Joan Collins

I have never been the mousy, stand-two-paces-behind, obedient 'little woman' type.

I think health is another exceedingly important thing.

I like to remember phone numbers because it keeps your brain active. If you don't use it, you lose it.

The easiest way to convince my kids that they don't really need something is to get it for them.

I think you always have to use certain parts of yourself in any role.

I have the absolute utmost respect for soap opera actors now. They work harder than any actor I know in any other medium. And they don't get very much approbation for it.

I'm extremely happy in my life. I consider myself to be very blessed.

When I was at school, I was terrible at algebra and arithmetic, but I was always the best at English and literature. And acting, of course.

I have girlfriends who've had Botox and been left with lumps in their faces. And the lips, don't even get me started.

Basically, though, I believe in eating well, not eating too much but eating a variety of foods.

I don't look my age, I don't feel my age and I don't act my age. To me age is just a number.

My mother use to call me 'Miss Perpetual Motion' because I rarely keep still.

My mother was a domestic goddess and Mother Earth figure. She was sweet and placid - just what the perfect wife was supposed to be and I was determined not to be.

Botox, I think, is poison, I would never put it into my face, and I'm needle-phobic. I spend a lot of time keeping my face out of the sun and taking care of my skin and wearing make-up.

I eat an avocado every day. It's amazing for your skin. It's one of the super-foods, and I'm just so into eating properly and healthily.

I'm a bit shy, I suppose, and a bit lazy.

It is unseemly to undress on stage. I won't do that.

I've spent years when I've not been in the limelight at all and I'm perfectly happy living my life without being swooped on by paparazzi.

I think bare legs in winter are idiotic. Unless your naked pins are toned, tanned and veinless, it's best to cover up. There is nothing more elegant in winter than dark tights worn with matching knee-length boots and a belted trench coat.

I think dieting is bad for you.

If I need to cheer myself up, I will put on some fabulous '40s musical on video. But I'm very lucky; I seldom get depressed. Without question, I'm a 'glass half full' person. In fact, it's three-quarters full!

I think, Larry, one of the things is I'm a very active person.

Yes, I love playing cartoony characters. Been known for that.

My parents instilled in me that life was going to be very difficult and that I'd have to work for everything.

I was a pin-up girl. I did it for 30 years and, quite frankly, it gets a bit boring.

Gone are the days when a gentleman lightly took your hand in his and brushed his lips across it, or tipped his hat to acknowledge you as he chivalrously stepped aside to let you pass.

I consider you as old as you look and feel. And in that case I feel - I feel I'm about 39, like Jack Benny.

We live in a quick-fix society where we need instant gratification for everything. Too fat? Get lipo-sucked. Stringy hair? Glue on extensions. Wrinkles and lines? Head to the beauty shop for a pot of the latest miracle skin stuff. It's all a beautiful £1 billion con foisted upon insecure women by canny cosmetic conglomerates.

I've never chased fame. I came into this business to be a theatre actress. I was nine when I first appeared on stage. But I can't say I would turn my back on fortune. I'm someone who enjoys the benefits of money.

If I hear the word 'retire,' it makes me want to throw up. And then do what? Sit around all day watching television?

Every woman should wear make-up. It takes years off. I'm wearing lots of false eyelashes today, and to me, lipstick is the best cosmetic that exists.

I really feel now like a native New Yorker. And I'm very happy here.

I've said no to 'Celebrity Big Brother,' 'Strictly,' and the American one, 'Dancing With The Stars.' I don't feel it's right for me. I've been asked to do reality TV a zillion times. No way. No way. Nobody's going to get into my living room and see me there.

I was voted the most beautiful girl in the world in 1958, and courted by every young, available man in Los Angeles, most of whom I didn't go out with, by the way.

Well I've written four beauty books as well.

I've three children, three grandchildren, I work, I travel, and I'm very happily married. I'm very satisfied and happy with my life and there really isn't anything I want.

When I was 49, I posed for Playboy - I was very flattered to be asked. I was quite honoured, really, considering that most of the models they feature are in their twenties.

The cosmetics industry has much to answer for. Its a multi million pound confidence trick based on giving women endless hope courtesy of overpriced little pots.

Dynasty was the opportunity to take charge of my career rather than waiting around like a library book waiting to be loaned out.

I have always tried to live my life with enthusiasm and pleasure.

I don't buy into you're on the slag heap when you're 40 or 50 or 60 or 70 or whatever.

The problem with beauty is that it's like being born rich and getting poorer.

And the truth is I've always taken very good care of my skin, and always, always worn make-up.

Loneliness is the universal problem of rich people.

If life throws you a lemon - make lemonade.

The body is like a car the older you become the more care you have to take care of it and you dont leave a Ferrari out in the sun.

And I kissed a lot of frogs as well, but no, I kissed a lot of frogs and now I've found my prince.

I have a lot of male friends.

You cant help getting older but you can help yourself from becoming old and infirm in mind as well as body.

I don't believe in dieting.

I don't use e-mail; I phone and fax. I think people who are hunched over their computer screens all day should get a life.

I do it because I love acting, I love working, and whether it's radio, television, films, theater, I don't care as long as I can get out there and do it.

And then I wrote my first autobiography when I - well, it was 23 years ago. And since then I've written about one book every two years.

I don't know why people are so obsessed with age anyway. I mean, 90 is the new 70; 70 is the new 50 and 50 is the new 40; so the whole act-your-age thing? Only up to a point.

My father is Jewish, and I look exactly like him... My mother is British, but she's of French extraction.

And I think of that again as I've written in several of my beauty books, a lot of health comes from the proper eating habits, which are something that - you know, I come from a generation that wasn't - didn't have a lot of food.

And I used to write novels and little stories and compositions and I - but I put them away because I started acting when I was 17. So there wasn't much time.

I've never yet met a man who could look after me. I don't need a husband. What I need is a wife.

What is so weird is that young people who want to be 'celebrities' do not want to put in the hard work. They don't want to do the training, go to drama school, read Shakespeare, try different accents and study technique. They just want to be famous. It is not just in England; it's the same in America and all over Europe.

Only fine cigars are worth smoking and only men who smoke fine cigars are worth kissing.

I am a fan of marriage and a fan of being committed to the right person.

I do all my own make-up, it takes me 10 minutes.

I do think it's very important, if you're going to spend the rest of your life with somebody, to know that you really like them. Because when the pheromones wear off, which of course they will, you have to have a strong basis.

My grandmother spoiled my father rotten, and he grew up expecting women to do whatever he wanted. When he married my beautiful mother, Elsa, he expected her to give up her career as a champion ballroom dancer and become a good wife and mother, which she dutifully did.

I've become totally hooked on Cellex-C. It's an anti-ageing serum and is fantastic. I use it morning and evening and even on my hands, where it has faded those dark spots.

And we have not found any generational gap at all. If he wants to go a football game, he goes. If I want to go to a fashion show, I go. We don't have to do everything together. But we like doing most things together.

I think it has something to do with being British. We don't take ourselves as seriously as some other countries do. I think a lot of people take themselves far too seriously; I find that a very tedious attitude.

Doing 20 minutes of stretching, light weights and floor exercises three times a week takes the same amount of time as a long coffee break - and eating a tuna fish salad, sardines on toast or scrambled eggs is surely preferable to a Big Mac or KFC.

I've never been that keen on Shakespeare.

Lipstick is the best cosmetic that exists.

It's no one's fault to be born ugly, but, honestly, must it be worn as a symbol of pride?

But I have had to give up certain things in my life. One is shopping. Two is lunch with the girls. Three is cocktail parties, and four is studying my lines.

I mean, even my dressing room at the studio has candles and cushions and cashmere rugs and things.

Show me a person who has never made a mistake and I'll show you somebody who has never achieved much.

One of the rules about being an actor or an actress is that you never diss other actors or actresses, particularly when you don't know them.

The body is like a car: the older you become the more care you have to take care of it - and you don't leave a Ferrari out in the sun.

I never thought I was particularly good looking. But when I see old photographs, I realise that I was. I do wish I had known that at the time because beauty is power. I didn't realise how lucky I was to be young, beautiful and in Hollywood. It didn't hit me. Every day I woke up, went to the film studio and just got on with it.

I'm older than my sister so I started writing first. I started writing at school. I was always top of my class in composition, essays, English Lit and all of that.

Age is just a number. It's totally irrelevant unless, of course, you happen to be a bottle of wine.

The secret of having a personal life is not answering too many questions about it.

I think it is shocking that 15- and 16-year-olds leave school unable to add up and with the reading ability of a four-year-old.

I received an OBE from the Queen, which probably doesn't mean anything in America but is quite nice in England - the Order of the British Empire for services to drama.

Of course it's true: the public want to see young people - young people are the people who go to the cinema. It's a sad fact of life, but you've got to accept it and not whine about it.