Dame Joan Collins returning to Floral Pavilion for book talk
HOLLYWOOD superstar Dame Joan Collins will share stories and secrets from her career when she returns to the Floral Pavilion later this year.
The award-winning actress, author, producer and entrepreneur – who became a household name in 1980s American soap opera Dynasty – will tell all at the New Brighton venue on October 16 as part of a tour launching her latest book, Behind the Shoulder Pads.
The show includes an audience question and answer session and will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for fans to spend an entertaining and unforgettable evening in the company of a true legend of stage and screen.
Looking forward to returning to the Floral Pavilion, Joan told the Globe: "It's wonderful to be back at the Floral Pavilion.
"If audiences remember my last show, it was a more general look at my life and career but this one will discuss my latest book, Behind the Shoulder Pads, in depth.
"The book contains many stories that up to now I've only told my friends!"
Joan says she 'always' enjoys the audience participation element, adding: "It's wonderful to have a dialogue with the audience and it does provide quite a lot of excitement as one never knows what someone will ask!
"I was at the Floral Pavilion in 2019. Lovely town and everyone made us feel welcome."
London-born Joan trained at RADA and first appeared on the big screen in 1950s Hollywood where her classical stage training prepared her for some major movie roles.
In the late 1970s, she appeared as a sexy siren in The Bitch and The Stud, written by her sister, the award-winning novelist Jackie Collins. Moving from big screen to TV in the early '80s.
Joan joined the cast of Dynasty as Alexis Carrington, a lead role in the show. It earned her a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame and a Golden Globe Award.
In 2015 Joan was made a Dame.
In the years that have followed Joan has toured her 'Audience with ...' shows and returned to stage and screen, including playing the fictitious Queen Mother in the E! Spoof soap The Royals.
She is the patron of numerous charitable activities including campaigns for Unicef and has her own Timeless Beauty cosmetics range.
Asked if she expected the success that followed, Joan replied: "Not at all. I originally wanted to be an actress of the stage, because that's what the 'real actors' did. I had no dreams of stardom.
"I wanted to be a working actress. I still consider myself a working actress, and stardom a sometimes welcome, and sometimes unwelcome, adjunct".
Asked if there was there a plan B, Joan admitted: "My father wanted me to be his secretary! But fortunately, I couldn't type.
"When I was young, I wanted to be a private detective, a clothes designer, and an interior designer.
"I still flex my muscles on the last two, and my husband says I missed my calling on the first!"
Asked if she would appear in a remake of Dynasty if it was ever produced, she said: "Of course, I would consider a remake! I remember the show and my fellow cast members with great fondness.
"I originally expected it to be another 'gig' which would last six months, as the show was languishing in the ratings.
"Nine years later, I was cleaning out my dressing room, which had become a second home. I found so much memorabilia!"
Looking back on the start of her career in Hollywood Joan said she would "absolutely" do it again, adding: "It was a wonderful time for me personally, as a 20-year-old and for my career too.
"I was thrilled to be in Hollywood, and it was just like I imagined it - fabulous weather - unbelievably glamorous - every one beautiful and exquisitely groomed - and that was just the men!
"I had my eyes wide open, so I accepted the nightmares – the unwanted advances and the heartaches - along with the dreams – making lifelong friends, which included some of the biggest names in Hollywood.
"It made me a citizen of the world.
"I loved Paul Newman. He and I, and his wife Joanne Woodward became very good friends and they lobbied for me to be in their movie Rally ‘round The Flag, Boys.
"They were the only ones in the business, aside from my sister Jackie, who have ever helped me along my career.
"When I lived in New York while Tony (Anthony Newley) was on Broadway, we'd go up to his country house and he would fire up the b-b-q and made the most amazing dressings.
"He said: 'one of these days I'm going to bottle them! The last time we saw each other I asked him how he was and he said 'still got a pulse!'"
Asked which aspect of her career Joan found most rewarding, she replied: "Being an actress without a doubt. I have always considered myself an actress first and foremost."
Joan splits her time between homes in London, LA, and the south of France, but stresses: "before you ask, I love them ALL equally. Although I am slightly more partial to London, being a true-blue Englishwoman".
Asked how she would describe herself, she replied "As the prologue of my last book said: "I am an actress, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a sister, an aunt and a loyal friend."
Tickets for Joan’s show at the Floral Pavilion show on October 16, which starts at 7.30pm, are from the box office on 0151 666 0000 ...
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