Collins specialised in the era of Classical Hollywood cinema, and his favourite film was Gone with the Wind.
Originally an English school teacher at East Hills Boys High School and his alma mater Canterbury Boys' High School, and later lecturer at Sydney Teachers College, Collins' appreciation of cinema led him to write reviews in the early 1960s and resulted in him working as a film presenter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (then the Australian Broadcasting Commission).
[2][3] His celebrity status allowed him to take cameo roles in film and television, notably Prisoner (1985) and Howling III (1987).
[5] In 1987, he published a book of film reviews and essays, Bill Collins Presents "The Golden Years of Hollywood".
In 2005, they moved to a large house in Berry, New South Wales, which they listed for sale in August 2017, but which Joan still owned as of February 2020.