With Shoulder Pads Intact, Dame Joan Collins Looks Back in New Book

"Dynasty" became staple viewing for LGBTQ+ audiences in the 1980s largely because of the larger-than-life Alexis, played to perfection by Joan Collins. Today the 90-year-old continues to thrive with her latest book that she discusses with EDGE.
In the 1980s, there was no bigger fashion trend than the shoulder pad in women's fashion. It was seen by some as a statement on how women were smashing the glass ceiling. And no one personified the look more than Joan Collins on the iconic ABC series "Dynasty." She was added to the cast at the start of the second season as the ruthless Alexis Colby Carrington, and within weeks turned this Aaron Spelling soap into must-see TV for a generation of queer men. When the series aired on Wednesday nights, gay bars throughout the nation were packed for viewing nights to watch Alexis's power plays against her ex-husband Blake Carrington and her shading his second wife Krystle Jennings (Linda Evans).

The shoulder pad became so identified with the British superstar that she references it in the title of her lastest book, "Behind the Shoulder Pads," which she doesn't want thought of as an autobiography, but rather a collection of funny and charming anecdotes from her 70-year career.

Today Collins still astounds fans with her youth-defying looks, most recently when she attended the Emmys to present an award. She literally defines the term diva in the most glamorous way possible. She is also one of the few remaining stars from Hollywood's studio system, coming to Hollywood in the early 1950s under contract with 20th Century Fox. But after a decade with the studio, where she was featured in such films as the cult classic "Land of the Pharaohs" and (loaned to MGM), "The Opposite Sex," a musical version of "The Women" in which she played a part made famous by Joan Crawford. Back in England in the 1970s, Collins established herself as a ruthless and sexy power-broker in pulpy, B-movies like "The Stud" and "The Bitch." Their success led to Aaron Spelling casting her on "Dynasty" as a no-nonsense, calculating Alexis. Her addition pushed the show to the top of the ratings. Collins was nominated for one Prime Time Emmy for the role, as well as six Golden Globes. When she won the latter in 1983, she thanked Sophia Loren for turning down her role.

Nor did her career end when "Dynasty" went off the air in 1989. Her movie and television career thrived, as well as her stage career. She toured throughout the world in a pair of solo shows in the early 2000s, then joined "Dynasty' co-star Linda Evans in a 2007 North American tour of "Legends," in which she played an aging Hollywood star asked to appear in a Broadway show opposite her longtime rival.

Since then Collins continues to thrive, whether popping up in television adverts, British series (such as "The Royals"), independent films (such as "Absolutely Fabulous: the Movie"), and American television ("Hawaii Five-0" and as part of Ryan Murphy's repertory company as Evan Peters mother on "American Horror Story: Apocalypse."

In 1997 Collins was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). This was followed in 2015 with the title Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her philanthropic work.

EDGE spoke to the illustrious and opinionated Dame about what to expect in her book, her late sister, successful author Jackie Collins, and her "Dynasty" experience.

EDGE: Tell us about your new memoir, "Behind the Shoulder Pads."

Joan Collins: I want to make sure that everyone knows it's not a memoir. It's a collection of anecdotes, funny stories, and weird things that have happened to me during my career. It jumps around from when I first arrived in LA as a 20-year-old innocent Hollywood starlet under contract to stories from my days on "Dynasty." A lot of fun stuff from my memory bank.

For example, I took a trip to Hong Kong with my best friend, Judy, on a press junket. We get caught in a terrible storm and we're being dragged out to sea. Judy had just bought this lovely new wig at one of the shops in Hong Kong and decided that we should go up on deck. I pulled my hair back because we going to see all these sailors in little boats desperately trying to pull this boat back from going out to the South China seas, and her wig flies off. I have to say, I started screaming with laughter, and I said, "I told you not to wear it."

It's the sort of book that you can jump back in and out of. It doesn't do all the stuff about my parents and my childhood. I touched briefly on my parents. My mother was a wonderful caring mother who loved me so much that she didn't want anybody to touch me. When I was a baby, she put a sign on my stroller: Please do not kiss me. I think the reader is going to enjoy it as much as I did writing it.

EDGE: Do you still wear shoulder pads?

Joan Collins: Yes, of course. Who doesn't? Everyone should. I think they are a bit chic and should always be in fashion. It doesn't matter what size they are, but it's very important to make your shoulders look smart and broad. I believe it makes you feel more powerful.

EDGE: You tell a lot of funny stories and anecdotes in this book. What was your process of deciding what to share?

Joan Collins: I went through all the ideas with my husband, Percy. We have a lot of stories, and we've had a lot of adventures together. We went through my previous books, press clippings, and the diaries that I'd kept and chose the best stories. After it was published, I said to Percy, "We should have included this story or that story." We missed out. He really was the best editor. He would just say yes or no to my choices.

EDGE: What do you enjoy the most about revisiting the past?

Joan Collins: For me, it isn't a question of revisiting the past. I live very much in the present. I am very much a today girl, and it's fun to live that way. You think of things that happened and then you remember them. I started to laugh when I remembered the story about Judy and the wig. During this process, I remembered Dodi Fayed came to stay with me and my then-husband, Ron Kass. He stayed in our basement on the waterbed for three months, and I had forgotten that. So, it was interesting to scrape my memory to remember all the incidents with Dodi. He was a nice boy.

EDGE: You write about the studio wolves. Both your father and Marilyn Monroe gave you great advice on how to handle them. What gave you the resolve to handle them?

Joan Collins: My father was a very strong definitive man. He was a man of the Edwardian era. He was born in 1903. He came from a generation in which the man was the boss, so I took his advice, and he was a well-known theatrical agent in London. He knew what the business was like. He had prestigious clients, and he also ran a lot of variety and repertory theaters. He said that you must not allow men to get the better of you and you must not fear them. If they come towards you in any predatory way, laugh at them, and if things get tough just knee them in the groin. Marilyn's advice was a little nicer.

EDGE: Your sister, Jackie, was also a prolific and talented writer. Could you share a few things about her?

Joan Collins: She was a fantastic and really hands-on mother. She adored her children. It was the most amazing thing to witness. She would get up in the morning, fix the kids' breakfast, take them to school, come home and write 40 to 50 pages, and then pick them up after school. After she tucked them in for the night, off she went to the Tramp, a disco club owned by her husband. It was all the rage in the 1960s and 1970s. I used to practically live there, and she would then do the same thing again the next day.

We were very close. I have so many letters from her when I first came to Hollywood, when she was still living in London. She was busy cutting out every single article that was written about me in the English papers, and it was quite a lot because at that time being an English young girl in Hollywood was quite rare. She would write to me about what was going on two or three times a week, and I would write back to her. She kept all those letters and now her daughters have them. I haven't seen them, but I still have the ones she wrote me. When I came here to do "Dynasty," she also came out. I just loved being with her.

EDGE: You will always be remembered for your iconic role as Alexis Carrington on "Dynasty." Have you ever watched it?

Joan Collins: I do admit that during Covid we ran out of things to watch because honestly, the pickings were slim. I had found a "Dynasty" box set that I'd never opened. So, Percy and I started watching it. There were many, many episodes I'd never seen. Back then there was no streaming. We just had videos and DVDs, but the show was not on those yet. I watched it, and it was quite fascinating because I saw a lot of things that I did not remember - so many scenes and clothes that I had forgotten about. I wore a lot of hats, because Aaron Spelling loved me wearing them. I couldn't believe some of them and why in the world Nolan put some of those dreadful hats on me.

EDGE: You looked glamorous at the Emmys, what is your secret to always looking so radiant?

Joan Collins: Oh, I don't know. I think I was just lucky when they were giving out good looks. I can't say that I wasn't good-looking because I was. I believe in taking care of that and keeping it. I also come from a heritage of beautiful women. My mother, my two aunts on my father's side, and my six aunts on my mother's side all cared a lot about their looks, and they were all very glamorous. They would never go out without their hair being done or wearing lipstick. They were very much always in glamour mode. They all watched movies from the 1940s and 1950s, and they wanted to emulate Lana Turner and Hedy Lamar. Because of them, I started to do it, too. I loved Ava Gardner. I just thought she was beautiful and fabulous. So, I was really excited when one of the British papers said I was Britain's answer to Ava Gardner. That was such a thrill.

EDGE: You said once that one should always retain some mystery in life. Even after 19 books, are there still some mysteries about you that we don't know?

Joan Collins: Tons! I'm seriously thinking about writing another book about beauty for the over-sixty fans. I don't think anybody has done that before. I feel the older we get; we need to step up our health and beauty routine. I love sharing all my beauty tips and think a book would be a great place for it. I feel like I have at least one more book in me.

EDGE: What does the LGBTQ+ community mean to you?

Joan Collins: I have always had tons and tons of friends who are gay. Somebody said to me the other day, "Joan, do you have any friends who aren't gay?" I said, "Yes, all the married ones." I believe that people should be able to love whomever they want. The LGBTQ+ community has always been so generous to me over the years. I will continue to love them, celebrate them, and cheer for them every day.

For more on Joan Collins, visit her official website.