Not everyone is going to be your cup of tea. There are going to be people who get under your skin. In the case of Joan Collins and Cloris Leachman this hate grew into an all-out Hollywood feud.
It was first ignited when Joan tried to steal Cloris’ husband, producer George Englund. Cloris was pregnant at the time, which only added fuel to the fire. Things blew up when Cloris ranted about Joan on stage. Let’s break it all down shall we?
This started in 1958. Joan was the newest Hollywood “it” girl. Cloris was seven months pregnant and married to good-looking George. The stage was set for drama.
Joan could not help but be attracted to George. “He was devastatingly good-looking,” she explained. “He was everything I ever wanted in a man — except for the fact that he was married…”
More from LittleThings: 'Family Feud' Contestants Were Forced To Get Herpes Tests While Richard Dawson Was Host
George’s marital status did not stop him and Joan from beginning an affair. In 2007, Cloris revealed she found out about it when Joan called her and told her in the middle of the night. “Cloris, this is Joan. George just left here,” Cloris recalled Joan stating.
Joan didn’t stop there. “I’m in love with him. What do you want to do about that?” she stated. Cloris responded with a question. “Do you think you two can make a go of it?” she asked.
Joan was surprisingly honest. She told Cloris that she thought George was still in love with her. Joan then threw up, ending the phone call. Cloris believed that she had been drinking.
Joan and George continued the affair. One day, Cloris caught them in bed together. “One dreadful afternoon when George was in my apartment, Cloris arrived and started banging on the door,” Joan recalled. “And screaming that she knew George was in there with me.” George had Joan tell her that he wasn’t there but Cloris persisted.
Joan didn’t stop seeing George until she began a relationship with Warren Beatty. Warren moved in with Joan but she wasn’t madly in love with him. She even tried to get out of their place together a lot so she wouldn’t have to sleep with him.
Joan got a dose of her own medicine when she caught Warren cheating on her with Natalie Wood. Cloris and George remained married until 1978 when they divorced after 25 years of marriage. Joan never fell for another married man.
“I can tell you from experience that I do not advise any young girl to have an affair with a married man, ever. I vowed I would never become involved with one again, and I never did,” Joan explained.
Cloris didn’t forgive and forget. In 1984 during a production of the play Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You, Cloris went off script and added Joan to a list of celebrities going straight to hell. She spilled the tea about George and Joan’s affair to a shocked audience.
