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Bo Derek's filmography is relatively scant for such a major star. Even if you've never seen one of her movies, you'll recognize Bo on sight. Still as stunningly beautiful today as she was when she debuted in Orca (1977) more than forty years ago, Bo Derek remains a sex symbol and an icon in the American entertainment scene. Of course, the star remains surprisingly humble about the whole thing.

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"I think we all have this image that we're going to be the hold-out and show what 51 really looks like, but I could wake up tomorrow and say, 'Okay, enough of this.'"

Born On The Edge Of Hollywood

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A lifelong California girl, Bo Derek was born Mary Cahtleen Collins in Long Beach on November 20, 1956, daughter to Hobie Cat executive Paul Collins, and makeup artist and hairdresser Ann-Margret, though she would be raised largely by Ann-Margret and stepfather Bobby Bass, stuntman and coordinator for TV series like Mission: Impossible (1966-73) and Star Trek (1966-67). From a young age Bo Derek would be right on the edges of Hollywood, soaking in the California sun... and skipping school. "I was 16 when I quit high school. I didn't really mean to quit. I spent about a month going to the beach, surfing and sunbathing while I was supposed to be in school."

Needless to say, Derek didn't have much interest in a secondary education.

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Derek was still a teenager when she met actor and film director John Derek in 1973, and though the two had a thirty year age difference, they would remain married for more than twenty years until his passing in 1998. John Derek would also be instrumental in launching Bo's career, helping her to develop her platinum blonde persona which would see her being cast in her first role, a small part in Orca (1977), produced by legendary Italian film mogul Dino De Laurentiis, and directed by Michael Anderson.

The film has since become something of a cult classic, but at the time was met with generally unfavorable reviews, with critics panning the movie as a Jaws (1975) knockoff. The comparisons were far from unfair, of course, as Laurentiis had a reputation for cashing in on blockbusters with his own low-budget imitations. However, Bo Derek stood out among the cast for her rare beauty and natural charisma, and would soon land the role that cemented her status as Hollywood royalty.

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A Perfect 10

"'10' was amazing! I had no career before '10' and then all of a sudden I was able to do pretty much whatever I was able to do in the business."

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Many actresses make their name on a single movie. For Bo Derek, all she needed was one shot, running on the beach in slow motion, wearing a tan bathing suit, her hair in an eye-catching corn-row style. This scene from the comedy film 10 (1979) was all it took to make Bo Derek a legend. The scene has gone down in film lore, being homaged, referenced and parodied hundreds of times since. Any time a director wants to suggest that the leading man has fallen head over heels for the leading lady, they need only go back to that dream sequence from 10 to instantly get the point across to the audience.

The movie saw Dudley Moore pursuing what he perceived to be "the perfect woman," meaning that casting the female lead would be paramount to the film's success. Bo Derek beat out a very long list of actresses for the part, reportedly including Melanie Griffith and Heather Thomas.

Throughout the 1980's Bo Derek would feature in a number of films including A Change of Seasons (1980) with Anthony Hopkins and Shirley MacLaine, Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981), directed by her husband, and Bolero (1984), another John Derek film. These films would generally rely heavily on Bo Derek's sex appeal and tend to see a moderate box office return while being panned by critics, but it didn't seem to matter whether her movies were hits or flops, Bo Derek's status as a defining sex symbol of her era simply wouldn't be shaken. Bo would eventually have the last laugh, of course, cashing in on her status as something of a B-movie queen of the 1980's by featuring in Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! (2015), the third entry in the notoriously campy horror series.

In recent years Derek's interests lie less in film than in her work as a philanthropist and goodwill ambassador. A lifelong horse lover with several Andalusian horses, Derek works as the Animal Welfare Institute's spokesperson against horse slaughter, pushing for federal and state law to intervene. She also serves as honorary chairperson for National Rehabilitation Special Events for the US Department of Veterans Affairs, and appears at USO tours. She's even named as an honorary Green Beret by the Special Forces Association.

"Even though I grew up surfing and sailing in Southern California, I was born horse crazy."

Although Bo Derek has made her living as a sex symbol, she has never been one for the Hollywood dating scene. She was married to John Derek for twenty-two years with no real Hollywood drama to speak of until his passing of heart failure in the late 90's. Soon after, Derek would fall in love with actor John Corbett, with whom she has remained since 2002.

"I found my love when I was 17-years-old and my love is one hundred percent honest. We've never had any ugly, rocky things to overcome."

While Bo Derek's film career would never quite catch the same lightning in a bottle as 10, the actress remains compelling and charismatic whether she's featuring in supporting role in a comedy like Tommy Boy (1995) or a brief cameo on sitcoms like Chuck (2012). Simply put, whether the movie is a classic or not, Bo Derek is always the best part of everything she's been in.

"When you trust your director completely, then you can relax, be spontaneous, be malleable."