'He managed the hottest disco in town, but she managed him.'
I'm not exactly sure why, but I was drawn to DVR the CNN special Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins story. I say I don't know why as I've never ready any of Jackie Collins books. My biggest connection to the writer was watching clips of Andrew Steven on YouTube from the 1985 mini series Hollywood Wives based on her book.
I guess I have to thank CNN's promotional department, for their excellent advertising. I was especially drawn to some of the clips of Collins and the Hollywood from the 70's and 80's. I watched the documentary over a few days and was really interested in learning about Collins entry into writing and her following her sister Joan to Hollywood. Jackie's end was sad, but it was inspirational seeing how she continued to promote her work until the very end.
Joan Collins is always a kick, and she had more than a few fascinating stories to share. The one that stood out to me the most was discussing her role in 1978's The Stud. The film adaptation of her sisters novel is in many ways considered the project that saved Collins acting career, leading to her role a few years later on Dynasty. The few clips from the film shown had me interested in checking it out, especially seeing Collins co-star Oliver Tobias. Collins comments mocking the gorgeous Tobias only had me wanting to check it out even more.
Fontaine (Joan Collins) is the London wife of Benjamin, a wealthy Arab businessman. She spends his money on her nightclub, "The Hobo", and partying. She hires a handsome manager, Tony, (Tobias) to run her club, but it is understood that his job security is dependent on his satisfying her nymphomaniacal demands.
'I suppose the reason for that success was the empowerment for women – that they could make their own decisions sexually and all the rest of it. I was then labelled with “The Stud” and people completely forgot that I was an actor playing the part. They really thought that I was the Stud, but you’ve never seen me with a gold medallion or Gucci shoes or dressed up like a waiter! I’ve never been that! It was an interesting role to play and it was kind of a milestone in cinema. I’m very proud of it.'
'His face is an open invitation to bed.'
Jackie Collins, The Stud
'The orgy scene with Oliver Tobias, Sue Lloyd, and Mark Burns. We all got absolutely drunk out of our skulls. That was the only way we could do it.'
Joan Collins
In reading a bit about the orgy scene in The Stud, some have written there was more nudity, including a frontal from Tobias in the VHS release of the film. Unfortunately, despite my searching, I could only find a copy of the DVD. If anyone has seen, or has a clip of the VHS version, let me know!
Check out more of Oliver Tobias, and his on-screen skin resume in the post below:
