About Bo Derek
Bo Derek (born Mary Cathleen Collins; November 20, 1956) is an American film and television actress, movie producer, and model perhaps best known for her role in the 1979 film 10 opposite British actor/comedian Dudley Moore. The film also launched a bestselling poster for Derek in a swimsuit, and subsequently she became one of the most popular sex symbols in the 1980s. Her later films were not well-received, either critically or at the box office. She makes occasional film, television and documentary appearances. Early in her career she used the name Kathleen Collins.
Bo Derek was born Mary Cathleen Collins in Long Beach, California. Her father, Paul Collins, was a Hobie Cat executive, and her mother, Norma, a make-up artist and hairdresser to Ann-Margret. Derek's parents divorced, and her mother married American stunt performer Bobby Bass.
Derek attended Narbonne High School and George S. Patton Continuation School, both in Harbor City, California. Derek remarked in a 1985 interview on Late Night with David Letterman,
"I was 16 when I quit high school. I didn't really mean to quit. I spent about a month going to the beach surfing and sunbathing while I was supposed to be in school: when I got caught, my mom was furious. I started to go back to school, and I was really enjoying it, and then I went to go do this film with John in Greece..."
In 1972, at age 16 while attending Narbonne High School in Los Angeles, Cathleen became romantically involved with John Derek, a married man 30 years her senior. Not long after the two started dating, John divorced his wife, actress Linda Evans. The couple moved to Germany where John Derek would not be subject to the American statutory rape law due to Cathleen's young age.
They returned to the U.S. when Cathleen was 18 and they married June 10, 1976. In 1973 in Germany, John began to pursue making a film starring Cathleen. Entitled Fantasies, he planned the film as a low-budget English-language romantic drama, and cast her alongside several unknown German actors and actresses. It was shot over a ten-day period in Greece in the summer of 1973. In an effort to capitalize on Bo's good looks, John had several risqué scenes worked into the film, which showcased the unknown Cathleen's good looks, featuring her in revealing outfits as well as some brief nudity. Due to the fierce controversy that surrounded Fantasies, Derek had it re-edited twice before trying to sell it to studios. The film went unreleased until 1981, when as Bo Derek, the actress had already achieved a sex symbol status.
By 1976, John Derek had given his young wife a so-called Hollywood makeover. She had bleached her hair blonde and adopted the name Bo Derek. In 1977 she caught the eye of director Michael Anderson and was cast in a small role in his upcoming horror flick, Orca (1977), which was Anderson's answer to major success of Jaws. The film received a minor theatrical release in July 1977, and was an ultimate box office disappointment.
"10" film (1979)
In 1979, Derek was selected over Melanie Griffith, Heather Thomas 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 for him, though he is already in a relationship with another woman, played by Julie Andrews. Derek's appearance in a dream sequence, racing towards Moore in a flimsy flesh-colored swimsuit, became iconic and launched her status as a mainstream sex symbol. This sequence and Derek’s cornrow hairstyle in the film have often been parodied. 10 became a critical and financial blockbuster.
After 10, Derek was immediately cast in A Change of Seasons (1980), a dramedy film, alongside Shirley MacLaine and Anthony Hopkins. She played a young college student who has an affair with her older, married professor. Critics reviewed it unfavorably and A Change of Seasons had only a moderate box office success. She followed with MGM's R-rated Tarzan, the Ape Man in 1981. Directed by husband John Derek, the film dealt very little on the title character of Tarzan but instead focused more on Derek's character of Jane Parker, along with numerous scenes of her in revealing jungle costumes.
The film gave Derek her first leading role in a mainstream Hollywood film. Due to its strong dwelling on the role of Jane, the film was originally to be entitled Me, Jane, Jane and Tarzan, or Searching for Tarzan. Filming took place on location in Africa on a moderate budget of $6.5 million. John Derek wanted to showcase his wife's physical appeal and required her to wear risqué outfits in several scenes, which generated controversy. In one scene Bo appeared nude while several African women were bathing her and later she was nude again while they painted her white. Before the film was released, John Derek and MGM were sued by the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate over the name of the film, as Derek's role and body overshadowed the story of Tarzan. The film was strongly criticized by critics.
On March 31, 1981, Derek (along with Faye Dunaway for Mommie Dearest) won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress. 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.
A braided Bo in beachside scene from the box-office smash film "10" (1979).
In August 1980, Derek was first featured in Playboy magazine. She posed again for the September 1981 issue. By the early 1980s, Derek's film career had begun to crumble. Between 1981 and 1983, Derek had no film offers. She made frequent public appearances, and was featured on magazine covers and as a guest on television talk shows. In 1984, she filmed Bolero, directed by her husband. The film explored the female protagonist's sexual awakening, and her journey around the world to find an ideal first lover to take her virginity. The sexual nature of the film, along with substantial nudity and questionable content, resulted in the film being given an X-rating, usually reserved for pornographic or extremely violent horror films.
Critical reviews for Bolero were poor, and the film failed to recoup its production costs at the box office. Derek's performance of the young, sexually inexperienced female lead was given the worst reviews. On March 24, 1985, she again won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress. Bolero won other Raspberry awards, including "Worst Director", "Worst Screenplay", "Worst Picture", "Worst New Star" and "Worst Musical Score". The film was called Derek's worst screen performance, but has since become her second most popular film, after 10.
After a five-year hiatus from films, Derek returned to motion pictures with the dramedy-fantasy Ghosts Can't Do It, which was filmed and released on video in foreign countries in 1989. It did not receive a theatrical release in the United States until June 1990. It was the final teaming of Bo as lead actress and her husband John as director. The film was John Derek's imitation of the fantasy film Ghost, which was released the same year and garnered critical and financial success. Bo Derek won another "Worst Actress" award for her performance, and the film also won "Worst Picture," "Worst Director" and "Worst Supporting Actor" awards. Ghosts Can't Do It was criticized and was a box office failure.
Upon the release of Ghosts Can’t Do It, Derek and her husband took a break from acting due to John's declining health. Bo returned to acting in the 1992 television movie Hot Chocolate, which was followed by Shattered Image in 1994, another television film. She returned to theatrical films with the 1994 R-rated romance Woman of Desire. The film co-starred Hollywood film legend Robert Mitchum and received a minor theatrical release. Due to its lack of publicity, the studio released the film on VHS the same day it premiered in theaters.
In 1995, Derek appeared in the comedy film Tommy Boy. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but was a financial success. Derek was again nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress but lost to Madonna (for Four Rooms). In 1998, her 22-year marriage ended when John Derek died suddenly.
Later that year she guest starred on four episodes of Wind on Water. In 1999, she appeared on The Drew Carey Show. In the early 2000s, she appeared in guest roles on the shows Family Law, Queen of Swords, Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, Lucky, Still Standing, and 7th Heaven.
Bo has more recently appeared in several feature films, including Frozen with Fear and Malibu's Most Wanted. On March 25, 2000 at the 20th Golden Raspberry Awards, Derek was nominated for "Worst Actress of the Century." She shared this nomination with Madonna, Brooke Shields, Elizabeth Berkley and Pia Zadora: eventually, Madonna won the award. In 2006, Derek starred in 40 episodes of the 65-episode telenovela series Fashion House, along with Morgan Fairchild.
John and Bo moved to Germany and returned to the United States soon after Bo's 18th birthday, and they married in 1976. They remained married until his death from heart failure in 1998. Since 2002, she has been involved with actor John Corbett. She continues to live in California with her sister, her sister's husband, and their two children.
Playboy covers & pictorials: August 1980 / July 1984 / December 1994.
