Bo Derek

American film and television actress, model, and sex symbol Bo Derek is known for her role as Jenny Hanley in the 1979 comedy film 10. However, Derek's subsequent feature films were poorly received by the public and critics. These included, Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981), Bolero (1984), and Ghosts Can't Do It (1989). Today she makes occasional film, television or documentary appearances.

She was born Mary Cathleen Collins in Long Beach, California to Paul Collins, who was a Hobie Cat executive, and Norma Bass, a make-up artist and hairdresser to Ann-Margret. Derek's parents divorced, and her mother married American stunt performer Bobby Bass.

An aspiring model at 16, she met Hollywood’s John Derek in 1971. Just as he had done with young up-and-comers Ursula Andress and Linda Evans, Derek molded her into a highly desirable superstar. In 1974, the 48-year-old Derek married his 18-year-old protege, and Bo Derek was born.

In her first film, Orca, Derek had a short-lived role as the victim of a killer whale. Her next project proved to be more promising, as the ultra-sexy Jenny in the Blake Edwards' comedy 10 (1979). The scene with a bikini-clad Derek bouncing along the beach in slow motion to the pulsating rhythms of Ravel's Bolero has become the stuff of legend, catapulting her into icon status.

Unprepared for such success, and uncomfortable with the pressures of celebrity, Derek chose only to work with her husband, and the couple formed their own production company, but the films they produced together were generally poorly received.

She made the first of many appearances in Playboy, starting with the March 1980 issue. Her first pictorial was photographed by John, on a secluded beach along an unnamed area of the Colorado River.

In 1984, John and Bo retreated to their ranch in Southern California, and Derek has taken on only a few small acting jobs over the years. She and John Derek remained married for twenty-two years, until his death from a heart attack in 1998, at the age of 71.

The loss was traumatic for Derek, but she has since penned an autobiography titled Riding Lessons: Everything That Matters in Life I Learned From Horses, which was published in 2002.

Since John's death, she has been romantically linked with a number of celebrities and is currently dating actor John Corbett.

She continues to live in California with her sister, her sister's husband. and their two children.

Sources: Biography, The Biography Channel, Starpulse, Wikipedia