Jackie Collins

Jacqueline Jill "Jackie" Collins (born 4 October, 1937), is a British-born romance novelist. She is the younger sister of actress-writer Joan Collins and the elder sister of real estate developer Bill Collins, born in 1946.

Life & Times

Collins was born in Bayswater, London, to Joe Collins, a theatrical agent, and Elsa Bessant Collins, a dancer. After what seemed to be a sunny childhood in England, Collins was expelled from high school for poor attendance in 1952. Her parents swiftly sent her to live with her sister Joan Collins, who at the time was starting what would be a roller-coaster career, in Los Angeles.

While living in Hollywood, Collins attempted to start a film career similar to her sisters. On the whole her career proved fruitless with Collins appearing in only a handful of forgettable films.

Disillusioned with her life, Collins left Los Angeles and returned to London where she married her first husband, Wallace Austin, in 1955, and they had a daughter, Tracy--but it was not a happy union. Disgusted with her husband's drug abuse, Collins was not surprised when Austin abandoned her after only a few years of marriage. She divorced him soon after and went to live with her parents at their apartment in North London.

In 1966 Collins married for the second time to Oscar Lerman, a popular London nightclub and art gallery owner. Together they had two daughters, Tiffany and Rory; additionally, Lerman formally adopted Collins's daughter Tracy. With his encouragement, Collins went on to write several steamy bestsellers during the 1960s and 1970s.

In the 1980s Collins and her family moved to Los Angeles on a full time basis. In the high stakes hills above Sunset Boulevard, Collins collected the knowledge to write her most noted novel, Hollywood Wives which was published in 1985. The novel hit the New York Times bestseller list at number one, and went on to sell fifteen million copies worldwide.

In the early 1990s Collins experienced a tremendous loss when her husband of twenty six years, Oscar Lerman, died of cancer. Striken with grief Collins threw herself into her work, producing two mini -series based on her Lucky Santangelo novels while churning out several bestsellers. In the mid-1990s Collins met Los Angeles businessman Frank Calcagnini who she became engaged to. Sadly Calcagnini also died of cancer in 1998 as Collins's attempted foray into talk television also floundered.

Collins is rumoured to possess a fortune in the neighborhood of $200,000,000 (USD). Currently, Collins resides in Beverly Hills, California hard at work on her 25th novel.

Career

In 1962 Collins released her first novel, The World is Full of Married Men which was shocking for its time due to raunchy sexuality that pervaded the novel. It became a sensational bestseller across the globe. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Collins churned out several bestsellers including The Stud, The Bitch, Sinners, The Love Killers, and Lovers & Gamblers.

In 1978 Collins wrote the screenplay for the film version of The Stud, starring her older sister, Joan, who had experienced a devastating career slump. The film was produced independently, after Joan arranged financing through a casual acquaintance she had met at the Cannes Film Festival, becoming the biggest box office hit in England aside from the James Bond series. In 1979 Jackie Collins provided the rights to the film version of The Bitch which was also a success.

In 1985 her most successful novel Hollywood Wives was adapted into a highly rated mini-series for the ABC Television Network under the production of Aaron Spelling. Collins further established herself in the fiction realm with the creation of mafia princess Lucky Santangelo, arguably her most popular character, who has spawned several bestsellers.

In 2004 Collins created a series of specials for E!, which she hosted to great success. She also left her publisher of nearly twenty years, Simon & Schuster, in favour of St. Martin's Press as she grew restless with her current publishing situation.

In 2006 Collins released her 24th novel, Lovers & Players which became a New York Times bestseller. To date she has sold over 400 million copies of her novels and is translated into 20 languages.

L. A. Connections

• Power (1998)
• Obsession (1998)
• Murder (1998)
• Revenge (1998)
• L.A. Connections (1999)
• Lethal Seduction (2000)
• Deadly Embrace (2002)

Lucky Santangelo

• Chances (1981)
• Lucky (1985)
• Lady Boss (1990)
• Vendetta: Lucky's Revenge (1997)
• Dangerous Kiss (1999)

Hollywood _____ Series

• Hollywood Wives (1983)
• Hollywood Husbands (1986)
• Hollywood Kids (1994)
• Hollywood Wives: The New Generation (2001)
• Hollywood Divorces (2003)

other novels

• The World is Full of Married Men (1968)
• The Stud (1969)
• Sinners (1971)
• Lovehead (1974)
• The Love Killers (1975)
• The World is Full of Divorced Women (1975)
• Lovers and Gamblers (1977)
• The Bitch (1979)
• Rock Star (1988)
• American Star (1993)
• Thrill (1998)
• Lovers & Players (2006)

Upcoming

• Drop Dead Beautiful – The Continuing Adventures of Lucky Santangelo (200?)

  See also

  • List of bestselling novels in the United States

  External links

  • Jackie Collins.com - The Official Jackie Collins Web Site
  • Jackie Collins Bio at Greater Talent Network (Speakers Bureau)