EASTER 2018!

                   Hope everyone has a most wonderful Easter!

TV UPDATE : THE ROYALS SEASON 4 .. E! CHANNEL USA .. SUNDAY'S 10/9c

This super shot features Joan in the new season of 'The Royals' currently screening in the USA on E! Channel USA Sunday's at 10/9c

PRESS UPDATE : DAILY MAIL .. MARCH 29TH 2018 ..

DAME JOAN COLLINS has long loathed slobbery celebrity greeting. Recently, she says, they gave her flu - and she'll NEVER air kiss again

By Dame Joan Collins For The Daily Mail

HOW I admire the Japanese culture’s sensible approach to greeting people when they meet — a simple bow or nod of the head is enough, be it to friends, acquaintances or strangers. There’s no handshaking, hugging or, heaven forbid, kissing.

Unlike we British, they obviously know plenty about germs, especially as they are often swathed in gloves and surgical masks.

If only I could find them in silk and satin and swathed in Swarovski crystals! Because while I’ve long been concerned with germs, I’ve become even more wary following my recent experience with a terrible bout of influenza.

Where did I catch it from? It’s almost impossible to know, but I believe the deadliest germ carriers are other people’s hands and faces — which makes my life tricky, considering I work in a profession where hugs, kisses and physical contact are the norm.

 Indeed, in the course of my career, some actors and directors have put my immune system under serious strain, so unnecessarily up close and personal have they become.

My flu virus struck when I was on a plane to Dubai as I travelled to perform my one-woman show at the opera house in December. In spite of having had the flu jab, which protects one from the virus’s deathly A-strain, apparently one can still succumb to the less serious but still awful B-strain, which I unfortunately contracted.

Joan with Cilla Black & Cliff Richard

                                                 
Regardless, the show had to go on, so I staggered on to the stage and managed to get through it, in spite of several coughing fits. Back in London I took to my bed like a Victorian lady with a case of the swoons — legs shaky as spaghetti, ribs aching from a hacking cough. Bed-bound for a fortnight, I almost felt that the end was near. (I’m an actress — you have to expect some drama.)

Ever since, I have upped my one-woman war against germs. A few weeks after my illness, on a flight from London to LA, I was adamant on blocking the airvent above me with duct tape and swabbing my seat and media screen vigorously with disinfectant wipes. I had armed myself with enough hand sanitiser, nose-blocking gel and baby wipes to stock a corner chemist.

I was protecting myself from the zillions of invisible germs that lurk inside aeroplanes, as they do on every surface from door handles to lift buttons and supermarket trolleys. Indeed, while I’ve long worn gloves as a fashionable accessory, now I wear them whenever possible to protect myself against virulent germs.

And, yes, I try to avoid shaking hands — instead offering my jaunty closed fist for a gentle bump, which is usually met by a puzzled expression unless the recipient is approaching puberty — much less this ghastly fad of kissing and hugging strangers.

Joan with brother Bill at launch party for 'The World According To Joan'

   
The bane of my life is the bear hug followed by a sloppy kiss on the cheek from total strangers. As I was born and brought up at a time where you didn’t kiss or hug anyone except your family, and it was the norm to seldom receive much affection from your parents past the age of ten, this is a fad I can’t adjust to.

My mother was a germophobe long before it was trendy to be one. As her first-born, she wrapped me in cotton wool. When we went out in the pram, and because strangers would often coo over me and get far too close for her comfort, she felt compelled to have a sign printed, which she put on the blanket covering her little darling, stating: ‘Please do not kiss me.’

Unfortunately, I no longer have that sign, as it would be still useful. Yes, other actors and actresses seemingly relish sharing their intimate space with others, but call me cold and aloof — and I try not to be — I don’t willingly participate.

So these #metoo movements and mysterious unwritten laws that make it verboten to get too close to your colleagues suit me just fine, even though I generally am against the nanny-state these movements engender.

After the curtain comes down actors are no longer supposed to fraternise with each other and much less with the management and production staff. However, if those were the rules in 2000, I would never have been able to date my husband, Percy, when we met in San Francisco and toured the U.S. He was managing the company and I was playing opposite George Hamilton.

Luckily, George is not one of those actors who spray you with saliva when you have a scene in close proximity. Ever the gent, we worked together several times on TV and he has never parted his lips during a kissing scene.

Joan with Christopher Biggins at launch of 'The World According To Joan'

         
Sadly, that doesn’t apply to a few other actors, who must have exposed me to more germs than I care to think about. As soon as the director yells ‘action’ during a love scene, these actors become full on with the hands, the mouth and the dreaded tongue.

Not to speak ill of the dead (but I will), I played opposite George Peppard in a little epic called The Executioner, shot in Greece. Unfortunately, he was an eager beaver in the amorous department. Wearing nothing but knickers and a sheet during our first love scene, I was at somewhat of a disadvantage as all 6ft 2in of him was splayed on top of me.

The wardrobe lady swiftly pulled the sheet away at the last minute and he came in for the kill. I tried a closed mouth screen-kiss, but he attempted the full-on Frenchie, and as I politely extricated his tongue from my throat for the fourth time, I became angry.

 I protested to our director, Sam Wanamaker, while GP looked on in amusement as the make-up department tried to reconstruct both our lipstick-covered faces.

‘Just do it a little less forcefully, George,’ said Sam persuasively.

‘OK,’ he growled, ever the great star, and off we went again:

Sheet off; Peppard on; tongue in — ugh! Sam was finally satisfied and cried cut. ‘Did you enjoy that?’ smirked George.

Joan with Nikki Haskell after her show 'One Night With Joan' at Feinsteins

 ‘No, I hated it and you didn’t have to be quite so “method”,’ I retorted as I struggled back into my robe, trying not to be the day’s cabaret act for the crew.

‘You’re a prude,’ he sneered. ‘Most actresses love it.’

‘Well, I’m not one of ’em,’ I said and stalked off speechless with fury. George became petulant and refused to talk to me, so we communicated only through our make-up people and during our scenes.

Another actor to perform inappropriate kissing on me was Gene Barry (otherwise known as Bat Masterson in the eponymous U.S. TV series). The details are hazy, but I was a wife pining for my estranged husband who appears to be a double agent, and Gene was the spy master trying to catch him out.

In the movie, Gene escorted me to my front door after a platonic dinner date.

He then tried what was supposed to be an avuncular goodbye peck on the cheek but out came that tongue again. ‘No, no, you can’t do it like that,’ I said struggling away. ‘I’m supposed to be grieving.’

‘For Chrissakes, what are you? Frigid?’ he demanded.

‘Yes, I’ve had two kids and two husbands, and I’m frigid,’ I replied, but Gene didn’t get the sarcasm. ‘I’m Gene Barry. I’m the hero of this picture. This woman’s gotta enjoy it. My fans will be disappointed!’

‘Well, my fans will hate it. Why don’t you go kiss them instead?’

Joan with Gene Barry in 'Subterfuge'

               
We WERE frosty from then on, until he made a guest appearance in These Old Broads, which I starred in with Shirley MacLaine, Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor, decades later. He recalled, not our fall-out on the set, but my subsequent appearance in Playboy Magazine!

Thankfully, neither of these saliva-filled interactions gave me a cold or flu. I wasn’t so lucky when I experienced another distasteful kiss on legendary producer Sam Spiegel’s super-yacht, moored in a gorgeous bay outside Cannes.

I was with Roger Moore and David Niven and their respective wives, looking forward to a birthday celebration for some other Hollywood big-wig. Twenty of us were seated on deck on a long table. Roger toasted the birthday boy, then added: ‘And it’s Joanie’s birthday today too!’

‘Congratulations, honey,’ beamed Spiegel, ‘And have I got a present for you, little lady.’ He lumbered up to me and plonked a tonsil-probing smacker, complete with snake-like tongue, on my lips. Roger thought it was hilarious.

I sat there gobsmacked with a sickly smile on my face as the table whooped with glee and I surreptitiously wiped my mouth on my napkin.

The following day I came down with a virulent strain of flu and had to spend days in bed.

So, dear reader, if I don’t accept your kisses, hugs and handshakes, it doesn’t mean I don’t like you. It just means I don’t want to catch your germs.

PHOTO FLASHBACK : JOAN'S DREAM ROLE INCLUDES THE BOYFRIEND!

To promote 'Rally Round The Flag Boys' in 1958, Esquire magazine ran a photo spread featuring Joan depicting the four dream roles she would love to play.. This fun shot depicts Joan as Polly Brown the main character in 'The Boyfriend'.. Will feature the others in future posts! 

EVENT UPDATE : PACIFIC PIONEER BROADCASTERS TRIBUTE LUNCH .. THE SPORTMEN'S LODGE LOS ANGELES .. MARCH 16TH 2018 ..

Joan on the dais with Percy & Alana Stewart

PPB President Alan Perris presented the Art Gilmore Career Achievement Award to Joan Collins at PPB's

March 16 celebrity luncheon.

Joan is internationally renowned for her role of Alexis Carrington Colby in Dynasty, one of the most highly rated evening and long running TV dramas of all time.

Winner of two Golden Globes and two People's Choice Awards, nominated for an Emmy award among several others, Joan has starred in more than 60 feature films and hundreds of television programs.

Some of her more memorable films are The Girl In The Red Velvet Swing; Rally Round The Flag Boys; The Virgin Queen; The Bravados; The Opposite Sex; Land Of The Pharaohs; Road To Hong Kong; The Big Sleep; Steven Berkoff's Decadence;and Kenneth Branagh's In The Bleak Midwinter. She continues to work on at least one major project a year and her most recent movie, The Time Of Their Lives, co-starring Pauline Collins, was released in March and is now available on DVD. She is currently in production on a new movie Gerry

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Joan has worked with great movie legends and has guest starred in some of the most popular TV series, such as Star Trek, Starsky & Hutch, Mission Impossible, Love Boat, The Persuaders, Space 1999, Batman, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Policewoman, Baretta, The Nanny, Will & Grace, Roseanne; Footballers Wives; Hotel Babylon and most recently Rules Of Engagement and Happily Divorced.

Joan Collins is also a best selling author and has published sixteen books, as well as an accomplished stage actress, having starred in over 11 plays and musicals on Broadway and London's West End.

In 2015, Queen Elizabeth II elevated Joan Collins to Dame Commander of the British Empire (D.B.E.) for her lifetime contribution to charity work, after having presented her with The Most Excellent Order of The British Empire (O.B.E.) for her services to the arts in 1997. She is married to Percy Gibson, who was on the dais honoring Joan at the PPB luncheon along with Alana Stewart, George Schlatter, Carole Bayer Sayer & Diahann Carroll..

Joan centre stage with Alana Stewart, Carole Bayer Sager, George Schlatter, Diahann Carroll, Chuck Street, Jeffrey Lane & Percy Gibson.

Joan with Brian Panella, Diahann Carroll, Carole Bayer Sayer, Alana Stewart & Jeffrey Lane

TV ALERT : SIR BRUCE - A CELEBRATION .. BBC1 9PM .. SUNDAY MARCH 11TH 2018 ..

Dame Shirley celebrates Brucie..

Tune into BBC1 on Sunday March 11th to celebrate the life and career of a true showbiz legend, Sir Bruce Forsyth.. Held at The London Palladium along with a performance by Shirley Bassey, there will also be a filmed tribute from Joan, who knew Bruce for many years, he also appeared in the 1969 film 'Can Heironymus Merkin......' in which Joan starred alongside her then husband Anthony Newley.. You can see 'Sir Bruce. A Celebration' at 9pm on BBC1... 

Joan paid tribute to Bruce ...

''He was such a hard worker in terms of making everything look effortless, which of course it wasn't. He made it look easy!'

Filmed at the London Palladium, this very special tribute hosted by Tess Daly sees a variety of famous faces and friends honour one of this country’s biggest and best-loved entertainers and broadcasters, Sir Bruce Forsyth.

The evening features some of Sir Bruce’s favourite songs performed by a wealth of artists, including Dame Shirley Bassey, Alexandra Burke and Michael Ball and Alfie Boe, as well as dance performances from the Strictly professionals and Adam Garcia.

There are also many personal tributes from stars including Sir Elton John, Sir Lenny Henry, Sir Michael Parkinson, Dame Joan Collins, Ant and Dec, Alesha Dixon, Anton Du Beke, Claudia Winkleman, Paul Merton, Jon Culshaw, Lord Sugar, Bradley Walsh, Rosemarie Ford, Arlene Phillips, Len Goodman and many more.

PRESS UPDATE : PIERS MORGAN EVENT DIARY .. MARCH 4th 2018 ..

By Piers Morgan Event for The Mail on Sunday

PUBLISHED:, 3 March 2018 

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20

Piers with Joan & Nikki Haskell

Joan Collins and her husband Percy threw a splendid house-warming party at their beautiful new Beverly Hills apartment.

The room was packed with Hollywood figures, including… Michael Brandon.

‘Michael! I don’t suppose you were…’

‘YES!’ laughed the Dempsey And Makepeace legend. ‘I felt such an a** shouting your name like that, you must have thought I was some crazy man.’

‘Actually, it’s more disturbing than that,’ said Celia, ‘he thought you were a fan.’

Designer Tom Ford arrived. ‘I’m wearing one of your shirts,’ I told him.

‘That’s nice,’ he replied.

‘In fact, I have more than 100 of your shirts!’ I added, excitedly. (I wear them for all my TV work.)

‘That’s nice too,’ he replied, without a single tonal change to his unimpressed voice.

I guess if you’re a friend of, and dresser to, Sir Elton John, then you’re used to more Imelda Marcos-style levels of sartorial extravagance.

Stefanie Powers and I got into a lively guns debate.

‘I have a firearm,’ said the Hart To Hart beauty whose on-screen romance with Robert Wagner electrified the world in the Eighties. ‘You have to in this country because there are so many of them out there.’

‘Would you fire it?’ I asked.

‘Honey,’ she retorted, ‘if someone broke into my home, damn right I would. And I’d shoot to kill, not wound.’

I had an amusing chat with George Hamilton, the man with the world’s most famous orange face until Donald Trump became President.

‘What do you make of him?’ I asked.

‘Best reality TV show ever,’ he laughed. ‘He’s made politics entertaining and exciting. I tune into the news every night to see what’s happened next. Whether that’s a good thing is another matter.’

‘Do you know him?’

‘Yes. He once threatened to sue me over some trivial thing involving Miss Universe when I co-hosted it with his ex-wife Marla, so I called him up and we went at it for a bit, then he suddenly laughed and said, “OK, let’s forget it and have dinner.” Everything with Donald is negotiable.’

Stefanie walked past and blew him a lingering kiss. ‘It must be great being George Hamilton,’ I sighed.

‘Relax, Piers,’ he chuckled, ‘she thinks I’m Robert Wagner.’

TV FLASHBACK : RUN FOR YOUR LIFE .. UNIVERSAL 1966 ..

Joan has appeared in many popular tv shows over the years including a guest appearance in this top 1966 show 'Run For Your Life' starring the late Ben Gazzara.Read more at the following link..
RUN FOR YOUR LIFE 1966 UNIVERSAL ..

PHOTO UPDATE : JOAN LOOKS BOOTIFUL AS SHE STEPS OUT TO DINE!

Joan enjoyed an night out for dinner at Craig's West Hollywood last night looking fabulous in a trendy pair of red boots as she made her way in to meet up with friends..