Joan Collins Says Sister Jackie's Death 'Left a Void That Was Impossible to Fill' Despite Their 'Ups and Downs'

Joan Collins gets candid about her heated “rivalry” with sister Jackie Collins and the dear place she held in her heart.

In his new biography Behind the shoulder: Stories I tell my friendsthe Dynasty The alum, 90, talks about her complicated relationship with her late sister and how her death left her feeling incomplete.

“Even though the press and gossips speculated about the relationship between my sister Jackie and I, I like to think it was just normal ‘sibling rivalry,’” she wrote in an excerpt shared with PEOPLE. “It’s quite common between siblings, including recently between Princes William and Harry, and don’t forget the Bouvier sisters.”

Jackie Collins and Joan Collins. Kevin Mazur/VF15/WireImage Joan Collins believes her late sister Jackie visits her like a fly ‘all the time’

The actress recalled how “talking heads” in various media reported on their “rivalry” when Joan continued to write after Dynasty the end came and Jackie, the bestselling author, continued acting.

She admitted that she never thought her sister would “get in the way” of her literary endeavors as she often “encouraged her acting ambitions” and helped connect her with casting directors and other Hollywood executives.

Joan revealed that she learned about her younger sister’s “festering” sense of “resentment” in her 2021 documentary. madam boss. In the film, Jackie claimed that she hated being known as her “little sister” and living in her shadow.

“I was always top of my class in composition, essays and English writing, so it seemed only natural for me to follow in my sister’s footsteps, as she did in mine. But unfortunately Jackie’s documentary revealed that she resented being promoted as my ‘little sister’ in her film and theater career.”

Joan Collins on Sister Jackie’s Death: ‘I’m Completely Broken’

Desperate to become famous, Jackie “insisted” on being called by her married name, “Jackie Lerman”.

“However, she realized she wouldn’t be able to sell books under that name, so she became ‘Jackie Collins’ and faced all the publicity as ‘Joan’s little sister,'” Joan continued.

“I told her and Oscar that [her husband]”, she wrote about her conflict. “‘You were Jackie Lerman for years because you didn’t want to be known as my sister. Do you realize that in all the interviews you do, you will be asked about me?’ Oscar agreed, but said: ‘We want the book to be a bestseller. It doesn’t matter how we do it.’”

Jackie Collins and Joan Collins.

Vinnie Zuffante/Michael Ochs Archive/Getty

Joan also found that the distance between them only grew as she dated and married men Jackie never approved of. In particular, Jackie “hated” Joan’s fourth husband, Peter Holm, and Joan wrote that her sister claimed she would “never speak to me again” if they married.

The sisters went through another “period of coolness” when Joan dated her “English boyfriend”, Robin Hurlstone, who “was often sarcastically rude to her, correcting her pronunciation and commenting on her taste”.

Because of this, Jackie did not attend Joan’s wedding to her husband Percy. Although the duo “never faced our problems, and it wasn’t until I married Percy and she grew to love him that our rift was finally healed.”

One hope for her legacy Jackie Collins: ‘I want on my tombstone ‘She gave a lot of people great pleasure’ ‘

“I can’t deny that, like all siblings, we’ve had our ups and downs (but we’ve never been anywhere near as cataclysmic as the Windsor boys!). But there were injuries,” Joan wrote, recalling an incident when she needed a place to stay in Los Angeles but ended up staying in a hotel after Jackie didn’t offer her home.

The actress also told other incidents like going to parties and never talking to each other. Another row involved Jackie skipping her father’s funeral, which “extremely upset” Joan and her brother Bill.

“None of these issues were ever discussed, nor, I am confident, did Jackie ever fully explain any of them to other people,” she wrote. “But why would you? Should we be endlessly devoted to each other and never disagree or do anything that might upset the other just because we are sisters?”

Jackie Collins and Joan Collins.

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

The Glamorous Life and Times of Jackie Collins

Joan continued: “No one – not our friends, not our immediate family – will ever truly know all that we shared together, our lifelong bond and the deep abiding love that always existed between us and that I still feel.”

Despite their differences, “When Jackie died, Percy and I, as well as our brother Bill, Jackie’s three daughters, six grandchildren, three sons-in-law and countless other friends and family, remained countless.”

“Jackie was so loved and admired that her death was headline news all over the world. She even made the cover of People magazine – she would love that! We grieved and tried to comfort each other, but Jackie’s death left a void in all of our lives that was impossible to fill,” she said.

Joan Collins Says Sister Jackie’s Death ‘Left a Void That Was Impossible to Fill’ Despite Their ‘Ups and Downs’

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