Best-selling author Jackie Collins passed away on Saturday at the age of 77 following an undisclosed bout against breast cancer.
Collins had kept her illness private and never mentioned it in numerous interviews promoting her new book The Santangelos that came out this summer.
Collins’ novels told of the lives of the rich and famous in Hollywood, often inspired by real-life experiences.
Her novels, The Stud and The Bitch were made into movies that starred her sister Joan Collins. Moreover, the mid-1980s TV miniseries Hollywood Wiveswas based on Collins’ books.
Collins also produced the TV documentary Jackie Collins Presents in 2004 and appeared recently in Syfy’s Sharnado 3: O Hell No!.
“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,” the family said in a statement.
“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 trailblazer for women in fiction and a creative force. She will live on through her characters but we already miss her beyond words.”
Collins’ books, including Hollywood Wives and its sequels and the Lucky Santangelo series that centered on the daughter of a mob boss, sold more than half a billion copies, according to Deadline.
Collins is survived by her sister, brother Bill and three children.
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