At the tender age of 17, Joan Collins was thrust into the limelight after signing a movie studio contract in her native England . By 21, Hollywood had taken notice, and she became one of the last actresses to enter the fading studio contract system . Collins worked steadily between London and California for decades, but it wasn’t until her star turn as Alexis Carrington on Dynasty in 1981, that she became a worldwide phenomenon at the age of 48. Entering in the show’s second season, Collins redefined television with unapologetic glamor, razor-sharp wit and a level of corporate ambition rarely afforded to female characters at the time. Ratings surged, and television officially gained its first queen of shade.

As Alexis, Collins was magnetic: powerful, seductive, and ruthlessly self-possessed. She delivered barbs with precision, turning her biting tongue into a weapon and excess into spectacle. The audience couldn’t look away.…