Best-selling romance novelist Jackie Collins, whose first book was so
steamy it was banned in some countries, died of breast cancer in
California Saturday, her family said. She was 77."She lived a
wonderfully full life and was adored by her family, friends and the
millions of readers who she has been entertaining for over 4 decades,"
her family said in a statement, adding that she had battled breast
cancer for more than six years.
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| Jackie Collins |
"She was a true inspiration, a
trailblazer for women in fiction and a creative force. She will live on
through her characters but we already miss her beyond words," added the
statement from her three daughters, Tracy, Tiffany, and Rory. Her
works included "The World is Full of Married Men," "Confessions of a
Wild Child," "The Stud" and "Hollywood Wives." The first, released in
1968, stirred up so much outrage that it was banned from bookshelves in
South Africa and Australia.
British-born Collins, who started out
acting before focusing on writing, and her older sister, actress Joan
Collins, famously found great success at trading on the Hollywood
early-bad girl mystique they had, both on screen and off. Jackie
Collins wrote a series of novels starring main character Lucky
Santangelo and many of her works found their way onto TV screens as
movies or miniseries.
Joan Collins, 82, told People magazine she was "completely devastated" by the loss of her sister.
"She
was my best friend," she told the publication. "I admire how she
handled this. She was a wonderful, brave and a beautiful person and I
love her." People said the prolific author had been diagnosed
with end-stage breast cancer six-and-a-half years ago, and "chose to
keep her illness almost entirely to herself."
Joan Collins herself just learned of her sister's illness "within the last two weeks," People reported.
"She
was very shocked," Jackie Collins recently told the magazine of Joan's
reaction to the news. "She had no idea. But she was great. We were
emotional."
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Jackie Collins was a
prolific writer and many of her works
found their way onto
TV screens as movies
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Jackie Collins had lived in California for years, and was a naturalized US citizen.
Tributes poured in as word spread of her passing:
"An
amazing woman. Talented. Funny. Kind. One of my very favorite producers
ever. She will be deeply missed," actress Melissa Gilbert tweeted.
TV
personality Sharon Osbourne tweeted a picture of herself with Collins,
adding that she was "Shocked & devastated at the death of . Loved
& respected her. Thoughts & prayers go out to her family."
Fellow
best-selling author Christopher Rice also took to Twitter: "For many
readers, Jackie Collins was their first encounter with fully formed,
non-self loathing gay characters."
Fans flocked to her official Facebook page in droves to express their shock and sadness:
"RIP Jackie Collins, thanks for all the great reads through the years," wrote one woman, Cheryl Englehart.
"Though
I read them at an age that was probably too young, her books helped me
to see that there was a larger world out there, an exciting world."
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| Actress Joan Collins (R) and writer Jackie Collins arrive at the 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, California, in this February 22, 2015 file photo. Jackie Collins, the best-selling author of dozens of steamy novels who depicted the boardrooms and bedrooms of Hollywood's power crowd, died on September 19, 2015 of breast cancer at age 77, her family said.The British-born Collins, younger sister of actress Joan Collins, died in Los Angeles, said her spokeswoman Melody Korenbrot. |
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