Portal:20th Century Studios/Selected biography/13

Dame Joan Henrietta Collins DBE (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author, and columnist. Collins is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awardsand a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. In 1983, she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She has been recognized for her philanthropy, particularly her advocacy towards causes relating to children, which has earned her many honours. In 2015, she was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II for her charitable services. In 2021 she celebrated her 70th year in the entertainment industry.

Collins was born in Paddington, London, and trained as an actress in her teens at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She signed to The Rank Organisation at the age of 17, and had small roles in the British films Lady Godiva Rides Again(1951) and The Woman's Angle (1952) before taking on a supporting role in Judgment Deferred (1952). Collins went under contract to 20th Century Fox in 1955, and in that same year starred as Elizabeth Raleigh in The Virgin Queenand Princess Nellifer in Land of the Pharaohs, the latter garnering a cult following. Collins continued to take on film roles throughout the late 1950s, which include appearing in The Opposite Sex (1956), Sea Wife (1957), and The Wayward Bus (1957). After starring in the epic film Esther and the King (1960), she was released on request from her contract with 20th Century Fox