Los Angeles, Dec 1 (IANS): Actress Joan Collins said she was drugged and raped by husband Maxwell Reed before their marriage.

The 81-year-old star, who has also written about the harrowing ordeal in her autobiography, spoke frankly about it in the new documentary "Brave New World". Reed, who died in 1974, was married to Collins for four years.

She describes being drugged and raped at 17 when she was on a date with Reed, reports nydailynews.com.

"The next thing I knew, I was out flat on the sofa in that living room and he was raping me. And what he had given me was a drug. He had drugged my drink. It wasn't my fault but I didn't know. I went out with him," she said.

Collins has explained that she went out with him again and again, eventually marrying him after he asked.

"Well I better (marry him) because you know, he took my virginity. I really hated him, but I was so filled with guilt that he had done this thing to me," she added.