Editing Joan Collins (section)

=== 1970s ===
In the 1970s, Collins remained busy on television. She starred in the TV movies ''[[The Man Who Came to Dinner]]'' (1972) with [[Orson Welles]] and [[Lee Remick]], and ''Drive Hard, Drive Fast'' (1973) opposite [[Brian Kelly (actor)|Brian Kelly]]. Her many guest appearances during the decade included ''[[The Persuaders!]]'' alongside [[Roger Moore]] and [[Tony Curtis]], ''Fallen Angels'' with [[Susannah York]], ''[[Space 1999]]'', ''[[Orson Welles Great Mysteries]]'', ''[[Police Woman (TV series)|Police Woman]]'', ''[[The Moneychangers]]'' with [[Kirk Douglas]] and [[Christopher Plummer]], ''[[Starsky and Hutch]]'', ''[[Tattletales]]'', ''[[Switch (American TV series)|Switch]]'', ''[[Future Cop (TV series)|Future Cop]]'', ''[[Ellery Queen]]'', ''[[The Fantastic Journey]]'', ''[[Baretta]]'' and three separate episodes of ''[[Tales of the Unexpected (TV series)|Tales of the Unexpected]]''. She rounded off the decade playing Cleopatra in an episode of [[Aaron Spelling]]'s ''[[Fantasy Island]]''.[[File:Joan Collins Empire of the Ants.JPG|thumb|In ''[[Empire of the Ants (film)|Empire of the Ants]]'' (1977)|227x227px]]
In 1970, Collins returned to Britain and starred in several films, mostly thrillers and horror films: ''[[Revenge (1971 film)|Revenge]]'' (1971), as the vengeance-seeking mother of a murdered child; ''[[Quest for Love (1971 film)|Quest for Love]]'' (1971), a romantic science-fiction piece; ''[[Tales from the Crypt (film)|Tales from the Crypt]]'' (1972), a highly successful horror anthology; ''[[Fear in the Night (1972 film)|Fear in the Night]]'' (1972), a psychological horror from [[Jimmy Sangster]]; ''[[Dark Places (1973 film)|Dark Places]]'' (1973), a thriller with [[Christopher Lee]]; and ''[[Tales That Witness Madness]]'' (1973), another horror anthology. She went to Italy for the football-themed comedy ''[[L'arbitro (1974 film)|L'arbitro]]'' (1974), to Spain for ''The Great Adventure'' opposite [[Jack Palance]] and returned to England for yet another horror, playing the mother of a murderous infant in ''[[I Don't Want to Be Born]]'' (1975).

After two comedies, ''[[Alfie Darling]]'' (1975) and ''[[The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones]]'' (1976), Collins returned to the US to make what she now refers to as the nadir of her film career, the giant insect science-fiction piece ''[[Empire of the Ants (film)|Empire of the Ants]]'' (1977). In Italy she was the leading lady in the thriller ''[[Fearless (1978 film)|Fearless]]'' (1978); in the US made the lighthearted ''[[Zero to Sixty]]'' (1978); and back in the UK appeared with [[Robert Mitchum]] in ''[[The Big Sleep (1978 film)|The Big Sleep]]''.

In 1978, Collins was catapulted back to major stardom in the UK when she starred in the film version of her sister [[Jackie Collins]]'s racy novel ''[[The Stud (film)|The Stud]]''. It was made for $600,000 and went on to gross over $20,000,000 internationally.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gritten|first=David|url=http://people.com/archive/imperfect-past-behind-her-joan-collins-says-she-likes-turning-homebody-vol-12-no-22/|title=Imperfect Past Behind Her, Joan Collins Says She Likes Turning Homebody|work=[[People (magazine)|People]]|date=26 November 1979|access-date=13 March 2018|df=dmy-all|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314104555/http://people.com/archive/imperfect-past-behind-her-joan-collins-says-she-likes-turning-homebody-vol-12-no-22/|archive-date=14 March 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> At the same time she published her autobiography, ''Past Imperfect'', which went to number 1 in the bestseller charts. ''The Stud'' was so successful that a sequel, ''[[The Bitch (film)|The Bitch]]'' (1979)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://trailersfromhell.com/the-bitch/|title=The Bitch|website=Trailers from Hell|date=2017-10-06}}</ref> was hastily arranged and was also a hit. After shooting ''[[Game for Vultures]]'' (1979) opposite [[Richard Harris]] and ''[[Sunburn (1979 film)|Sunburn]]'' (1979) with [[Farrah Fawcett]], Collins returned to the stage for the first time in many years to play the title role in ''[[The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (play)|The Last of Mrs. Cheyney]]'' (1980) in London's [[West End theatre|West End]].