Bo Derek (born Mary Cathleen Collins; November 20, 1956)[1] is an American actress. She began her career as a child model before deciding to pursue acting on the advice of a talent agent she met through actress Ann-Margret, who was acquainted with her parents.[2] In 1972,[3] she was cast in the romantic drama film Once Upon a Love (1973), which was directed by her first husband John Derek and eventually released as Fantasies in 1981.[4] Her breakthrough performance came in the romantic comedy film 10 (1979), which cemented her status as a sex icon and mainstream celebrity. The role earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination for New Star of the Year – Actress.
Derek went on to star in three more films directed by John Derek: Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981), Bolero (1984), and Ghosts Can't Do It (1989), all of which were critically panned. Her other credits include the dramatic-comedy film A Change of Seasons (1980), the American buddy comedy film Tommy Boy (1995), and the American telenovela series Fashion House (2006).
Widowed in 1998,[15] Derek began a relationship with actor John Corbett in 2002.[16] They were married in December 2020.[16]
Early life
Derek was born Mary Cathleen Collins in Long Beach, California.[1] 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' parents divorced, and her mother married stunt performer Bobby Bass. She grew up with two sisters and a brother.[1][2]
Well, I didn't really mean to quit. Well, what happened—I'll tell you what happened ... I went for like a month without going to school; I went to the beach, and I got caught ... So, then I started going back to school, and I was really enjoying it ... and then I went to go do this film with John in Greece...[17]
Career
Acting
While attending Narbonne High School at age 16 in 1972,[3][17] Collins auditioned for the female lead in John Derek'sOnce Upon a Love, a low-budget romantic drama film set in Greece. Although Derek had been considering Collins for the part, he felt that her naturally blonde hair was ill-suited to the character, whom he saw as a brunette.[2] He nevertheless offered Collins the role on condition that she dye her hair darker, which Collins accepted.[2][18] During post-production in Munich, the film ran out of funding and was seized by a German film lab. It remained in a vault for several years until being sold to producer Kevin Casselman. Casselman's attempts to distribute the film globally prompted Derek and Collins to seek a restraining order against its release. They eventually dropped any legal action, deciding it was not worth their time and effort.[3][4] The film was finally released in 1981 under the new title Fantasies, at which point it received negative reviews.[4][19]
During the course of these events, Collins became sexually involved with John Derek, who was 30 years her senior and still married to actress Linda Evans. Upon his divorce from Evans, Derek moved to Germany with Collins, where he would not face prosecution under California's statutory rape laws because Collins was under the age of consent.[20]
In 1976, at age 19, Collins married John Derek.[21] From then on, she was known professionally as Bo Derek: an amalgam of her former stage name Bo Shane[22] and married name Derek.[18]
In 1977, director Michael Anderson cast Derek in a small role in his horror film Orca: The Killer Whale, in which Derek's character has her leg bitten off by the title character.[23]
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.[24] 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. Derek's appearance in a dream sequence, running towards Moore in a tight-fitting, nude-colored one-piece swimsuit, launched her status as a mainstream sex symbol. Distinguished by Derek's cornrow hairstyle, the sequence has often been parodied. 10 was a critical and financial success.[25] For her performance in the film, Derek received a Golden Globe Award nomination for New Star of the Year – Actress[26] but ended up losing to Bette Midler for her performance in The Rose.[27]
After 10, Derek was cast in Richard Lang's A Change of Seasons (1980), a dramatic-comedy film that also featured Shirley MacLaine and Anthony Hopkins. Derek played a college student who has an affair with her older, married professor. A Change of Seasons was only a moderate box-office success, with critics reviewing it and Derek's performance unfavorably ("The only appealing performance is Miss MacLaine's").[28]
In 1981, Derek starred in MGM's R-rated Tarzan, the Ape Man, her first leading role in a mainstream Hollywood film. Directed by John Derek, the film dealt little with Tarzan and instead focused on Derek's character, Jane Parker, and specifically on Derek's physical attributes. Derek appears nude in two scenes,[29] one of which involved her being bathed and body-painted. Ahead of Tarzan, the Ape Man's release, MGM and the film's distributor, United Artists, were sued for an injunction by the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate, which alleged that the film exceeded the scope of a 1931 license agreement ("1931 Agreement") that permitted MGM to use Tarzan and other Burroughs characters in the 1932 film Tarzan the Ape Man. The agreement stipulated that MGM could only produce remakes if the story of the 1932 film was maintained. Additionally, the Burroughs estate contended that MGM's character license under the deal was terminated in 1977, thereby constituting a violation of their copyright.[29] Upon reviewing the evidence, the Federal District Court in New York determined that Tarzan, the Ape Man and its 1932 predecessor are "based on substantially the same story" when reduced to their major incidents, provided that modifications were made to tone down Derek's nude scenes.[29][30] It was further concluded that MGM's character license had not been revoked due to the non-fulfillment of the legal prerequisites required for contract termination. Accordingly, the court ruled against the Burroughs estate and dismissed their injunction request.[29] Although Tarzan, the Ape Man received negative reviews, the film became a box-office success, making over $35 million in ticket sales and becoming the 15th highest-grossing film of 1981.[31] For her performance as Jane Parker, 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 next appeared in the erotic comedy-drama film Bolero (1984). Directed again by John Derek, Bolero explores the female protagonist's sexual awakening and her journey around the world to find an ideal first lover to take her virginity. Its sexual nature and substantial use of nudity earned the film an X rating, which is traditionally reserved for pornographic or extremely violent horror films. Critical reviews for Bolero, including Derek's performance, were negative ("[Bo Derek] would be a lot more appealing if she tried less assiduously to please"),[32] and the film failed to recoup its production costs.[citation needed] For her performance in Bolero, Derek won her second Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress. The film also won five additional 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, Derek teamed up with Steven Paul of the firm sales agency Paul Entertainment to sell the unreleased feature film A Knight of Love, in which she was set to star, but the project never materialized.[33]
After a five-year hiatus, Derek returned to feature films with the fantasy comedy-drama 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 and financially.[34] Earning Derek her third Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress, the film also won three additional 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 appeared in the television films Hot Chocolate (1992) and Shattered Image (1994) and the straight-to-video film Woman of Desire (1994). For her performance in the 1995 buddy comedy film Tommy Boy, Derek was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress but ultimately lost to Madonna for her performance in Four Rooms.
In 1998, Derek guest-starred on four episodes of the television series Wind on Water. In 1999, she appeared on The Drew Carey Show.
In a 2020 interview with Variety, when asked who she was supporting in the then-upcoming presidential election, Derek explained, "I don't talk about who I vote for anymore. I supported Bush 43 and I became one of the poster girls for the Republicans. But I'm an independent. I don't want to be pigeonholed and labeled as one thing or another."[15] Responding to a related query about Donald Trump's cameo in the 1989 film Ghosts Can't Do It, Derek said that the part was written specifically for him and that "he was great."[15]
Other work
In 1980, Derek appeared twice in Playboy magazine; she was featured again in 1981, 1984, and 1994.[45]
Derek was set to participate in the 2016 Comedy Centralroast of Rob Lowe,[46] but she was unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict.[47]
Derek has served as Honorary Chairperson for Veterans Affairs' National Rehabilitation Special Events since 2000[5] or 2001.[6] She is an avid supporter of the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in Snowmass Village, Colorado.[50]
Derek's father, Paul Collins, was a radio operator during the Korean War. Her stepfather, Bobby Bass, and her late husband, John Derek, were both US military veterans.[50]
Wildlife preservation
Derek has been active for over 15 years with the environmental agency WildAid,[8][52] which provides funds to protect sharks and dissuade people from purchasing wildlife products. In 2006, she was designated as the Special Envoy of the Secretary of State for Wildlife Tracking Issues by former Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick.[10] On August 13, 2020, she was a guest on the Discovery Channel's Shark Week.[53]
Relationships
Bo Derek with husband John Derek (right) and Chandran Rutnam
After 16-year-old Mary Cathleen Collins began a relationship with John Derek, they moved to Germany, where Derek would not be subject to prosecution under California's statutory rape laws.[20] They returned to the United States soon after Collins's 18th birthday and were married in 1976.[21] They remained married until Derek's death from heart failure in 1998.[54]
Filmed and produced in 1973 Credited as Kathleen Collins aka Once Upon a Love, Once Upon a Time, And Once Upon a Love, And Once Upon a Time, and Bo Derek's Fantasies[4]
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American writer, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he also wrote the Pellucidar series, the Amtor series, and the Caspak trilogy.
Tarzan of the Apes is a 1912 novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, and the first in the Tarzan series. The story was first printed in the pulp magazine The All-Story in October 1912 before being released as a novel in June 1914.
John Derek was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He appeared in such films as Knock on Any Door, All the King's Men, Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950), and The Ten Commandments (1956). He was also known for launching the career of his fourth wife, Bo Derek.
Tarzan, the Ape Man is a 1981 American adventure film directed by John Derek and starring Bo Derek, Miles O'Keeffe, Richard Harris, and John Phillip Law. The screenplay by Tom Rowe and Gary Goddard is loosely based on the 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs, but from the point of view of Jane Parker.
The New Adventures of Tarzan is a 1935 American film serial in 12 chapters starring Herman Brix. The serial presents a more authentic version of the character than most other film adaptations, with Tarzan as the cultured and well-educated gentleman in the original Edgar Rice Burroughs novels. It was filmed during the same period as the Johnny Weissmuller/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Tarzan films. Film exhibitors had the choice of booking the serial in 12 episodes, the feature film, or the feature film followed by 11 episodes of the serial.
Tarzan the Ape Man is a 1932 pre-Code American action adventure film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer featuring Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and starring Johnny Weissmuller, Neil Hamilton, C. Aubrey Smith and Maureen O'Sullivan. It was Weissmuller's first of 12 Tarzan films. O'Sullivan played Jane in six features between 1932 and 1942. The film is loosely based on Burroughs' 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes, with the dialogue written by Ivor Novello. The film was directed by W.S. Van Dyke. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released two remakes of Tarzan, the Ape Man in 1959 and in 1981, but each was a different adaptation of Rice Burroughs' novel. It is also the first appearance of Tarzan's famous yell.
Ghosts Can't Do It is a 1989 romantic fantasy comedy film, the last film written and directed by John Derek, and starring Bo Derek and Anthony Quinn, with Julie Newmar and Leo Damian in supporting roles.
Bolero is a 1984 American romantic drama film written and directed by John Derek and starring Bo Derek. The film centers on the protagonist's sexual awakening and her journey around the world to pursue an ideal first lover who will take her virginity.
The Tarzan yell or Tarzan's jungle call is the distinctive, ululating yell of the character Tarzan as portrayed by actor Johnny Weissmuller in the films based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs starting with Tarzan the Ape Man (1932). The yell was a creation of the movies based on what Burroughs described in his books as simply "the victory cry of the bull ape."
Korak, a fictional character, is the ape name of John "Jack" Clayton III, the son of Tarzan and Jane Porter.
Tarzan and His Mate is a 1934 American pre-Code action adventure film based on the Tarzan character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Directed by Cedric Gibbons, it was the second in the Tarzan film series and starred Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan. In 2003, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.
La is a character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's series of Tarzan novels, the queen and high priestess of Opar, a lost city in the jungles of Africa. Opar is portrayed as a surviving colony of ancient Atlantis in which incredible riches have been stockpiled down through the ages. The city's population exhibits extreme sexual dimorphism caused by a combination of excessive inbreeding, cross-breeding with apes, and selective culling of offspring. Consequently, female Oparians are physically perfect, while male Oparians are hideous bestial creatures.
Jane Porter is a fictional character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's series of Tarzan novels and in adaptations of the saga to other media, particularly film. Jane, an American from Baltimore, Maryland, is the daughter of professor Archimedes Q. Porter. She becomes the love interest, later the wife of Tarzan and subsequently the mother of their son, Korak. She develops over the course of the series from a conventional damsel in distress, who must be rescued from various perils, to an educated, competent and capable adventuress in her own right, fully capable of defending herself and surviving on her own in the jungles of Africa.
Tarzan Finds a Son! is a 1939 Tarzan film based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It was the fourth in the MGM Tarzan series to feature Johnny Weissmuller as the "King of the Apes" and the fourth of six films in which he stars with Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane; following this pairing was Tarzan's Secret Treasure (1941) and Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942).
Tarzan, a fictional character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, first appeared in the 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes, and then in twenty-four sequels by Burroughs and numerous more by other authors. The character proved immensely popular and quickly made the jump to other media, first and most notably to comics and film.
A Change of Seasons is a 1980 American comedy-drama film directed by Richard Lang. It stars Anthony Hopkins, Shirley MacLaine and Bo Derek. The film was a critical and commercial failure, grossing $7.2 million against its $6 million budget and receiving three nominations at the 1st Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Actor (Hopkins) and Worst Screenplay.
Tarzan and the Lost Safari is a 1957 action adventure film featuring Edgar Rice Burroughs' famous jungle hero Tarzan and starring Gordon Scott, Robert Beatty, Yolande Donlan and Betta St. John. Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone, it was the first Tarzan film released in color, Eastman Color. The nineteenth film of the Tarzan film series that began with 1932's Tarzan the Ape Man and the first produced by MGM since 1942, it was filmed in Nairobi, British East Africa. The character of Jane does not appear in this motion picture. Released April 12, 1957, it was followed by Tarzan and the Trappers in 1958.
Tarzan the Fearless is a 12 chapter American Pre-Code film serial starring Buster Crabbe in his only appearance as Tarzan. It was also released as a 61-minute feature film which consisted of the first four chapters edited together, and which was intended to be followed on a weekly basis by the last eight chapters in individual episode format, but which was often exhibited instead as a stand-alone feature film. Actress Jacqueline Wells co-starred; she later changed her name to Julie Bishop. The serial was produced by Sol Lesser, written by Basil Dickey, George Plympton and Walter Anthony, and directed by Robert F. Hill. The film was released in both formats on August 11, 1933.
Tarzan is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer.
Tarzan is a 2013 English-language German computer-animated action-adventure film written, directed and produced by Reinhard Klooss and released on October 17, 2013, in Russia. The film was released across early 2014 in other countries. The film stars the voices of Kellan Lutz, Spencer Locke, Anton Zetterholm, Mark Deklin, Joe Cappelletti, and Jaime Ray Newman. The screenplay was written by Reinhard Klooss, Jessica Postigo and Yoni Brenner. The film is based on the novel Tarzan of the Apes (1912) by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The film grossed $44 million worldwide despite receiving predominantly negative reviews from critics. Tarzan was released in Germany by one of its production companies, Constantin Film. International sales were handled by Summit Entertainment.
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