ACTRESS Joan Collins was born on May 23, 1933. She trained at RADA and by the early 50s was posing for pin-ups as well as acting in B movies. She moved to the US in 1954 to work for 20th Century Fox and in the 1970s starred in films of her sister Jackie's books The Stud and The Bitch. Best known for her role as Alexis Carrington in 80s TV soap Dynasty, she was on TV most recently in 2006 in Hotel Babylon. She has three children and is married to theatrical company manager Percy Gibson.

AMBITION: I knew I wanted to be an actress after I saw my first film, The Wizard of Oz with my parents. It also helped that my father was a successful theatrical agent and I grew up in a show business atmosphere. Dad sometimes brought home famous entertainment personalities.

AGENT: So it was pretty obvious that dad would be my first real agent. When I was 17, he bought full-page advertisements in show business trade papers telling everyone about his beautiful daughter'.

STAGE DEBUT: I was nine years old when I performed in my first stage play. It was Ibsen's The Doll's House at the Arts Theatre in London - and I played a boy.

MAJOR THEATRICAL ROLE: That would be in 1954 at the Queen's Theatre in London playing Sabrina in Thornton Wilder's The Skin Of Our Teeth.

MOVIE DEBUT: In 1951, I had a small role as a beauty contestant in Lady Godiva Rides Again. I didn't figure in the credits, but it was a good start.

US DEBUT: I really enjoyed that in 1955 in Land Of The Pharoahs, playing an Egyptian temptress Princess Nellifer. My co-star was Jack Hawkins.

BROADWAY DEBUT: That was in 1991 in an adaptation of Noel Coward's Private Lives.

NOMINATION: My first award nomination came in 1978 when I was nominated for what a Saturn Award for Best Actress in a Science Fiction movie, Empire Of The Ants.

GOLDEN GLOBE: In 1983, I won a Golden Globe award for Best Performance by an Actress in the TV series Dynasty.

PIN-UP: I had appeared as a pin-up in magazines before the December 1983 edition of the Playboy magazine in which I appeared in the buff, but I suppose it was a kind of first - the first old woman' to pose for the magazine. I was very happy doing it even though I was in my late 40s.

DYNASTY: I am best known for my role as the scheming, vengeful Alexis Carrington in the hit US TV series Dynasty. I first appeared in it in 1981 and it made me the highest paid actress on television at the time.

BOOK: I have published 13 books. The first, in 1985, was my autobiography called Past Imperfect.

FRAGRANCE: I've introduced a number of scents, the first of which was called Scoundrel in 1980, when the popularity of the TV show Dynasty was at its height.

LINGERIE: I marketed my own brand of lingerie back in 1987. I designed it for the average woman who wants to look sensual at times.