Joan Collins young pictures: What was the actress like growing up?
DAME Joan Collins has been an acting icon for seven decades – and become a legend in Britain and the US.
The TV star, 88, first made a splash in Hollywood around sixty years ago – we take a look at her rise to stardom.
What did Joan Collins look like growing up?
Joan was born in Paddington, London on May 12, 1933.
She is the daughter of dance teacher Elsa Collins (née Bessant) and Joseph William Collins who was an agent and had clients including The Beatles and Tom Jones.
Joan went to the Francis Holland School in London and later attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
It wasn’t long before she landed her first acting role aged just 18, playing a beauty contest entrant in Lady Godiva Rides Again (1951) followed by The Woman’s Angle (1952) in a minor role as a Greek maid.
Her big break came in 1952, when she played Norma in I Believe In You.
That same year, she married Irish actor Maxwell Reed in 1952, when she was just 18 and Reed was 33.
During the 1970s, she starred in several films including The Quest For Love (1971), Fear In The Night (1972) and Empire of the Ants (1977).
In 1981, Joan joined the show Dynasty for its second season.
Most read in Showbiz
She played Alexis Colby, the ex-wife of oil tycoon Blake Carrington.
Joan is the older sister of the late best-selling novelist Jackie Collins, who passed away in 2015 following a battle with breast cancer.
The same year Joan was made Dame by the Queen for her charitable services.