Bo Derek was raised in a middle-class family after being born in Long Beach, California, on November 20, 1956, under the original name Mary Cathleen Collins. Her mother, Norma Bass, was a hairstylist and cosmetics artist, while her father, Paul Collins, was a public relations executive.
Bo’s early professional interests in the entertainment sector were influenced by her parents’ jobs.
When she met John Derek, an actor and director thirty years her senior, in her late teens, her road to stardom officially began. After John divorced actress Linda Evans in 1976, they started dating. Bo’s career was significantly shaped by John.
Bo made her big screen debut in Blake Edwards’ 1979 film “10,” in which she portrayed Jenny Hanley. She became an immediate sex icon and gained international recognition after the iconic video of her sprinting on the beach in a nude one-piece swimsuit went viral.
Career in Acting
Following the popularity of “10,” Bo Derek acted in a number of films directed by her husband, John Derek, in the 1980s, including “Tarzan, the Ape Man” (1981), “Bolero” (1984), and “Ghosts Can’t Do It” (1989). Even if a few of these movies were financially successful, critics frequently gave them negative reviews. Still, Bo remained a symbol of his era’s culture.
Life Apart from Performance
Bo Derek turned her attention to other pursuits after her film career faltered. She joined the California Horse Racing Board and started advocating for animal welfare. She has also actively participated in numerous humanitarian endeavors and supported causes related to veterans.
Bo shared details about her life and profession in her book, “Riding Lessons: Everything That Matters in Life I Learned from Horses,” which was published in 2002.
John Derek and Bo were wed till his passing in 1998. Their relationship, which was characterized by a large age gap and professional cooperation, was often featured in the media.
Following John’s passing, Bo befriended actor John Corbett, who was well-known for his parts in the television series “Sex and the City” and “Northern Exposure.” The pair has been dating since 2002 and has kept their personal lives mostly to themselves.
Her legacy has been further solidified beyond her acting career by her philanthropic work and advocacy for animal welfare.
Dakota Johnson shared a funny story about how her mom, Melanie Griffith, introduced her to Barack Obama, and it was a bit embarrassing.
Moms are known for embarrassing their kids. But if you’re Dakota Johnson and your mom is famous actress Melanie Griffith, the embarrassment level goes up when she introduces you to the President of the United States.
While talking about some of her past movie roles, like The Social Network from 2010, Dakota shared with Vanity Fair how she felt a bit embarrassed during her first meeting with Barack Obama, all because of her mom.
“One time, I was with my mom, and we were meeting Barack Obama, which was a big deal,” Dakota recalled. “He was talking to her, and she said, ‘Oh, Mr. President, this is my daughter. She just did a movie. She’s an actress too. She was in The Social Network.’”
But instead of stopping there, her mom added an embarrassing detail, telling the former president, “She’s in her underwear.” In the movie, Dakota plays a college student who has a fling with Justin Timberlake’s character, Sean Parker, and in one scene, she wears an off-the-shoulder Stanford sweatshirt and bright red underwear.
About the experience, Dakota joked, “And I died. I died inside.”
In the same video, she talked about her thoughts before working with Justin Timberlake on The Social Network. “Are you kidding? I was just 19 and straddling Justin Timberlake and whipping him in the face with my hair,” Dakota said when asked if she had any ideas about acting with the former boy band member. “I definitely had some preconceived notions, but he was really nice and welcoming, especially since I was just a stranger.”
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