TV FLASHBACK : TV-am 1986

As Joan will be appearing on TV this weekend on "Piers Morgan's Life Stories". I thought I would feature this photo of Joan with presenter Anne Diamond on the TV-am sofa in October 1986. Joan was at the height of her "Dynasty" fame at that time and it was an event to have her on any show. This interview was shown in segments over a whole week and in it Joan discussed "her marriage, her worries about drug taking among the young, her health, her family life and the pressures of superstardom." TV-am which is now called GMTV, was one of the first breakfast shows on British TV. It had started with "Good Morning Britain", which was not a great success, but after changes and new presenters, it became a big hit. Joan has appeared many times on the sofa's of ITV'S breakfast shows, whether it's discussing her latest book or film or commenting on the Oscars. Whatever the reason for her appearance, she always bring style and glamour to brighten up the morning!

PARTY FLASHBACK! JACK RICH'S BIRTHDAY PARTY NY.

In November of 2009, Joan attended a birthday party for NY based PR guru Jack Rich. In the photos are Joan along with Nikki Haskell and Jack Rich..

TV REMINDER... PIERS MORGAN: LIFE STORIES ...

Just to remind everyone that Joan will appear on this Saturday nights edition of  "Piers Morgan - Life Stories, on ITV 1 at 9.00 PM. With an extended version of the show on Monday evening, the 29th on ITV 3 at 9.00 PM .. Not to be missed!!

FILM FLASHBACK!! THE LADY & THE CHAMP

Over the years Joan has been attached to many film projects, many of which never get past the option stages. As Joan herself has said, "Unless I am standing in front of the cameras, then I know it's for definite!"- or words to that effect!  Following the success of "The Stud", Joan was set to star in a film version of the late novelist Pat Booth's best seller "The Lady & The Champ". Booth who was a friend of Joan's and who died in 2009 also wrote the best seller's "Palm Beach", "Malibu" "Beverly Hills" and "The Sisters", which was said to based on Joan & Jackie! Her first novel "The Lady & The Champ", was maybe based on her own life as her father was a boxer and she dated British boxer John Conteh , who also made a cameo appearance in "The Stud". Ironically when she died she was a Lady herself after marrying Sir Frank Lowe in 2008. Joan was to star in the film with euro star Sylvia Kristel famous for the "Emmanuelle" series. The film had got to the pre-production stages and the photo shown, features Joan with a  model posing as the boxer. Apart from a few photo's and a press launch the film fell through, maybe due to funding. Looking at the photo, it could easily have come from "The Stud". Whether the film would have been such a success as that film we will never know. But it is nice to see the photo anyway!!

ON THE COVER FLASHBACK! / RADIO TIMES APRIL 1991

When it comes to magazine covers, Joan is up there with those icons who can list hundreds of cover shots. While I cant profess to have all of them, I do have many and I hope to share them on a regular basis. I recently featured Joan's latest cover for "The Lady" magazine, but today we go back to 1991. Joan appeared on this edition of the BBC programme guide "Radio Times", to herald the start of her eight part series for the BBC, "Tonight at 8.30" based on Noel Cowards set of mini plays. On the cover she is in character as Piggie Gilpin in the first episode "Hands across the Sea", which also starred John Nettles , Sian Phillips, Miriam Margoyles and Bernard Cribbins.  The show was not a ratings success, but it did find an audience in the USA, where is was retitled "Collins meets Coward". It is now available on "The Noel Coward Collection" box set from BBC Video.

TV ALERT!! PIERS MORGAN LIFE STORIES!

On Sat 27th March on ITV, Joan will appear on Piers Morgan's new series of "LIFE STORIES". Joan will discuss her life and career. Shown is an exclusive photo of Joan & Piers. Thanks to ITV ! The show will screen on ITV 1 at 9.00 pm to 10.00 pm. An extended version of the show will air  Monday 29th March on ITV 3 between 9.00 & 10.30 pm.   Well worth a look!!

TV FLASHBACK : BLONDES VS BRUNETTES 1984

In the 80's at the height of her "Dynasty" fame, Joan was asked to do a TV special for ABC and her co-star was another prime time vixen, Morgan Fairchild. Both glamourous ladies were the most popular stars on international TV screens at that time. Morgan had appeared in "Dallas", "Flamingo Road" and at that time "Paper Dolls", a TV series based on the popular 1982 TV movie of the same name. Incidently Joan originally played the role of Racine in the movie, that Morgan played in the series! Morgan also appeared in "Falcon Crest" and most recently in the awful series "Fashion House", Morgan and Bo Derek been the only redeeming feature of this short lived series. Morgan's last role in a soap/drama was last year in "The Bold And The Beautiful"

"Blonde's  V Brunette's" had Joan and Morgan debate who was better and more fun, blonde's or brunette's. With the help of guest stars including Brooke Shields, Susan Sullivan and Rita Moreno and anyone on ABC at that time. The best part of this special was the sketches, spoofing "Dynasty", where Joan played Krystle and Morgan played Alexis. There was another vignette where the girls played two mothers who meet at various stages in there lives, up till they are old ladies. These sketches are the best part of a silly show, but the ladies look fabulous as usual as you can see by the photos shown. I cant recall this ever having been shown outside the USA, so I was delighted some years ago to get a copy of it, so I could discover the verdict about "BLONDE'S VS BRUNETTE'S!!"

TV FLASHBACK : LOOSE WOMEN 2009

Joan over the years has appeared on many many chat shows and one of her most recent appearances has been on the popular UK daytime show "LOOSE WOMEN" which is essentially a British version of the top American daily show "THE VIEW". Every day a panel of four presenters discuss topics of the day, but mostly their own lives. Among the presenters is the fabulous Jane MacDonald, who I will be seeing in May! Also Colleen Nolan from the hit 70s group The Nolans and Sherrie Hewson who has appeared in everything from "CROSSROADS" to "CORONATION STREET" to appearing with Richard Chamberlain in "The Slipper and the Rose". Two celebrity guests appear every day of varying quality, not all as Legendary as Joan, but usually a roster of minor TV stars of soaps eg. "Emmerdale", "Coronation Street" and The Bill. Joan as made a few appearance on this show so far and I would imagine she will appear again, sometime this year. Watch this space..

LONDON EVENT :JOAN RALLIES ROUND NEWMAN!

In September 2008, the entertainment world lost a true star with the death of Hollywood Legend Paul Newman. Joan was very close friends with Paul and his wife the Oscar winning actress Joanne Woodward. This April the BFI on London's Southbank are showing a season of films starring Paul and included in the season is the 1958 film "Rally Round The Flag Boys", which Joan co-starred in with both Paul and Joanne. I am delighted to say I will be flying over to London for this event, where Joan will make a personal appearance for the screening followed by Joan In Conversation. The event is on April 17th, with the film screening at 18.20 and the conversation with Joan at 20.20. Hopefully I will post photos from it after the 17th!

SPECIAL EVENT :JOAN IS A SHOOTING STAR!

The Shooting Star Children's Hospice is a charity close to Joan's heart and she is patron of the charity. Every year they hold a ball and Joan attended the last one in the Autumn of 2009, while at Christmas Harrods was the location for a party which Joan attended along with Santa. Photos from both events are featured.

SPECIAL EVENTS : JOAN OF ART!

In January Joan attended the first night of Sacha Newley's new exhibition of his work... Entitled " Prism - The Many Facets of Sacha Newley" at the LA Art House. Included in the photo@s shown are Sacha with Barbara Davis, Joan with Carole Bayer Sayer and Sandy Gallin and Sacha's wife Angela Tassoni with Llloyd Klein, who Joan will host a showing of Angela's Jewellry collection on March 24th in Beverly Hills. Also shown is one of the works on show entitled "Paparazzi"..

CAMPAIGN TIME : MILLION DOLLAR GIRL!!

In 1985 Joan appeared in an ad campaign for Canada Dry and they ran a competition offering dinner with Joan Collins or a million dollars! I cant recall if the winner took the money or had the dinner!!

SPECIAL EVENTS : HAPPY BIRTHDAY URSULA!!

As well as celebrating Joan on these pages, I would also like to mention other entertainment legends. Today international star of stage & screen Ursula Andress celebrates her birthday. Joan has partied with Ursula on many an occasion and I have included a photo of them both here. I had the pleasure of meeting Ursula last October in the UK and she was delightful. Ursula as well as one of the most legendary Bond Girls in "Dr No", has been lighting up the silver screen since 1954, in her first film " An American In Rome". Ursula also appeared in other memorable films such as "The Blue Max" with George Peppard, incidentally shot in Ireland. The Bond spoof "Casino Royale" and the fantasy films "Clash of the Titans" and the Hammer film "She". On TV Ursula appeared in the classic 80's drama "Falcon Crest" and on "The Love Boat".A legendary beauty. Happy Birthday Ursula!

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!

Just to wish everyone a Happy St Patrick's Day! As you can see Joan has unearthed from the studio closet a couple of Green ensembles to celebrate the day!