Bo Derek (born Mary Cathleen Collins; November 20, 1956) is an American actress and model. 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 familiar with her parents. In 1973, she appeared in the drama film Once Upon a Love, which was directed by her future husband John Derek and eventually released as Fantasies in 1981. 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 comedy-drama film A Change of Seasons (1980), the American buddy comedy film Tommy Boy (1995), and the telenovela-adapted nighttime soap opera Fashion House (2006).
Derek has championed a diverse range of philanthropic causes. A fixture of the early 2000s, she served much of the decade as the honorary chairperson for the Veterans Affairs' National Rehabilitation Special Events, which help disabled veterans overcome their limitations through sports and competition. In 2002, she was appointed to the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees by President George W. Bush. A longtime WildAid ambassador, Derek was named in 2006 as the special envoy of the secretary of state for wildlife trafficking issues by Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick. In 2008, she was appointed a commissioner of the California Horse Racing Board by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a role that reflected her sustained advocacy—including her service as a spokesperson for the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act since 2003. She was reappointed to the California Horse Racing Board in 2010 and 2014.
Widowed in 1998, Derek began a relationship with actor John Corbett in 2002. They married in December 2020.
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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. She grew up with two sisters and a brother. After her parents divorced, her mother married stunt performer Bobby Bass.
Collins attended Narbonne High School in Harbor City, California. She remarked in a 1985 interview on Late Night with David Letterman:
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.
Career
Acting
In 1972, while a 16-year-old student at Narbonne High School, Collins auditioned for the female lead in John Derek's Once Upon a Love, a low-budget drama film shot on location in Greece. Although Derek had been considering her as a candidate, he felt that her naturally blonde hair was ill-suited to the character, whom he perceived as a brunette. He therefore extended the offer
on the condition that she dye her hair darker, and Collins accepted. Principal photography began in late 1973, continuing until the editing stage. During post-production in Munich, the film ran out of funding and was seized by a domestic film lab. It languished in a vault for several years until being sold to producer Kevin Casselman. Casselman attempted to distribute Once Upon a Love globally, prompting Derek and his lead to seek a restraining order against its release. They eventually dropped any legal action, deciding it was not worth their time and effort. The film was finally released in 1981 under the new title Fantasies, at which point it received negative reviews.
During the course of these events, Collins became sexually involved with John Derek, who was 30 years her senior and at the time still married to actress Linda Evans. Following his divorce from Evans, Derek moved to West Germany with Collins to evade prosecution for statutory rape, as her age was below the legal threshold in California.
In 1976, at age 19, Collins married John Derek. From then on, she was known professionally as Bo Derek, an amalgam of her former stage name Bo Shane and her married name.
In 1977, director Michael Anderson cast Derek in a small role in his thriller film Orca: The Killer Whale, in which her character loses a leg to the titular whale.
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 fixates on Hanley as his ideal woman. Derek's appearance in a dream sequence, running toward Moore in a tight-fitting, nude-colored one-piece swimsuit, launched her status as a mainstream sex symbol. The scene has been widely parodied in popular culture, with spoofs often focusing on her cornrow hairstyle or her slow-motion stride. 10 was a critical and financial success. For her performance in the film, Derek received a Golden Globe Award nomination for New Star of the Year – Actress but ended up losing to Bette Midler for her performance in The Rose.
Politics
Derek, who describes herself as an independent, supported the presidential campaigns of George H. W. Bush, Bob Dole, and George W. Bush. She attended the Republican National Convention in 2000 and 2004. Derek was also seen at notable events with Republican Congressman David Dreier, whom she briefly dated following the death of her first husband.
In 2002, Derek was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts by President George W. Bush; she served on the Operations Committee. When White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten was asked about his relationship with Derek during a 2006 edition of Fox News Sunday, he described her as his friend and a "good supporter of the [43rd] president."
Derek voted for Barack Obama in 2008.
Choosing neutrality in the 2012 race, Derek declined to endorse a presidential candidate while still affirming her plans to vote.
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." Addressing a related question about Donald Trump's cameo in her 1989 film Ghosts Can't Do It, Derek recalled that his scene was written specifically for him, adding, "He was great."
Other work
In 1980, Derek appeared twice in Playboy magazine; she was featured again in 1981, 1984, and 1994.
Derek was set to participate in the 2016 Comedy Central Roast of Rob Lowe, but she was unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict.
Personal life
Horse owner and activist
Derek, a horse lover and riding enthusiast since childhood, owns Andalusian and Lusitano horses and is a spokesperson for the Animal Welfare Institute's campaign to end horse slaughter through the 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). In 2008, Derek was appointed a commissioner of the California Horse Racing Board by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a position she held until 2015.
Wounded veterans advocate
Beginning in the early 2000s, Derek served nearly a decade as the honorary chairperson for the Veterans Affairs' National Rehabilitation Special Events. She remains an avid supporter of the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in Snowmass Village, Colorado.
In 2003, Derek received the VA's highest honor from Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi. She frequently participated in the United Service Organizations tours, for which 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 both US military veterans.
Wildlife preservation
Derek has been active for over 15 years with the environmental agency WildAid, 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 trafficking issues by Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick. On August 13, 2020, she was a guest on the Discovery Channel's Shark Week.
Relationships
After 16-year-old Mary Cathleen Collins began a relationship with John Derek—her senior by 30 years—the pair moved to West Germany to evade California's statutory rape laws. They returned to the United States soon after Collins's 18th birthday and married in 1976. They remained married until Derek's death from heart failure in 1998.
Following her husband's death, Collins (now Bo Derek) briefly dated Republican Congressman David Dreier.
Since 2002, Derek 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.
