As many have by now heard, famed novelist Jackie Collins has passed away, leaving a legacy that includes such works as The World Is Full Of Married Men , Hollywood Wives , and Lady Boss. The family of the late 77-year-old author has released a statement, concerning Ms. Collins passing, that expresses the somber event as eloquently as anything the author herself might have stated, according to Entertainment Weekly .
“It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the death of our beautiful, dynamic and one of a kind mother, Jackie Collins, who died of breast cancer today. She lived a wonderfully full life and was adored by her family, friends and the millions of readers who she has been entertaining for over four decades. She was a true inspiration, a trail blazer for women in fiction and a creative force. She will live on through her characters but we already miss her beyond words.”
Just a short time before Collins’ passing, her mind was still on her career, and she was as excited as ever about The Santangelos , which is the ninth book about a family of Italian-American gangsters led by a strong, fierce matriarch. In fact, Jackie was thinking about movie adaptations of the novels and had already revealed her top choice for that matriarch, named Lucky in the books.
“Angelina Jolie could be Lucky. She had the life. She was crazy, into everything and now look at her with six children and everything going for her.”
According to BT , Collins enjoyed writing about strong women and admired Jolie’s strength for good reason.
“I like strong women. It comes from the fact that I grew up in a rather chauvinistic household. My father [theatrical agent Joseph Collins] was always very chauvinistic and my mother [Elsa] was always very gentle and laid-back. I didn’t like the inequality between them. I felt that she should have had more say in what was going on in the home.”
Having an older sister involved in the Hollywood game [Joan Collins] opened up Jackie’s eyes to the fact that gender equality is an issue women all over the world face, teaching her that her own family was really just a symptom of a much bigger problem.
“The film industry is still run by men and a lot of them want to get laid,” Collins said. “They just do these movies where they can coerce young girls into being in the movies. The casting couch is still alive and well in Hollywood. For actresses, it’s really tough. You’ve got 35-year-old actresses playing grandmas. It’s ridiculous!”
[Featured image: Jackie Collins courtesy of Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images]
