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Bo Derek Profile |
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Birth Date: November 20, 1956
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Birth Place: Long Beach, California, USA
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Birth Name: Mary Cathleen Collins
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Height: 5'4"
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Biography |
Bo Derek (born Mary Cathleen Collins on November 20, 1956,
Long Beach, California) is an American film actress and
model.
Bo Derek is of Irish, German, Dutch and Welsh descent.
She met actor and director John Derek, 30 years her senior,
in 1974. John filed for divorce from his wife, actress Linda
Evans, and John and Bo married in 1976. They remained
married until his death in 1998.
Bo currently lives with actor John Corbett on a ranch in the
Santa Ynez Valley, California.
Derek's first on screen performance was Orca: the Killer
Whale (1977), in which her character (Annie)'s leg was
bitten off when the whale attacked her home on a pier.
Derek co-starred in the 1979 Blake Edwards film 10, in which
Dudley Moore's character is torn between his love for Julie
Andrews and his fascination with Derek. Her appearance shot
her to instant stardom and status as a sex symbol. Her
beaded and plaited cornrow hairstyle in the film was widely
copied and became eponymous.
The plotline of 10 involves a woman whom the protagonist
(Moore) perceives as better-than-perfect, until he actually
gets to know her and realizes the great differences in their
priorities and lifestyles.
Some of Bo Derek's subsequent films were not well-received
by either the public or critics. For the 1981 film Tarzan,
the Ape Man, the producers of the film were actually sued by
the Edgar Rice Burroughs Estate over the name of the film,
as Derek's role and physique seemed to overshadow the focus
on Tarzan himself.
She followed this film with the sexually charged Bolero and
a subsequent role in her husband's production Ghosts Can't
Do It.
She made the first of many appearances in Playboy, starting
with the March 1980 issue. Her first pictorial (among
others) was photographed by then husband John, on a secluded
beach along an unnamed area of the Colorado River. The
twelve page spread featured a few with her and her pet
greyhound together jogging and sunbathing, as well as her
sailing and swimming in the river, all nude. She also made
the cover (in a bikini). The issue was a sell-out.
Bolero and Tarzan, the Ape Man earned her the dubious honor
of four Golden Raspberry Awards, as well as a nomination in
2000 as the "Worst Actress of the Century". However, she has
lately made a respectable showing as Jamie Kennedy's mom and
Ryan O'Neal's wife in Malibu's Most Wanted (2003). In
addition, she can be seen on TV in "Fashion House" playing
one of the main characters, notorious fashion designer Maria
Gianni. Derek was also chosen to be one of the judges in the
2006 Miss Universe pageant. |
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Other
Information |
Bo was one of four children. Her father, Paul, was a boat
salesman. Her mother, Norma Collins, was a hair and make-up
artist.
Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1979" in
John Willis' Screen World, Vol 31. [1979]
Mentioned in the theme song of the 1980s TV hit "The Fall
Guy" (1981).
Stepdaughter of stuntman Bobby Bass.
Did fund raising work for now President George W. Bush
during the 2000 election.
Turned down the Jessica Lange role in the 1976 remake of
King Kong (1976).
Measurements: 32-22-32 (at age 16 as Mary Collins), 35-23
1/2-35 1/2 (while filminge "10"), 37C-22-34 (in 1983),
38-22-36 (as reported in 1985), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth
magazine)
Attended Nathaniel Narbonne High School in Harbor City 1974
Photographer for the John Corbett tour, shot his self-titled
CD cover.
Friend of Diandra Douglas, Ursula Andress and Linda Evans.
Oldest of 4 children: a brother and 2 sisters (one of whom
is Kerry Perez).
Bo and her late husband, John Derek, formed "Svengali
Productions".
Met current boyfriend John Corbett on a blind date
Stepmother of Sean Catherine Derek.
Animal rights activist and supporter of the Republican
Party.
Her sister, Kerry Perez, is her longtime assistant. |
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