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Endpoint: John Derek



09:12
Videos (3)
created on: 18/10/2023
by: bob (9189)
 
 

Person properties

General info :
John Derek (born Derek Delevan Harris; August 12, 1926, Hollywood, California, U.S. – May 22, 1998, Santa Maria, California, U.S.) was an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer and photographer.
He appeared in such films as Knock on Any Door, All the King's Men (both 1949), and Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950).

His good looks were soon noticed, and he was groomed for a movie career by both his agent Henry Willson (who gave him the temporary stage name of Dare Harris) and David O. Selznick with small roles in the Selznick pictures Since You Went Away (1944) and I'll Be Seeing You (1944).

He was drafted in 1944 into the United States Army, and saw service in the Philippines during the last days of World War II.

After the war, Derek had a small role in A Double Life (1947) when he was approached by Humphrey Bogart, who renamed him John Derek and cast him as Nick "Pretty Boy" Romano, an unrepentant killer, in Knock on Any Door (1949).

In March 1954, Derek signed a long-term contract with Paramount.

Derek appeared with his second wife, Ursula Andress, in Nightmare in the Sun (1965), which he co-produced. He turned to directing with a war film, Once Before I Die (1966), also with Andress.

He eventually quit acting.

He directed A Boy... a Girl (1969) with Dean Paul Martin, and Childish Things (1969) with his third wife, Linda Evans.

n 1973 he directed Bo Derek in Fantasies, which was not released until 1981. He made Love You (1979), a hardcore pornographic film which Bo produced. When the feature film 10 (1979) made Bo a star, Derek was able to find backing for Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981).
John's last film as director was Ghosts Can't Do It (1990).

An accomplished photographer, Derek photographed the last three of his four wives (at different times) for nude spreads in Playboy magazine.

Derek directed the music videos for Shania Twain's "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?" and "Any Man of Mine".

Derek married Turkish-born prima ballerina Pati Behrs Eristoff in 1948. They had a son, Russell Andre (1950–1999), who became paralyzed from the chest down in a 1969 motorcycle accident, and a daughter, Sean Catherine (born 1953), who later wrote a memoir titled Cast of Characters (1982) about her parents' dysfunctional relationship. Derek abandoned his wife and family in late summer 1955 after meeting 19-year-old aspiring Swiss actress Ursula Andress, who spoke almost no English when they met. He and Behrs were divorced in 1956.

In 1957, Derek married Andress in a quick Las Vegas ceremony. Five years later, her role in the James Bond film Dr. No launched her career. Derek ejected Andress from his California home in 1964 over rumors that she had been seeing actor Ron Ely. Andress returned to Europe, engaging in public affairs with costars John Richardson and Marcello Mastroianni before officially leaving Derek for Jean-Paul Belmondo in 1965. The pair divorced in 1966.

In September 1965, Derek became involved with American actress Linda Evans, who at the time was starring in television's The Big Valley. Several years into their relationship, Evans reduced her appearances on the show to spend more time with Derek, and financed his alimony and child support payments to Behrs, as he had quit acting to pursue photography and directing. They eloped in Mexico in 1968, with his daughter Sean as a witness.

In 1973 Derek, Evans, and 16-year-old high school dropout Mary Cathleen Collins (who would later be known as Bo Derek) traveled to the Greek island of Mykonos to make the film And Once Upon a Time (unreleased until 1981, under the title Fantasies). During filming, Derek and Collins began an affair. Evans returned to the United States and filed for divorce in 1974, but Derek and Collins stayed in Europe until she turned 18 in November of that year so that Derek could avoid statutory rape charges.

Collins became known to the public as Bo Derek following their marriage on June 10, 1976, and achieved international fame in 1979 with her role in the Blake Edwards film 10. They remained together until John died in 1998.

Derek suffered a heart attack in 1986, but completely recovered.

John Derek died on May 22, 1998, of cardiovascular disease in Santa Maria, California at the age of 71.
Relations :
Married to [m. 1976 - 1998 (his death)] : Bo Derek
This endpoint is approved in the database from previous submissions.
Married to [m. 1968 - div. 1974] : Linda Evens
This endpoint is new to the database, please check he (it) is not in with a similar endpoint name association (and use the ENA function if necessary).
Married to [m. 1948 - div. 1956] : Pati Behrs
This endpoint is new to the database, please check he (it) is not in with a similar endpoint name association (and use the ENA function if necessary).
Married to [m. 1957 - div. 1966] : Ursula Andress
This endpoint is approved in the database from previous submissions.
Son of : Dolores Johnson
This endpoint is new to the database, please check he (it) is not in with a similar endpoint name association (and use the ENA function if necessary).
Son of : Lawson Harris
This endpoint is new to the database, please check he (it) is not in with a similar endpoint name association (and use the ENA function if necessary).
Source :
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Item number : 59780

Submitted by : bob (9189)
on : 18/10/2023