Jackie Collins, novelist of Hollywood glamour and sex, dies at 77

The English novelist Jackie Collins has passed away after a long battle with breast cancer on Saturday September 19 in Los Angeles, California. She was 77.

Over four decades she sold more than 500 million books in 40 different countries.

''It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the death of our beautiful, dynamic and one of a kind mother, Jackie Collins, who died of breast cancer today,'' a spokesman for her family said in a statement. ''She lived a wonderfully full life and was adored by her family, friends and the millions of readers who she has been entertaining over four decades. She was a true inspiration, a trail blazer for women in fiction and a creative force. She will live on through her characters but we already miss her beyond words.''

Her sister Joan, 82, said she was ''completely devastated'' to lose her ''best friend''.

Collins was married twice and is survived by her three daughters.