Together : Sacha Newly with his mother Joan Collins in 1999 . He described her as a 'narcissist ' As Alexis Carrington in the glossy soap opera Dynasty , she was a difficult and controlling mother . But Dame Joan Collins ’ portrayal may have been closer to life than audiences realised , according to her only son . Sacha Newley , 49 , said he loves the 81-year-old actress ‘ deeper than I can process ’ but added that he had a strained childhood relationship with her and described her as a ‘ narcissist ’ who ‘ abandoned ’ him and his sister Tara , 51 . The portrait painter also said : ‘ Her life still seems far too dramatic . Too much is happening . She is always dealing with some disaster . As much as she says she longs for a peaceful life , I don ’ t think she could handle it. ’ Mr Newley , whose father was Dame Joan ’ s second husband , the actor and singer Anthony Newley , has described his early life in a yet to be published memoir , Hollywood Child ; the rights have been bought by a film producer . ‘ My mother wasn ’ t a monster , she was a narcissist , ’ he said in an interview with the Sunday Times . ‘ I can ’ t remember her hugging me , but that doesn ’ t mean it didn ’ t happen . ‘ I just wanted mummy to love me , and I wanted a connection with the mummy I found so overwhelming and so dazzling . She nourished me in a way a muse nourishes ; at a distance. ’ He claimed his mother handed over care of her two children to a nanny because she was ‘ overwhelmed ’ by being a mother , leading him to feel she had abandoned him . Mr Newley puts his mother ’ s alleged coldness down to her difficult relationship with her own father . ‘ It ’ s true to say my mother didn ’ t receive a great deal of affection from her father , ’ he said . ‘ He was a glacier . My mother didn ’ t get physical warmth from her father and a girl needs that. ’ With his mother and sister Tara in 1968 ( left ) and with Joan Collins at Heathrow Airport when he was 17 ( right ) Mother and son at Buckingham Palace in 1997 as she collected her OBE . Mr Newly has revealed they had a strained childhood relationship and he felt abandoned after she left him in the care of a nanny . He also revealed his unusual relationship with the nanny , Sue Delong , who later committed suicide after being fired from a series of jobs . He said how he would get almost sexual gratification from her physical methods of disciplining him . He said : ‘ There was a lot of S & M . She wouldn ’ t just sit on me , but sit and grind me into the carpet . It was like the relationship boys might have with their older brothers , but in my case it was with a woman who was employed , so it had a different frisson about it. ’ Mr Newly with his father , Anthony Newly , Joan 's second husband ( left ) and at his mother 's book launch ( right ) The portrait painter also revealed his unusual relationship with the nanny , Sue Delong , who later committed suicide after being fired from a series of jobs . Mr Newley said that he and his mother – who married fifth husband Percy Gibson , 49 , in 2002 – are currently ‘ recalibrating ’ their relationship and have frequent lunches so they can talk . He also gave his assessment of his father , who died in 1999 . While describing him as a musical genius , ‘ the third in the holy trinity of Sinatra and Sammy Davis ’ , he put his father ’ s comparative lack of success down to his womanising . Asked for a comment yesterday , a spokesman for Dame Joan said she had been told by her son that the Sunday Times interview was ‘ sensationalised ’ .
Sacha Newly , 49 , said he loves his 81-year-old actress mother in interview . But admitted she was difficult and had a strained relationship in childhood . Mr Newly and his sister Sinatra , 51 , felt abandoned after being put with nanny . Portrait painter has described early life in a yet to be published memoir . He also revealed unusual relationship with nanny , Sue Delon , who died .