Novelist Jackie Collins dies of breast cancer at age 77

Jackie Collins, the best-selling author of dozens of steamy novels who depicted the boardrooms and bedrooms of Hollywood's power crowd, has died of breast cancer at age 77, her family said.

Jackie Collins arrives at the 2013 Vanity Fair Oscars Viewing and After Party in West Hollywood Source: Invision

The British-born Collins, younger sister of actress Joan Collins, died in Los Angeles, said her spokeswoman Melody Korenbrot.

"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," the family said in a statement.

Collins sold more than 500 millions copies of her books in 40 countries and has some 30 New York Times bestsellers, according to her own website.

Some of her most successful novels included "Hollywood Wives," "Lucky" and "Lady Boss," which were also adapted for television.

Collins faced controversy early in her career, writing novels so steamy they outraged political figures from Britain to China.

Her debut novel, "The World is Full of Married Men," was reportedly deemed "filthy and disgusting" by author Barbara Cartland and banned in Australia. Collins, in a 2008 interview with Reuters, called the book "way before its time" with its tale of a woman who cheats on her husband and another who likes sex with married men.

Collins, who promised readers unrivaled insiders' knowledge of Hollywood, said she wrote about "real people in disguise."

"If anything, my characters are toned down - the truth is much more bizarre," she wrote on her website.