It was the one that got away. “In 1960, I was offered a [movie] called Sons and Lovers, with Dean Stockwell,” Joan Collins recently recalled to Town & Country. “I wanted to do it, and I don’t think it was bad. However, I was living with and engaged to a young actor called Warren Beatty, who said, ‘This is absolute crap.’ So I turned it down.” She soon came to regret that decision. 

“Mary Ure did it and was nominated for an Oscar,” Joan said. “At that time I was more influenced by men.” That didn’t last long, though. “Everybody said to me, ‘You’ll be through by the time you’re 24,'” Joan, 85 — who has just been cast opposite Jessica Lange in American Horror Story: Apocalypse, the next season of FX’s Emmy-winning hit — shared. 

joan and warren in 1959. (photo credit: getty images)

Joan and Warren in 1959. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

“My father, all these guys in Hollywood… over and over again, I have been told this by men. But it hasn’t been true yet,” she added. Joan is now married to Percy Gibson — who is 31 years her junior — and in a previous interview with Hello! magazine, she said that this is her best marriage yet.  

“It is my fifth marriage, and my happiest, and last,” Joan gushed. “Percy is wonderful, he’s my soulmate. That doesn’t mean we don’t bicker but we are very understanding of each other.” The couple have been happily married for 16 years despite rumors that their union would never last.

“People are entitled to their opinion but it’s good to prove them wrong,” Percy told the magazine. “I’ve certainly never been happier and I hope that I make Joan happy because she definitely deserves that.” 

joan and her husband, percy. (photo credit: getty images)

Joan and her husband, Percy. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Joan first married Northern Irish actor Maxwell Reed in 1952. She then wed Anthony Newley in 1963 and Ron Kass in 1972 before tying the knot with Swedish singer Peter Holm in 1985 in Las Vegas.

For more on Joan Collins, pick up the latest issue of Closer Weekly, on newsstands now — and be sure to sign up for our newsletter!