Bo Derek facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bo Derek
Derek in 2022
Born	Mary Cathleen Collins (1956-11-20) November 20, 1956 (age 67) Long Beach, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1973–present
Notable work	10 (1979) Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981) Bolero (1984) Tommy Boy (1995)
Spouse(s)	John Derek ​ ​ (m. 1976; died 1998)​ John Corbett ​ (m. 2020)​

Bo Derek (born Mary Cathleen Collins, November 20, 1956) is an American actress and model. She is best known for her breakout role in the romantic comedy film 10 (1979). Her other film credits include Richard Lang's A Change of Seasons (1980) and the ill-fated Fantasies, Tarzan, the Ape Man (both 1981), Bolero (1984), and Ghosts Can't Do It (1989), all four of which were directed by her first husband, John Derek. Widowed in 1998, she married actor John Corbett in 2020.

Early life

Derek was born Mary Cathleen Collins in Long Beach, California. Her father, Paul Collins, was a Hobie Cat executive, and her mother, Norma (née White), was a make-up artist and hairdresser to Ann-Margret. Collins's parents divorced, and her mother remarried, to stunt performer Bobby Bass. She has two sisters and a brother.

Collins attended Narbonne High School and George S. Patton Continuation School, both in Harbor City, California.

Career

Acting

In 1973, Collins started a relationship with John Derek; the couple moved to Germany.

In 1973, Collins began filming on John Derek's low-budget romantic drama Fantasies. Portraying a young woman of Greek descent, Collins was urged to dye her hair brown so as to better look the part of the character. John Derek twice re-edited the film in an effort to sell it to major studios. The film remained unreleased until 1981, at which time it received negative notices.

In 1976, the then-19-year-old Collins married John Derek. By this time, she had come to be known professionally as Bo Derek: an amalgam of her former stage name Bo Shane and married name Derek.

In 1977, director Michael Anderson cast Derek in a small role in his horror film Orca - The Killer Whale (1977), in which Derek's character has her leg bitten off by the title character.

In 1979, Derek was selected over Melanie Griffith, Heather Thomas, Tanya Roberts, and several others for the role of Jenny Hanley in the romantic comedy film 10. Directed by Blake Edwards, the film starred Dudley Moore as a middle-aged man who finds Derek's character to be the ideal woman; i.e., a perfect 10. The film was a critical and financial success.

After 10, Derek was cast in A Change of Seasons (1980), a dramatic-comedy film that featured Shirley MacLaine and Anthony Hopkins.It was only a moderate box-office success, with critics reviewing it and Derek's performance unfavorably ("The only appealing performance is Miss MacLaine's").

Derek appeared in MGM's R-rated Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981), her first leading role in a mainstream Hollywood film. Directed by her husband, the film dealt little with Tarzan and instead focused on Derek's character of Jane Parker. Prior to the film's release, MGM and the film's distributor, United Artists, were sued by the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate over the name of the film. Although the film received negative reviews from many critics, Tarzan, the Ape Man became a box-office success, making over $35 million in ticket sales and becoming the 15th highest-grossing film of 1981. For her performance, Derek shared the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress with Faye Dunaway, the latter for her starring role as Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest.

Derek starred in Bolero (1984). Critical reviews for Bolero, including Derek's performance, were negative, and the film failed to recoup its production costs. For her performance in Bolero Derek won her second Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress. The film received other Golden Raspberry Awards: Worst Picture, Worst Director (John Derek), Worst Screenplay (John Derek), Worst New Star (Olivia d'Abo), and Worst Musical Score (Peter Bernstein and Elmer Bernstein). In 1987, Bo Derek teamed up with Steven Paul of the firm sales agency Paul Entertainment to sell the unreleased feature film, A Knight of Love, which was set to star Bo Derek for screening, but it never came to fruition.

After a five-year hiatus Derek returned to feature films with the drama/comedy/fantasy Ghosts Can't Do It (1989). The final collaboration of Derek with her husband as director, Ghosts Can't Do It was a failure both critically (a "cinematic abomination") and financially. For her performance in Ghosts Can't Do It, during which she delivered such lines as "You have my heart...how can I live without my heart," Derek won her third Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress. The film also won Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Picture, Worst Director (John Derek), and Worst Supporting Actor (Donald Trump).

Derek in 1998

Following Ghosts Can’t Do It Derek returned to acting in the television movies Hot Chocolate (1992) and Shattered Image (1994). For her performance in the 1995 comedy film Tommy Boy, Derek was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress but ultimately lost to Madonna for the latter's performance in Four Rooms.

In 1998, Derek guest-starred on four episodes of Wind on Water. In 1999, she appeared on The Drew Carey Show, and in the early 2000s, she had guest roles on the shows Family Law, Queen of Swords, Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, Lucky, Still Standing, and 7th Heaven.

At the 20th Golden Raspberry Awards in 2000, Derek was nominated for Worst Actress of the Century, sharing the nomination with Madonna (the eventual winner), Brooke Shields, Elizabeth Berkley, and Pia Zadora.

Derek appeared in several more feature films during the 2000s, including Frozen with Fear (2000), The Master of Disguise (2002), for which she received her second Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress nomination, and Malibu's Most Wanted (2003). In 2006 Derek starred in 40 episodes of the 65-episode telenovela series Fashion House. Derek made an appearance in CSI Miami in 2012. Derek had a featured role in the 2015 made-for-TV campy horror film Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!. Derek was reported to have participated in the 2016 Comedy Central roast of Rob Lowe but is absent from the eventual cast list.

Personal life

Horse owner and activist

A horse lover and riding enthusiast since childhood, Derek owns Andalusian horses and is a spokesperson for the Animal Welfare Institute's campaign to end horse slaughter through passage of federal and state legislation. On February 5, 2002, she published her autobiography entitled Riding Lessons: Everything That Matters in Life I Learned from Horses (ISBN: 0-06-039437-4). She serves on the California Horse Racing Board.

Wounded veterans advocate

Derek is a national honorary chairperson for Veterans Affairs' National Rehabilitation Special Events. She attended the 17th annual Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in Snowmass Village, Colorado. In 2003, she received the VA's highest honor from Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Anthony Principi. Derek makes appearances on United Service Organizations tours. The Special Forces Association named her an honorary Green Beret.

Derek's father, Paul Collins, was a radio operator during the Korean War. Her stepfather Bobby Bass, and her late husband, John Derek, were military veterans.

Wild Aid

Derek has been active for 18 years with the environmental agency WildAid which provides funds to protect sharks and dissuade people from purchasing wildlife products. On August 13, 2020, she was a guest on the Discovery Channel's Shark Week.

Relationships

Bo Derek with husband John Derek and Chandran Rutnam

Bo and John Derek wed in 1976 and remained married until his death from heart failure in 1998.

Since 2002, she has been in a relationship with actor John Corbett, with whom she lives on a ranch in Santa Barbara, California. They married in December 2020.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Production credits

Film

See also

In Spanish: Bo Derek para niños