The article recounts Joan Collins’s stark impression of fellow actor Joan Crawford, whom she described after meeting her once as “terrifying” and “not beautiful at all”. It frames the remark within Crawford’s long-standing reputation in Old Hollywood for formidable discipline, sharp comments and difficult relationships, making her an enduringly divisive figure.

Crawford rose from an unstable and abusive childhood to become a major star after beginning as a body double in 1925’s *Lady of the Night*, achieving particular popularity in the 1930s. The article cites her feud with Bette Davis and abuse allegations later made by daughter Christina Crawford as examples of the stories shaping her reputation; Collins had not worked with Crawford, but had played the same role, Crystal Allen, in a stage version of *The Opposite Sex*.