Bo Derek
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Bo Derek (born Mary Cathleen Collins on November 20, 1956, Long Beach, California) is an American film actress and model.
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[edit] Biography
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.
[edit] Movie career
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.[citation needed]
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.
[edit] Politics
Bo Derek is a conservative Republican who supported George H.W. Bush in 1988 and 1992 and campaigned for his son, George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004, and she appeared at both Republican conventions.[1] Derek has also appeared at public events with conservative Republican Congressman David Dreier of Southern California [2].
It is also rumored that Derek has dated White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten. When asked about the nature of their relationship on the April 30, 2006 edition of Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, Bolten identified Derek as a "friend" and as a "strong supporter of the President." According to Wallace, when President Bush heard of their rumored relationship Bush teased Bolten that together he and Derek were a "15".
Bo Derek has been appointed to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts by President George W. Bush .
[edit] Horse owner/activist
A horse lover and riding enthusiast since childhoood, she is the owner of Iberian horses and is a National Spokesperson and Honorary Director of the National Horse Protection Coalition. [3]. On February 5, 2002 she published her autobiography entitled "Riding Lessons, Everything that matters in life I learned from horses."
[edit] Filmography
Acting:
- Fashion House (2006) Maria Gianni
- Crusader (2004) (TV) .... Markham
- Malibu's Most Wanted (2003) .... Bess Gluckman
- Boom (2003) .... Guest appearance
- The Master of Disguise (2002) .... Herself
- Life in the Balance (2001) .... Kathryn Garr
- Sunstorm (2001) .... Victoria Warren
- Murder at the Cannes Film Festival (2000) (TV) .... Thada Pryce
- Frozen with Fear (2000) .... Katherine Sullivan
- Horror 101 (2000) .... Miss Allison James
- The Drew Carey Show (1999) .... Herself
- Wind on Water (1998) TV Series .... Ciel Connolly (1998)
- Tommy Boy (1995) .... Beverly Barish, aka Beverly Burns
- Shattered Image (1994) (TV) .... Helen Allgood
- Woman of Desire (1993) .... Christina Ford
- Hot Chocolate (1992) .... BJ Cassidy
- Ghosts Can't Do It (1990) .... Katie O'Dare Scott
- Bolero (1984) .... Lida MacGillivery
- Fantasies (1981) (as Kathleen Collins) .... Anastasia
- Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981) .... Jane Parker
- A Change of Seasons (1980) .... Lindsey Rutledge
- 10 (1979) .... Jenny Hanley
- Orca (1977) .... Annie
Producing:
- Ghosts Can't Do It (1990) (producer)
- Bolero (1984) (producer)
- Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981) (producer)
On crew:
- Complicated Women (2003) (TV) (additional consultant)
Albums:
- The Woman In Me (1995). Photographed album cover with Shania Twain
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Interview with Bo Derek
- Bo Derek at the Internet Movie Database
- Bo Derek at the Notable Names Database
- Bo Derek at TV.com
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | American film actors | American B-movie actors | Dutch Americans | Worst Actress Razzie | Irish-Americans | American models | American adult models | Welsh-Americans | People from Long Beach, California | German-Americans | 1956 births | Living people