After four failed marriages, English actress Joan Collins at last discovered true love in the arms of a man 32 years her junior. In what she would describe as “kissing many frogs before finding her prince,” Joan Collins married Percy Gibson in 2002, and their marriage has endured for over two decades.
Moreover, her estranged spouses are Maxwell Reed, Anthony Newley, Ronald S. Kass, and Peter Holm. Joan was also romantically involved with other men aside from the ones she officially got married to.
Joan Collins Has Been Married 5 Times
Throughout her life, Joan Collins has been successful with her career, but this could not be said of her love life until she finally met Percy Gibson in 2002. Here is all you need to know about her relationship and marriage history.
She was raped by her first husband, Maxwell Reed when they were courting, and she married him out of shame
Joan Collins’ first husband was Maxwell Reed, and the pair tied the knot on May 24, 1952, after he allegedly raped her.
In the 2014 documentary Brave New World, Joan Collins disclosed on camera that she had been sexually assaulted by her ex-husband Maxwell Reed when she was a teenager. In the documentary, the actress discussed the incident candidly, and she has also written about the terrifying experience in her autobiography.
The actress narrated how, at the age of 17, she was drugged and sexually assaulted by Maxwell, who was only a rising star at the time. She went on to describe how Reed filled her up with rum and Coke and gave her p*rn to read while they were out on a date.
Collins added that she f**lishly continued to go out with Maxwell and eventually married him after he proposed. Since he had already stolen her virginity, she believed it would be prudent to marry him. She added that she felt guilty even though she truly detested him. According to Joan, she was raised in a period where getting married was expected of everyone who had experienced sex.
However, she decided enough was enough when Maxwell began offering her to older men to sleep with her for £10,000 a night—as long as he could watch.
Sequel to this, the pair separated in 1954 and finalized their divorce in 1956.
Meanwhile, Maxwell was a Northern Irish actor who became a matinee idol in several British films during the 1940s and 1950s. He died from cancer in 1974, aged 55, in London.
She was married to Anthony Newley for 8 years
In 1963, Joan Collins married actor and singer-songwriter Anthony Newley, with whom she had two children: Tara and Alexander.
Their child, Tara, was born on October 12, 1963, and she became a broadcaster in Britain. Tara is also a writer and a producer.
On the other hand, Sacha was born on September 8, 1965. He is currently a British contemporary artist, portraitist, writer, and teacher known for his portrait paintings, including those of Gore Vidal and Billy Wilder.
Anthony’s infidelity on the set of his autobiographical movie, Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? caused his relationship with Joan to fall apart. Moreso, Joan has said Anthony was amazing up until he left to film a biographical piece in which he had sexual relations with several women.
The pair divorced in 1971, and Anthony later married two other women before he died on April 14, 1999, aged 67. He suffered from renal cancer before his passing.
She had a daughter with her third husband, Ronald S. Kass
Joan later married an American businessman, Ronald S. Kass, in 1972. Also known as Ron Kass, Ronald is an American businessman, recording executive, manager of The Beatles, and film producer.
Although he is known to have married Joan in 1972, she was not his first wife. He was initially married to Anita, with whom he had three children. He later divorced Anita and married Joan, and the pair were blessed with a daughter named Katyana.
Katyana was born on June 20, 1972, in St. Marylebone, London, England, UK. She is also an actress, known for The Optimists (1973).
Although they separated in 1983, Kass and Joan are said to have stayed close. Joan not only flew his sons from Switzerland to him but also paid for his medical care when he was diagnosed with cancer. At 51, he passed away in Los Angeles, California, from cancer, with Joan by his side.
Peter Holm
Collins married former singer Peter Holm in Las Vegas on November 3, 1985, following her divorce from Kass in 1983.
However, according to Collins, her marriage with Peter quickly degenerated into what she refers to as a string of interminable arguments and hearty crockery-throwing rows. She also said Peter was a bully with a ferocious temper, alleging that he was the most combative person she ever met.
After a bitter legal battle, the pair were divorced on August 25, 1987.
She has been married to Percy Gibson for 22 years
In 2002, Joan married Percy Gibson, and he is her current and fifth spouse. Interestingly, Percy is 32 years younger than her.
Percy is also an actor and producer who is known for works like The Time of Their Lives (2017), Banksy’s Coming for Dinner (2009), and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (1998).
Before crossing paths with her future husband, the English actress had no plans of marrying again, having experienced several heartbreaks. But apparently, meeting Gibson made her reconsider her decision.
Their paths crossed in April 2000, when Joan starred opposite George Hamilton in the play Love Letters. Gibson happened to be producing the play at that time, and that was where their love story began. The pair got married on February 17, 2002, at Claridge’s Hotel in London.
Though there is a significant age difference between the two, Joan has said it’s never been an issue. She also said they talked it through, and Gibson didn’t want children. Moreover, he adores her children and grandchildren.
Meanwhile, in 2019, Joan and Gibson escaped what could have been a terrifying fire incident at her London flat in Eaton Place. Impressively, he was able to contain the fire using a fire extinguisher before the arrival of emergency services.
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Other men that Joan has been Romantically linked to
Aside from the five men she is known to have officially married, Joan was also romantically involved with other men.
She started dating at age 16, and her first boyfriend was then-19-year-old Larry Hagman. Joan said Larry had to be very respectful and report to her father.
She is also known to have dated the then-unknown actor Warren Beatty in 1959. In 1960, they became engaged but had to break up because of Warren’s infidelity.
Also, Collins had disclosed that she conceived a child with Beatty but chose to have an abortion to avert a scandal that could have potentially destroyed their careers at the time.
Moreover, Joan said that she lived with multiple men in her early 20s, one after the other. She mentioned living with Sydney Chaplin and then Arthur Loew Jr. at one point.
