Dame Joan Collins gives a candid, wonderfully witty account of her seven decade career in show business, illustrated by a treasure trove of archive clips and music.

In the first of two programmes - with unapologetic frankness, Joan reflects on Hollywood, on TV, on men, losing out on Cleopatra to Elizabeth Taylor, getting older and modern standards of beauty and glamour.

Featuring contributions from:

Sir Roger Moore
Stephanie Beacham
David Hasselhoff
Julian Clary
David Emanuel
Ellis Cashmore
Jo Botting

Joan recalls growing up in a showbiz family - her two aunts worked on the stage whilst her father Joe was an agent to the stars. Whilst still a teenager studying at RADA, Joan was offered a contract by The Rank Organisation. Dubbed the "coffee bar jezebel" by the British press owing to her sultry looks and bad girl roles, Joan reflects on playing a jail bird in the 1953 film Turn The Key Softly.

Spotted by 20th Century Fox, Joan moved to Hollywood at a time when studios controlled their stars with an iron grip. Joan describes how she rebelled by moving in with a young Warren Beatty "He wasn't that beautiful - he had spots".

And then there was Bette Davis: "Bette Davis was the first person I worked with in Hollywood - the first major star. She was even more terrifying than I expected." But roles followed opposite a cluster of Hollywood's leading men including Paul Newman, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.

Joan speaks candidly about her marriage to Anthony Newley and how the demise of their relationship was immortalised in one of Newley's songs. "I did this film Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness, we have this song Chalk and Cheese which meant we were like Chalk and Cheese and it was never going to work. And that was the end of our marriage."

Producer: Victoria Ferran

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 2, first broadcast in July 2016. Show less