Bo Derek

Braided beauty Bo Derek was born Mary Cathleen Collins, on November 20, 1956, in Long Beach, California. At age sixteen, Derek was introduced to cinematographer John Derek, who was married at the time to actress Linda Evans. The couple divorced, and Bo and John married in 1974, when eighteen-year-old Bo was legally able to marry her forty-eight-year-old husband. The couple would remain married for the next twenty-four years, until John’s death in 1998.

Derek made her film debut in 1977, starring in the Jaws rip-off, Orca, about a vengeful killer whale. For her next film, 10 in 1979, also starring Dudley Moore and Julie Andrews, Derek debuted her iconic corn row braids on the beach look, portraying the object of Moore’s affection who fails to live up to his standards of perfection. Derek followed up with such films as Tarzan the Ape Man in 1981 and Bolero in 1984, to little critical acclaim. After taking a six year hiatus from the big-screen, Derek starred in Ghosts Can't Do It in 1990, Sognando La California in 1991, and the American Woman of Desire in 1994.

In 1980, Derek made her Playboy pictorial debut, photographed beach side by her husband, John. Although Derek may not be conservative when it comes to nudity, she is when it comes to politics, and has been a Republican supporter and fund-raiser for George W Bush during both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. Derek has also been romantically linked to Southern California Congressman David Dreier, as well as White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten.

Although she was named one of the most promising New Actors of 1979 by Screen World in the beginning of her career, Derek has been "dishonored" with Golden Raspberry (Razzie) Awards, in addition to being nominated the "Worst Actress of the Century." In 2003, Derek redeemed some of her acting credibility when she played mother to Jamie Kennedy and wife to Ryan ONeal in the movie Malibu's Most Wanted.

In 2006, Derek served as one of the judges for the Miss Universe pageant. Her other recent endeavors have included producing a nighttime soap series, Fashion House, as well as starring on the show as an evil fashion designer.

Derek currently lives with her boyfriend, actor John Corbett, who starred as Sarah Jessica Parker’s boyfriend, Aidan, on Sex and the City. The couple met on a blind date, and currently resides in the Santa Ynez Valley, California.

In 2000, Derek published her autobiography, titled Riding Lessons: Everything That Matters in Life I Learned from Horses.

YUDDY