Bo Derek

In 1973, at the young age of 16, Mary Cathleen Collins started dating John Derek, a married actor and director who was 30 years her senior. Eventually, John divorced his then wife, actress Linda Evans, and moved to Germany with Cathleen, to avoid controversies and prosecution for dating a minor.

Soon following her 18th birthday, the couple returned to the US and got married on 10 June 1976. Cathleen took on the name - Bo Derek and the couple remained married for 22 years till John’s death in 1998.

A few years following his death, Bo became involved with actor John Corbett.

Bo Derek was born Mary Cathleen Collins on 20 November 1956, in Long Beach, California, USA. She is the eldest of four children of her parents.

Her father, Paul Collins, was an executive in a catamaran manufacturing company, and her mother, Norma Collins, was a make-up artist and hairdresser to Swedish American actress Ann-Margret. Later, her parents divorced and her mother married American stunt performer Bobby Bass.

Mary Cathleen Collins attended Narbonne High School and George S. Patton Continuation School, both in Harbor City, California. When she was in high school, she would skip classes and hitchhike to the beach. Finally, she quit high school at the age of 16 when she started shooting for her first film in Greece.

Mary Cathleen Collins began her acting career in 1973 at the age of 16. At the same time, she started dating her director, John Derek, who was 30 years her senior and eventually became her husband and steered her acting career.

Her first film was an English romantic drama called ‘Fantasies’ directed by John Derek. Shot in Greece, the film exhibited newcomer Cathleen’s fine looks in bold outfits and nude scenes. Prolonged controversies delayed the release of the film until 1981, but by then, Cathleen was already an established actress and John Derek’s wife, Bo Derek.

In 1977, director Michael Anderson cast her in a small role in the horror film, ‘Orca’ which went on to receive nominal box-office success.

In 1979, Bo Derek starred in the romantic comedy film ‘10’ directed by Blake Edwards. The film also starred Dudley Moore and Julie Andrews and launched Derek’s acting career as a sex symbol, with her dream sequence appearance wearing a delicate skin-coloured swimming costume. The film was a huge box-office success.

Next, she appeared in a dramatic-comedy film ‘A Change of Seasons’ (1980), along with Shirley MacLaine and Anthony Hopkins. The film enjoyed only moderate box-office success.

In 1979, Bo Derek played the role of Jenny Hanley in the romantic comedy ‘10’. Her appearance in a dream sequence wearing a skimpy skin-coloured swimming costume immediately made her an iconic sex symbol. The film was a critical and financial hit.

In 1981, she appeared in ‘Tarzan, the Ape Man’ in the lead role of Jane Parker. The film’s focus was primarily on Jane’s character instead of Tarzan. Appearing in nude and revealing jungle costumes, the film launched her mainstream Hollywood career. Though a box-office success, her performance was strongly criticized.

In 1984, she starred in ‘Bolero’, directed by husband John Derek. She played the female lead character whose sexual awakening takes her around the world in search of a perfect lover. The sexual and nude content of the film resulted in an X-rating. The film was critically shamed and her performance received poor reviews.