Jackie Collins

Jackie Collins, the best-selling novelist who thrilled millions of readers with her scandal-soaked tales of Hollywood, mobsters, and L.A. private investigators, has died of breast cancer, People magazine and The Associated Press report. She was 77.

Born in Hampstead, England, Collins is the younger sister of actress Joan Collins. Like her sister, Jackie Collins originally focused on an acting career, appearing in numerous British B-movies and television series throughout the 1950s and the 1960s before she left acting to pursue a career as a novelist.

Collins burst onto the writing scene in 1968 with her debut novel, "The World Is Full of Married Men." A tale of infidelity set in the Swinging '60s, the novel, with its blue language and racy themes, was decried as pornographic by many in the writing establishment and was banned in Australia and South Africa. But the scandal turned the book into a best-seller and Collins into a rising literary star.

A string of publishing hits soon followed, including her greatest success, 1983's "Hollywood Wives." Marketed as a "scandalous expose," the novel sold 15 million copies and catapulted Collins into a celebrity status on par with her sister's. Collins turned the book into a series of Hollywood novels and also wrote two other highly popular series: the Lucky Santangelo novels, which featured the adventures of a gangster's daughter, and another series about L.A. private investigator Madison Castelli. All of Collins' 32 novels have appeared on The New York Times best-sellers list, and eight have been adapted as film or television mini-series.

According to People, Collins is survived by her three daughters, Tracy, 54, Tiffany, 48, and Rory, 46. She also leaves behind six grandchildren, her sister Joan, and her brother Bill.