This is one for those of us who were loyal viewers of the Dynasty series in the early ’80s and who knew and admired Joan Collins in the role of the scheming Alexis Carrington. If you also enjoy a bit of gossip about the Hollywood scene in the ’80s and ’90s, get a thrill from reading the inside scoop about the famous actors and stars we adored, and are intrigued by the glamorous and often tedious life of a celebrity having to attend hundreds of parties, lunches, gala events and premieres, you will enjoy Joan Collin’s journal entries as she recounts and reviews her life post Dynasty.
In My Unapologetic Diaries, published in South Africa in November this year by Jonathan Ball Publishers, Joan Collins proves her journaling chops; she has been keeping a diary since age 12, after all. She dictated most of the entries captured in the book into a mini-tape recorder as and when she felt like it. I must admit, I found it somewhat tedious at times as she recounts one lunch after the other, cocktails with so and so, dinners with those and them, shows, junkets, jamborees, meetings, movies – as well as her shopping sprees, day after day, week after week, ad nauseam.
You might even say being a socialite is a full-time gig. But Joan also happened to be a full-time actress, mother of three, a writer who sold more than 50 million copies and embarked on countless book tours, and somehow also found the time to date and fall in love. One can’t help but marvel at the woman’s tenacity and her energy levels to keep it all going, showing up rain or shine, dressed to the nines, and always engaging.
I did enjoy her candour and, at times, brutal honesty about her fellow actors and celebrities (many of whom you will recognise or the mention of whom will transport you back in time). And of course the frankness of her own experiences: the challenges of living and working in Tinseltown in that era; of how tough it was for her to shake the association to her hateful Alexis character on Dynasty, and how much she just wanted to be recognised as an actress who could play different roles.
Starting her career in acting at 16, she has appeared in more than 60 feature films, dozens of plays both in the West End and in the United States, and myriad television series. What fascinates me is that the media couldn’t, and still can’t, get enough of her, and how obligingly she continues to cope with their demands and the intrusiveness of the ever-present whirr of camera shutters.
Now going by Dame Joan Collins, having been ordained by the Queen, she is an undisputed national treasure in the United Kingdom. Admired for her wit, style and beauty, Dame Joan has that rare and unique star quality that doesn’t fade with age. As an actress with a career spanning more than 70 years, an author and producer, she continues to work aged 88, and she certainly deserves her international icon status.
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