Joan Collins returned to Piers Morgan’s Life Stories last night on ITV, and her late sister Jackie is back in the limelight.
This month sees the release of documentary Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story, which explores the famous author’s life.
While Joan has been centre stage on the big and small screen for seven decades, Jackie was hugely successful in her own chosen career.
Her raunchy novels have sold over 500 million copies in 40 countries, and she had 31 New York Times bestsellers under her belt.
Here’s a reminder of the younger Collins sister’s life…
Where was Jackie Collins born?
Jackie Collins was born in Hampstead, London, in 1937, making her four years younger than Joan.
The two sisters also have a younger brother, Bill. As a teenager, Jackie allegedly had an affair with Hollywood actor Marlon Brando and was expelled from school aged 15.
Her parents sent her to live with Joan in Los Angeles, but two years later Jackie returned to England to focus on writing.
Her first book ‘The World is Full of Married Men’ came out in 1968 and was an overnight success.
In 2013, Jackie was awarded an OBE by Her Majesty for services to literature and charity. She reportedly quipped to the Queen: “Not bad for a school drop-out.”
Were Joan and Jackie Collins close?
The glamorous pair would often appear at parties and red carpet events together – and Joan even played the main role in two film adaptations of Jackie’s novels.
But the relationship was not without its complications.
Joan has previously revealed that Jackie disliked her fourth husband Peter Holm and as a result the sisters didn’t see much of each other while they were married in the late 80s.
And Jackie reportedly felt ‘inferior’ to Joan – in her diary, at the age of 15, she wrote: “Went to a party with Joan. It was fun. I get an awful inferiority complex when I’m with Joan. I feel all big, clumsy and dull.”
Speaking on Loose Women in 2020, however, Joan described Jackie as “the perfect sister”.
Read more: Joan Collins wows in racy throwback bikini photo
How did Jackie Collins die?
Jackie Collins died on September 19 2015, after battling stage 4 breast cancer.
In a letter to her fans penned shortly before her death she wrote: “Embrace what you love, and LIVE life to the fullest, as tomorrow is not promised to any of us.”
Jackie told very few people about her diagnosis, and only confided in her sister Joan weeks before she died.
Some nine days before her death, Jackie made her final appearance on Loose Women, wearing her iconic shoulder pads and trademark bouffant hair style.
How to watch Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story
The film features contributions from Jackie’s nearest and dearest, including Joan Collins and their children.
Shortly after airing in the States on CNN, it was have a cinema release at limited theatres in the UK.
Later this year, the documentary will be shown on BBC2 – a date is yet to be confirmed.
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