Jackie Collins
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Jackie Collins OBE |
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|---|---|
Collins in 2009
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| Born |
Jacqueline Jill Collins 4 October 1937 Hampstead, London, England |
| Died | 19 September 2015 (aged 77) Beverly Hills, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Breast cancer |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Partner(s) | Frank Calcangnini (engaged 1994–1998, his death) |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Joseph Collins Elsa Bessant |
| Relatives | Joan Collins (sister) |
| Website | www |
Jacqueline Jill "Jackie" Collins OBE (4 October 1937 – 19 September 2015) was an English romance novelist. She moved to Los Angeles in the 1960s and spent most of her career there. She wrote 32 novels, all of which appeared on The New York Times bestsellers list. In total, her books have sold over 500 million copies and have been translated into 40 languages. Eight of her novels have been adapted for the screen, either as films or television miniseries. She was the younger sister of Dame Joan Collins.
Collins was born in 1937, in Hampstead, London, the younger daughter of Elsa (née Bessant) Collins (died 1962) and Joseph William Collins (died 1988), a theatrical agent whose clients later included Shirley Bassey, the Beatles, and Tom Jones.
Collins' South African-born father was Jewish, and her British mother was Anglican. A middle child, Collins had an elder sister, Joan Collins (actress and author), and a younger brother, Bill (who became a property agent).
Collins attended Francis Holland School, an independent day school for girls in London and was expelled at age 15. During this period, she reportedly had a brief affair with 29-year-old Marlon Brando.
She began appearing in acting roles in a series of British B movies in the 1950s and worked as a stage singer alongside a young Des O'Connor, among others. Her parents then sent her to Los Angeles to live with her older sister, Joan, a Hollywood actress. There, Collins tried acting in small parts in low budget British films, including Barnacle Bill (1957), Rock You Sinners (1957), The Safecracker (1958), Intent to Kill (1958), Passport to Shame (1958), and The Shakedown (1960), in which she was credited as Lynn Curtis. Her acting was unexceptional, however, and after further appearances in such television series as Danger Man and The Saint, Collins gave up on pursuing an acting career, although she did play briefly on the television series Minder in 1980.
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