Bo Derek Biography
Beautiful, glamorous protege and fourth wife of Svengali-like writer-director John Derek who gained fame as the perfect fantasy woman with the trend-setting corn-row hairstyle in the Blake Edwards comedy “10″ (1979). Daughter of a hairstylist for a number of Hollywood figures, Derek met her future husband in Greece when she was just 16, and he promptly cast her–in more ways than one–in a role in his “Fantasies” (1973). Her second film did not come till 1977 with a thankless, if prominent, supporting role in the silly killer whale tale “Orca”, but Derek hit the jackpot when she became a “10″. With her tawny complexion, high cheekbones and voluptuous figure, Derek gave what was probably her most effective performance. She wasn’t called on to do very much other than serve as the perfect “10″, the lush embodiment of the hero’s (Dudley Moore)–and, by extension many male audience members’ sexual fantasies–this Derek certainly accomplished.