Collins was born in Hallsville in Harrison County in East Texas. His father, Carr Collins Sr., had founded the Fidelity Union Life Insurance Company; his sister was Ruth Sharp Altshuler.^[1] He graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas. In 1989, Collins was inducted into the Woodrow Wilson High School Hall of Fame the same year it was created in celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the institution. Collins graduated thereafter from Southern Methodist University.^[2]

In 1966, Collins ran for the U.S. House in the 3rd District, a newly created district in north Dallas. He lost to incumbent Democrat Joe R. Pool in a close race, taking 46 percent of the vote to Pool's 53 percent. Pool died in July 1968, and Collins won the ensuing special election, defeating Pool's widow, Elizabeth, with over 60 percent of the vote. His victory was part of a strong trend toward the GOP in north Dallas; this district has been in Republican hands without interruption since then. He won a full term in the general election that fall, he received 81,696 votes (59.4 percent) to 55,939 (40.6 percent) for Democrat Robert H. Hughes. He would never face another contest nearly that close, never dropping below 64 percent of the vote and even running unopposed in 1978.

• United States Congress. "James M. Collins (id: C000638)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Entry on the Political Graveyard
• History of I&R in Texas
• Appearances on C-SPAN