Dame Joan Henrietta Collins is an English actress, author and columnist. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. In 1983, Collins was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She has been recognised 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, presented to her by the Prince of Wales.
Collins trained as an actress 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). She went under contract to 20th Century Fox in 1955, and in that same year she starred as Evelyn Nesbit in The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing, Elizabeth Raleigh in The Virgin Queen and Princess Nellifer in Land of the Pharaohs, the latter garnering a cult following.