Seeing this latest trend in best/worst threads, I thought to start my own.

Who are some of your favourite daytime divas, those bigger-than-life, magnetic, super stylish femmes fatales of daytime? It can be anyone from a long-forgotten guest star in the '70s to the main female protagonist on the show. Villainess, fairy godmother, the characters ethics and morality are not the point.

And not to forget: is there a particularly soapy name of a female character you like? Like e.g. Dominique Deveraux (not daytime, but hey), Angelique DuVal, Helena Cassadine, those French/Italian/German/Greek sounding names, that sort of thing.

P. S. If a mod could change the b in the title to a capital, I'd be grateful.

Edited October 19, 200916 yr by Sylph

Umm I feel foolish, what's VL?

Verbotene Liebe, a German soap opera Joan shot a guest role on.

Joan Collins also gave an interview on British TV this past week. It's pretty good and I think I like her more than ever. She's quite honest:

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My lord did I ever love this Piers Morgan interview...Joan is far more interesting than anyone has ever given her credit for. Just, utterly fabulous.

Another Joan Collins interview, another Joan Collins interview that DOESN'T mention Peter Holm.

Another Joan Collins interview, another Joan Collins interview that DOESN'T mention Peter Holm.

I'm glad someone else caught that too! If Joan Collins loathes anyone, it's Peter Holm. As far as she's concerned, he's dead.

I'm glad someone else caught that too! If Joan Collins loathes anyone, it's Peter Holm. As far as she's concerned, he's dead.

Ironically, though, THAT soap opera proved to be more entertaining than "Dynasty" that year, lol.

Ironically, though, THAT soap opera proved to be more entertaining than "Dynasty" that year, lol.

One of the best celebrity divorces ever...capped off with what I feel is a quote that sums up Joan Collins nicely:

"I've never met a man who could look after me, I've decided I don't need a husband, what I need is a wife!"

Here's a clip on that, complete with quote.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WleR-UBpOQ8

Did she win her Random House lawsuit?

Is it true that her friends told her she was too flustered early on and that she needed to "be Alexis" during the trial, which is what she proceeded to do?

Did she win her Random House lawsuit?

Is it true that her friends told her she was too flustered early on and that she needed to "be Alexis" during the trial, which is what she proceeded to do?

Yes, she did win her Random House lawsuit to the tune of $1.2 million. And it was Joan's lawyer (author Erica Jong's husband) who told her to "be Alexis" because her first day of testimony was dreadful, the Random House lawyer was really aggressive with her and she seemed to get flustered on the stand and kept trying to give him specific answers.

When she 'was Alexis' her answers were either 'Yes,' 'No' or 'I can't recall' and she was VERY standoffish, if the Random House lawyer said something she didn't understand she'd say something like "Why are you trying to confuse me Mr Callaghy?!"...there's a clip online of her that is hilarious, the Random House lawyer approaches the witness box and she spits out "Mr Callaghy you're not supposed to come close to me without asking permission!"...the courtroom errupted in laughter and the lawyer asked the judge if he could approach.

Thanks for all that insight. It's fascinating because on one level you expect her to always be Alexis, you forget that there's a very vulnerable person underneath.

I love this clip where they show her reaction to the verdict.

That is a GREAT clip of her reaction. You can really see the human being beneath the smart suit and wig. I loved the way she grabbed her lawyer's hand in glee when the first verdict was read out. I was interning for her then-literary agent when she went through the Random House trial -- my first job ever. He (the literary agent) also represents Erica Jong and probably got the two together when Joan's legal problems with RH started. Good times!

I will always remember watching Santa Barbara in the 80s, one hot three o'clock in the afternoon, when NBC News interrupted the feed with some Late BREAKING NEWS! I believe the news was that Peter Holm's tits-on-the-side (aka "Passion Flower") had taken the stand in the divorce trial and blown Holm's case wide open by exposing his infidelity. LOL, I still remember Connie Chung (I think it was her) explaining that "Peter Holm's lawyer then approached the witness stand. Whereupon Passion Flower fainted." It always makes me to think that the news services didn't even know this lady's name, they just used PF.

It's fascinating because on one level you expect her to always be Alexis, you forget that there's a very vulnerable person underneath.

That's RADA training for you. ;-)

JC proves my belief that you can act like a bitch IRL if you have the "goods" to back it up -- and she does. Hardly anyone watched "Dynasty" before she joined the show; and when she did join, she, and she alone, made it the international sensation it eventually became. It's just a damn shame 1) Paul Rauch allowed her to slip through his fingers years later on GL, and 2) he and his writers had the audacity to make her an Alexandra recast, rather than give her a new role that, IMO, would have re-energized the show a bit.

That is a GREAT clip of her reaction. You can really see the human being beneath the smart suit and wig. I loved the way she grabbed her lawyer's hand in glee when the first verdict was read out. I was interning for her then-literary agent when she went through the Random House trial -- my first job ever. He (the literary agent) also represents Erica Jong and probably got the two together when Joan's legal problems with RH started. Good times!

I will always remember watching Santa Barbara in the 80s, one hot three o'clock in the afternoon, when NBC News interrupted the feed with some Late BREAKING NEWS! I believe the news was that Peter Holm's tits-on-the-side (aka "Passion Flower") had taken the stand in the divorce trial and blown Holm's case wide open by exposing his infidelity. LOL, I still remember Connie Chung (I think it was her) explaining that "Peter Holm's lawyer then approached the witness stand. Whereupon Passion Flower fainted." It always makes me to think that the news services didn't even know this lady's name, they just used PF.

Was the agent Alan Nevins? Very well regarded agent. Erica Jong and Joan Collins are actually personal friends from way back in the 70s, so that's how Joan hired Erica's husband as her lawyer.

That's RADA training for you. ;-)

JC proves my belief that you can act like a bitch IRL if you have the "goods" to back it up -- and she does. Hardly anyone watched "Dynasty" before she joined the show; and when she did join, she, and she alone, made it the international sensation it eventually became. It's just a damn shame 1) Paul Rauch allowed her to slip through his fingers years later on GL, and 2) he and his writers had the audacity to make her an Alexandra recast, rather than give her a new role that, IMO, would have re-energized the show a bit.

Joan is fabulous and I agree, she shouldn't have been a recast for Alexandra, she should have been a whole new character.

I agree, she shouldn't have been a recast for Alexandra, she should have been a whole new character.

IMO, GUIDING LIGHT should have tapped into Alex's backstory and hired Joan to play a von Halkein (perhaps India's mother?), to whom Alex sells her shares of Spaulding Enterprises while she was away in Europe w/ Nick and Susan, thus giving her (Joan's character) a strong power base in Springfield and a reason to tangle with the other Spauldings w/o suspending disbelief and assuming Alex had always had a British accent.