Joan Collins denies son's claims that her ex-husband was a pedophile
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Actor Joan Collins poses at The Mercedes-Benz Carousel of Hope Ball to benefit the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes in Beverly Hills, California October 11, 2014. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok (UNITED STATES - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT) - RTR49TPC (Reuters)
Dame Joan Collins has denied her son Sacha Newley's claim that Anthony Newley - her ex-husband and his father - was a pedophile.
Anthony Newley is seen in a 1965 headshot. (AP)
The actress' daughter Tara has also spoken out against her brother and said she is "deeply upset" by his allegations against their late dad.
Collins, 84, said in a statement: "As far as I'm concerned this is absolutely untrue."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Today she told "Good Morning Britain:" "I think that Sacha's being extremely naive and not really knowing the meaning of that word because what Tony admittedly was, is he loved young women and young women of 17, 18, 19 years old. Not children by any means.
"Never in a million years would I have been married to somebody like that."
She added: "Categorically, I can say that it is not true, that I never saw any of that kind of behavior from Anthony."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}And Tara, 54, said: "I was shocked by my brother's comments in today's papers. From my end, I don't recognize the man he is describing.
"I had an incredibly close relationship with my father and am deeply upset by these false allegations."
Artist Sacha Newley, 52, made the allegations about his late father, an actor and singer-songwriter, in an interview with The Sunday Times.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It comes as Sasha gears up to release a memoir focusing on his childhood in Hollywood, titled "Unaccompanied Minor."
In the interview Sacha bluntly addressed long-circulated rumors about his dad. He said: “He was a pedophile. My father was drawn to youthfulness.
“He thought innocence was an aphrodisiac. That was his sexual proclivity and it's a very dangerous, destructive thing.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sacha added as child he witnessed sex regularly.
He said: “My father put sex front and center. He exposed me to all of that — it was absolutely inappropriate.”
The artist claimed his father's X-rated 1969 film "Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?" is a “confession of pedophilia”.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The film was written and directed by Anthony and starred himself as Merkin and Collins as his on-screen wife Polyester Poontang.