EVENT UPDATE : AN AFTERNOON WITH DAME JOAN COLLINS .. THE RICHARDS CENTER FOR THE ARTS .. PALM SPRINGS .. SATURDAY JANUARY 26TH 2020

Photo courtesy of Sharlynn Vee

Joan kicked off the New Year with an appearance to a sell out audience at Palm Springs Richards Center For The Arts for An Afternoon With, as part of the Palm Springs Speaks Season.

Double The Fans! Joan with Ethylina Canne & Morgan McMichaels

PRESS UPDATE : UKEN REPORT .. JANUARY 19TH 2020 ..

Dame Joan Collins Coming to Palm Springs

Posted by Cindy Uken | Jan 19, 2020 | News, Valley Life

Joan sensational in Silver for PALM SPRINGS LIFE 1982

PALM SPRINGS — Dame Joan Collins will be in Palm Springs on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020 at 3:30 p.m. at the Richards Center for the Arts, Palm Springs High School as part of the third season  of speakers for Palm Springs Speaks.

Patrick Evans

She will be introduced by News Channel 3 ABC Meteorologist and local personality Patrick Evans. She will be then joined onstage by Actor, Director and Producer, Chuck Yates, five-time Desert Star Award-winner and Founding Artistic Director of Coyote StageWorks, to discuss her career.

From her early days at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art right up to her most recent roles on the big and small screen, and behind the scenes stories; she will be ‘spilling the tea’ on it all! There will also be an opportunity for the audiences to submit questions for Dame Joan after check-in at the event; index cards will be provided. Tickets are on sale now at www.palmspringsspeaks.org. A special Limited Edition General Admission $45 ticket has been added to the show and is available online now!

Chuck Yates

As an added bonus for all those attending the event, a donated fresh copy of an original Dynasty script from the personal files of the Executive Story Editor of the series, Frank V. Furino, along with an original vintage Interview magazine from September 1984 Vol. XIV No. 9 featuring Joan on the cover with an extensive interview inside, will be raffled off at the event. Tickets will be sold at the event only for $5 per ticket or 5 tickets for $20. The winning ticket will be drawn on stage by Furino and Joan and the winner will have the opportunity to have their picture taken with both and have Joan sign the script and magazine if desired. So if you love Joan or were a Dynasty super fan this is your opportunity to have a piece of history.

BOOK DAME JOAN COLLINS TICKETS HERE!!

Dame Joan Collins

Dame Joan Collins is first and foremost an actress. However, she is also a best-selling author, an
accomplished producer and a successful entrepreneur. Winner of two Golden Globes and a People’s
Choice Awards, nominated several times for Golden Globes, People’s Choice and Emmy awards, as well
as recipient of numerous other awards worldwide, Joan has appeared in more than 60 feature films and
dozens of television programs. The daughter of theatrical agent Joe Collins and his wife Elsa, Joan Collins was born in London and made her London stage debut at the age of nine in Ibsen’s A DOLL’S HOUSE at the Arts Theatre.

Joan Collins has appeared in more than 65 feature films and hundreds of television appearances,
including creating the role of Alexis Carrington on Dynasty, one of the most highly rated television
dramas of all time. Her novels and memoirs have sold over 50 million copies worldwide and have been
translated into 30 languages. She is recognized world-round as a fashion maven of timeless beauty, and
is a regular diarist for The Spectator and a contributor to The Daily Mail, The Telegraph, The Times and
Harper’s Bazaar. On stage, Joan Collins has performed on Broadway, the West End, and in national
tours in the UK and North America.

In 2015, Her Majesty 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.

PRESS UPDATE : PALM SPRINGS LIFE .. JANUARY 10TH 2020 ..

Dame Joan Spills the Tea

Ahead of her Palm Springs Speaks appearance, Dynasty star Joan Collins reveals her favorite spot to grab a drink in town and whether she’s seen the show’s reboot.

By Derrik J. Lang  January 10, 2020 ...

Before she was ever sipping champagne and slapping Linda Evans on Dynasty, a young Joan Collins would frequently escape from Hollywood to Palm Springs for sunshine and cocktails, which the veteran 86-year-old actress still fondly recalls to this day. She’ll be back Jan. 26 as part of the Palm Springs Speaks series — and she’s prepared to dish the dirt, darling.

With a career spanning nearly seven decades and a personal life that’s been well documented by the tabloids, Collins has plenty of stories to tell. She trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London and began acting in films in 1951, eventually starring with the likes of Bob Hope in The Road to Hong Kong, Paul Newman in Rally Round the Flag, Boys, and Bette Davis in The Virgin Queen.

Collins helped salvage the ailing Aaron Spelling primetime soap Dynasty when her character — the scheming ex-wife of John Forsythe’s patriarch Blake Carrington — was introduced at the end of the first season in 1981. (A body double under a giant floppy hat and veil first portrayed the character before Collins debuted in the second season premiere.) Her iconic take-no-prisoners personification of Alexis Carrington earned Collins international stardom, as well as best actress Golden Globe in 1982.

In recent years, Collins has appeared on the sudsy E! series The Royals and the FX anthology American Horror Story: Apocalypse. She’s currently starring in Valentino’s campy winter campaign. Prior to her Jan. 26 appearance, the British actress, author, and activist spoke with Palm Springs Life about her legacy and relationship with the desert.

You’re based back in London now, but did you ever own a home in Palm Springs when you were living full time on the West Coast?

No. Who said that?

There are references out there to your properties in the Vista Las Palmas and Southridge neighborhoods, but they might just be pointing out houses where you stayed over the years.

Oh, I’ve stayed in lots of houses in Palm Springs. I think I stayed in Frank Sinatra’s house and Sammy Davis Jr.’s and Dean Martin’s houses back in the day. I never owned a home there myself.

What did you think of Palm Springs during your many visits?

I find it very relaxing. When I was there, the weather was always beautiful. I like the shopping. I think some of the shops are really interesting. They’re not all boarded up like in a lot of places now. And the restaurants, of course, are great. Is Don the Beachcomber still there?

Joan Collins on the December 1982 cover of Palm Springs Life magazine.

Sorta. There’s a bar called Bootlegger Tiki in the same location now.

When I was there, it was Don the Beachcomber, and I loved it. I would go quite often, particularly in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Then, when I got married and had kids, then I didn’t go so much.

How do you feel about coming back out for your Palm Springs Speaks appearance?

I’m looking forward to catching up with [moderator Michael Childers] because we had quite a few mutual friends: Natalie Wood and the great director John Schlesinger. And I’m just generally interested in talking about whatever he wants to talk about. I mean, whatever anybody wants to talk about, I’m willing to talk about it.

Anything?! What do people usually ask you?

They like to talk about Dynasty, that show I did. They like to find out about my beauty routine, my fashion routine, what I like in clothes. It depends where I am. They like to hear anecdotes about all the people I’ve worked with. I mean, I’ve worked with some of the Hollywood greats: Paul Newman, Bette Davis, Gregory Peck. You name it. I’ve worked with them.

Why do you think Aaron Spelling cast you in Dynasty?

He put me into a show called Fantasy Island in which I played Cleopatra. And I think even though the studio wanted Elizabeth Taylor or Sophia Loren and particularly Jessica Walters for Alexis, Aaron went to bat for me. First of all, because he knew me, and second of all, because he’d seen what I had done in Fantasy Island, which was kind of the precursor to Alexis. I think he also probably saw an English movie called The Stud in which I played a strong, empowered woman.

When did you realize Dynasty was a cultural phenomenon?

I think it was during that first season. I was driving with my best friend Judy down Mulholland Drive. There was a bunch of young kids in a car, all waving at me and calling my name, “Alexis! Alexis!” I rolled down the window and waved. They said, “We love you! We love you!” I thought that was very sweet.

I actually host a podcast called Dynasty As They Wanna Be where I’m watching and analyzing every episode of Dynasty. It’s remarkable how relevant the show remains today. Besides inspiring fashion, Dynasty explored second-wave feminism, social classism, abortion, homosexuality …

That’s right. I had a gay son that I accepted, but that his father would not. Blake Carrington would not accept Steven as gay. He hated it. Alexis did not. I think it was the first time you saw gay relationships depicted like that on television.

Why do you think Alexis still resonates with audiences?

I think it was the first time that you saw a woman who was very empowered and took charge, used her wile, and — yes — used her sexuality as well to get what she wanted and didn’t care what people thought about her. A lot of people hated the character, but a lot of people really loved her, which I think is why I’m probably still relevant today.

Dynasty ran the entirety of the 1980s. Why do you think there’s this continued fascination with that decade in pop culture? Stranger Things is very popular. The next Wonder Woman movie is set in 1984. The CW is currently airing a modern reboot of Dynasty.

You love it?

The new Dynasty? Honestly, I haven’t watched much of it.

I haven’t watched it either.

“An Afternoon with Dame Joan Collins” takes place at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 26, at the Richards Center for the Arts, 2248 E. Ramon Road, in Palm Springs. For tickets

and additional information, visit palmspringsspeaks.org.

BOOK DAME JOAN COLLINS TICKETS HERE!  

DVD ALERT : ALFIE DARLING .. BLU-RAY / DVD ... MARCH 9TH 2020 .. NETWORK ..

To kick off the New Year Network are releasing two of Joan's British film releases, the classic 1953 drama 'The Square Ring' and this 1975 comedy drama 'Alfie Darling' starring Alan Price with Joan as glamorous bored housewife Fay... Available March 9th ..

Sixties icon Alfie Elkins makes a ribald return appearance in this sequel to the classic comedy-drama that shot Michael Caine to stardom. Alan Price stars as the Jack-the-Lad with an over-active libido alongside Jill Townsend, Hannah Gordon, Rula Lenska and Joan Collins. Alfie Darling is presented here as a brand-new High Definition transfer from the original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio.

Alfie makes a good living driving huge trucks across Europe, with a girl hidden away in every place he visits - as well as some along the way! Then he meets cool, aloof Abby, who resists his charms - but Alfie was never one to shy away from a challenge!

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Pre Order ALFIE DARLING Here!!

Pre Order ALFIE DARLING DVD Here!!

DVD ALERT : THE SQUARE RING DVD / BLU-RAY RELEASE .. FEBRUARY 3RD 2020.. NETWORK ..

To kick off the new a number of Joan's classic movies get the blu-ray / dvd treatment including this forthcoming release from Network on February 3rd.. The Square Ring from 1953 features Joan in an early role as Frankie the girlfriend of boxer Rick Martell played by Maxwell Reed..

This hard-hitting portmanteau drama from Michael Relph and Basil Dearden depicts the emotion, excitement and broad humour of one night's boxing at a downmarket London stadium. Starring Jack Warner as the dressing-room attendant who links the stories together – and co-starring Robert Beatty, Maxwell Reed, Joan Collins and Kay Kendall – Ealing Studios' The Square Ring is presented here as a High Definition transfer from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio.

Joan on set The Square Ring

Danny Felton, Adam's Stadium's dressing-room "handler" has seen many fighters come and ago, rise and fall – and tonight's line-up is no exception. Up-and-comers, would-be contenders, "comeback kids", champions-in-waiting – out into the ring they go, and back to his dressing-room they return – bruised, batter, chastened or triumphant.

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Pre Order The Square Ring Blu-ray Here!!

Pre Order The Square Ring Dvd Here!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020!

As we begin a new decade, which is now been referred to as The Roaring 20's, I want to wish everyone a most wonderful New Year filled with lots of Luck, Good Fortune, Fun & Adventure, but most importantly Very best of Health & Happiness as we look forward to another if not more exciting year following the life and careeer of our most Legendary Dame!    HAPPY NEW YEAR!!