Jackie Collins facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jackie Collins
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Collins in 2012
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| Born |
Jacqueline Jill Collins
4 October 1937 London, England
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| Died | 19 September 2015 (aged 77) |
| Resting place | Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery |
| Occupation | Novelist, actress |
| Spouse(s) |
Wallace Austin
(m. 1960; div. 1964)Oscar Lerman
(m. 1965; died 1992) |
| Partner(s) | Frank Calcagnini (engaged 1994–1998, his death) |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Joan Collins (sister) |
Jacqueline Jill Collins OBE (born October 4, 1937 – died September 19, 2015) was a famous English novelist and actress. She wrote many popular books, often about the exciting lives of rich and famous people. Jackie Collins moved to Los Angeles in 1985 and lived there for most of her life.
She wrote 32 novels, and every single one became a best-seller on The New York Times list. Her books sold over 500 million copies worldwide and were translated into 40 different languages. Eight of her novels were even turned into movies or TV shows. Jackie was the younger sister of the well-known actress, Dame Joan Collins.
Contents
Early Life and Beginnings
Jackie Collins was born in 1937 in Hampstead, London. Her parents were Elsa Collins and Joseph William Collins. Her father was a theatrical agent who worked with famous musicians like Dame Shirley Bassey and Sir Tom Jones.
Jackie had an older sister, Joan Collins, who became a famous actress, and a younger brother, Bill. Jackie went to Francis Holland School, a private school for girls in London. She was expelled from school when she was 15 years old. She later said she was a "school dropout" and "juvenile delinquent" at that age, but was glad to get it out of her system early.
From Acting to Writing
In 1956, Jackie visited her older sister, Joan, in Los Angeles. She tried to become an actress but returned to London when she couldn't get a work permit. She then appeared in several British movies, often called "B movies," which are smaller films. Some of these included Barnacle Bill (1957) and The Shakedown (1960).
After a few small roles in TV shows like Danger Man, Jackie decided to stop acting. She then focused on writing. Her first book, The World Is Full of Married Men, was published in 1968 and quickly became a best-seller.
A Successful Writing Career
Starting in the 1960s
Jackie Collins started writing many stories but didn't finish them until her second husband, Oscar Lerman, encouraged her. He told her, "You're a storyteller." Her first book, The World Is Full of Married Men, caused some controversy and was even banned in Australia and South Africa. However, this actually helped her sales in the United States and the UK.
Her second novel, The Stud, came out in 1969 and also became a best-seller.
Novels of the 1970s
Collins's third novel, Sunday Simmons & Charlie Brick, was published in 1971 and also made the best-seller lists. This was her first book set in the United States.
In 1974, she published Lovehead, which was later renamed The Love Killers. This book was her first time writing about powerful groups and their secrets, a style that became very popular for her. She then wrote The World Is Full of Divorced Women (1975) and Lovers & Gamblers (1977).
In the late 1970s, Jackie Collins also started writing for movies. She wrote the screenplay for The World Is Full of Married Men (1980), based on her own novel. She also wrote an original movie script for the film Yesterday's Hero (1979).
The 1980s: Hollywood Success
In the 1980s, Jackie Collins and her family moved to Los Angeles permanently. This is where she continued to write about the "rich and famous." She believed Los Angeles in the 1980s was the perfect place to be successful.
Her novel Chances (1981) introduced one of her most famous characters: Lucky Santangelo. Lucky was described as the "dangerously beautiful" daughter of a powerful person.
While living in Los Angeles, Collins gathered ideas for her most successful novel, Hollywood Wives (1983). This book became a number one best-seller on The New York Times list. It sold over 15 million copies and made Collins as famous as her sister Joan.
In 1985, Hollywood Wives was turned into a TV miniseries. Jackie then wrote the sequel to Chances, called Lucky (1985). She also wrote Hollywood Husbands (1986) and Rock Star (1988).
The 1990s: More Bestsellers
In 1990, Collins published her third Lucky Santangelo novel, Lady Boss. She also helped create the TV miniseries Lucky Chances, which combined her first two Lucky Santangelo books.
After her husband Oscar Lerman passed away in 1992, she continued to write and produce another miniseries based on Lady Boss. Her best-selling streak continued with American Star (1993), Hollywood Kids (1994), and the fourth Lucky Santangelo novel, Vendetta: Lucky's Revenge (1996).
In 1998, she tried hosting a talk show called Jackie Collins' Hollywood, but it wasn't very successful. She also published the novel Thrill (1998) and started a series of mini-novels called L.A. Connections. The fifth Lucky Santangelo novel, Dangerous Kiss, came out in 1999.
The 2000s: A Busy Decade
The 2000s were Jackie Collins's busiest time for writing. She published eight best-sellers during this decade. In 2001, she released Hollywood Wives: The New Generation, which became a TV movie in 2003.
She also published a new Madison Castelli novel, Deadly Embrace, in 2002, and Hollywood Divorces in 2003. In 2004, Collins hosted a series of TV specials called Jackie Collins Presents for E! Entertainment Television.
Her novels continued with Lovers & Players (2006), the sixth Lucky Santangelo novel, Drop Dead Beautiful (2007), and Married Lovers (2008).
The 2010s: Final Novels
In 2010, a direct-to-DVD movie called Paris Connections was made, based on Collins's L.A. Connections mini-novels. Jackie served as a co-producer for this movie.
She continued writing Lucky Santangelo books, including Goddess of Vengeance. Her 29th novel, The Power Trip, was published in 2013. Confessions of a Wild Child came out in 2014, and a movie deal for it was announced even before the book was released.
Jackie Collins also wrote The Lucky Santangelo Cookbook (2014), named after her famous character who often cooked fancy meals in the books. Her very last novel was The Santangelos (2015), which concluded the popular Santangelo series she started with Chances in 1981.
Personal Life
Jackie Collins had dual citizenship, meaning she was a citizen of both Britain (where she was born) and the United States (where she became a citizen in 1960). She married her first husband, Wallace Austin, in 1960. They had one daughter, Tracy, born in 1961.
In 1965, Collins married Oscar Lerman, who owned art galleries and nightclubs. They had two daughters, Tiffany (born 1967) and Rory (born 1969). Oscar also formally adopted Jackie's daughter, Tracy. Oscar Lerman passed away in 1992.
In 1994, Jackie became engaged to Frank Calcagnini, a business executive. Sadly, he passed away in 1998. Jackie said that she got through these difficult times by "celebrating their lives" instead of focusing on their deaths.
In 2013, she was honored with the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) award for her contributions to writing and charity work. Jackie Collins often used parts of her own life and observations of Los Angeles to create her fictional stories. She loved writing about the entertainment business and the people in it.
Death
Jackie Collins passed away on September 19, 2015, from breast cancer. She was almost 78 years old. She had been diagnosed with stage-4 breast cancer more than six years before her death but kept her illness private. She told her sister Joan Collins about it only two weeks before she died.
See also
- Publishers Weekly lists of bestselling novels in the United States
