THE SCREEN LEGENDS AND GOOD FRIENDS WITH A POSITIVE MESSAGE FOR ALL WOMEN
INTERVIEW: ROSALIND POWELL PHOTOS: JOY STROTZ STYLING: RENE HORSCH
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW AND PHOTOS
T hey were the grandes dames of the US soaps, playing over-the-top characters with magnificent mansions, private jets, complicated love lives and shoulder pads that grew wider by the week.
Despite dominating our TV screens throughout the 1980s, Dame Joan Collins, Linda Gray and Donna Mills – aka Alexis Carrington from Dynasty, Sue Ellen Ewing from Dallas and Abby Cunningham from Knots Landing respectively – have never been officially photographed together until now, for HELLO!’s exclusive shoot and interview.
They’re hoping to join forces again by the end of the year, for a film project in development – although they’re keeping schtum on the details.
PUTTING ON THE STYLE
In the meantime, these formidable women, who refuse to be defined by – or dismissed for – their age, are more than happy to model a series of fabulous outfits with typical style and chutzpah.
“It was great fun seeing the girls,” says Dame Joan, 89.
“They look amazing.”
Linda, 82, agrees. “It was like playing dress-up with girlfriends – we had such a good time. Joan is used to wearing clothes like that, but I’m a Californian gal. I’m not a sequinny sort of person.”
Did they squabble over who wore what? “Are you kidding? Please!” says Dame Joan, witheringly. “Of course not. We each have our own style.”
Donna, 82, did make a beeline for the sequinned pink trouser suit, however. “I fell in love with it,” she says. “You feel strong when you wear something like that – although I had to wear the highest shoes I could possibly find to make the pants fit.”
PART OF THE JOB
While they played feisty, competitive women in touch with their inner divas, in reality they have always been on friendly terms, meeting up at ceremonies such as the Oscars or Golden Globes as well as each other’s house parties. There was never any rivalry, they insist.
“Not in my case at all,” says Joan. “I wasn’t concerned about that.
“I played a totally different role to the roles they played and there wasn’t time to see their shows – I didn’t even see mine!”
Linda adds: “I think the press loved to think that we were always fighting and tearing clothes off each other, which was ridiculous but made good stories.
“We were working women and there just happened to be a camera in the room – this is what I told my children and it’s true.”
VIVA LA DIVA
Joan says she didn’t watch Dynasty, in which she played
