Mary Cathleen Collins was born in Long Beach, California, on November 20, 1956, before she became known as Bo Derek.

Mary was raised by working-class parents in a typical American household. Her father worked as a sales executive, while her mother was a cosmetics artist. Mary had two areas of great interest when she was a teenager. She was first and foremost an avid horsewoman because she loved horses. She would compete in many events, proudly showcasing her talents. She also cherished acting. To improve those abilities, she decided to take acting classes.

Bo appeared in the movie Orca (1977). In this Jaws-esque film, a massive killer whale was shown biting off her leg. Her actual rise to prominence, meanwhile, was largely attributed to Blake Edwards’ 1979 picture “10.” It was at this point that her signature blond braided hair started to stand out. She didn’t go on a career of appearing in action-packed, daring movies after this one. Among them were the films “Tarzan, The Ape Man” from 1981, “Bolero” from 1984, and “Ghosts Can’t Do It” from 1990.

union with John Derek

When Bo was just 16 years old, she met the director John Derek, who would become her husband. She was wed to Linda Evans at the time. They only started dating a few years later. But since Bo was still a minor, they had to travel to Mexico and Europe to get away from the harsh American laws.

John was 48 years old and Bo Derek was 19 when they were married not long after. Bo claimed in an Interview Magazine interview that she often experienced a pang of guilt when Linda was near.Bo claimed, “I was at least partially to blame for some severe suffering she (Linda Evans) experienced.” She had been really polite and considerate. Oddly enough, I only saw her yesterday. We were at a charity jewelry trunk exhibition. She remained equally amazing and delightful as before. Being around her makes me feel like sh*t all the time. Years later, it remains deeply engrained.

After then, John and Bo Derek started working together on projects. John would get her to flaunt her physique in order to inject some spice into his low-budget movies. This generated publicity for his films, but primarily for Bo, as he was a household name in Hollywood.