Acting
In 1972, while a 16-year-old student at Narbonne High School, Collins auditioned for the female lead in John Derek's Once Upon a Love, a low-budget drama film shot on location in Greece. Although Derek had been considering her as a candidate, he felt that her naturally blonde hair was ill-suited to the character, whom he perceived as a brunette. He therefore extended the offer
on the condition that she dye her hair darker, and Collins accepted. Principal photography began in late 1973, continuing until the editing stage. During post-production in Munich, the film ran out of funding and was seized by a domestic film lab. It languished in a vault for several years until being sold to producer Kevin Casselman. Casselman attempted to distribute Once Upon a Love globally, prompting Derek and his lead to seek a restraining order against its release. They eventually dropped any legal action, deciding it was not worth their time and effort. The film was finally released in 1981 under the new title Fantasies, at which point it received negative reviews.
During the course of these events, Collins became sexually involved with John Derek, who was 30 years her senior and at the time still married to actress Linda Evans. Following his divorce from Evans, Derek moved to West Germany with Collins to evade prosecution for statutory rape, as her age was below the legal threshold in California.
In 1976, at age 19, Collins married John Derek. From then on, she was known professionally as Bo Derek, an amalgam of her former stage name Bo Shane and her married name.
In 1977, director Michael Anderson cast Derek in a small role in his thriller film Orca: The Killer Whale, in which her character loses a leg to the titular whale.
In 1979, Derek was selected over Melanie Griffith, Heather Thomas, Tanya Roberts, and several others for the role of Jenny Hanley in the romantic comedy film 10. Directed by Blake Edwards, the film starred Dudley Moore as a middle-aged man who fixates on Hanley as his ideal woman. Derek's appearance in a dream sequence, running toward Moore in a tight-fitting, nude-colored one-piece swimsuit, launched her status as a mainstream sex symbol. The scene has been widely parodied in popular culture, with spoofs often focusing on her cornrow hairstyle or her slow-motion stride. 10 was a critical and financial success. For her performance in the film, Derek received a Golden Globe Award nomination for New Star of the Year – Actress but ended up losing to Bette Midler for her performance in The Rose.
After 10, Derek was cast in Richard Lang's A Change of Seasons (1980), a comedy-drama film that featured Shirley MacLaine and Anthony Hopkins. She played a college student who has an affair with her older, married professor. The film was only a moderate box-office success, with critics reviewing it and Derek's performance unfavorably ("The only appealing performance is Miss MacLaine's").
In 1981, Derek starred in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer adventure film Tarzan, the Ape Man, marking her first leading role in a mainstream Hollywood feature. Directed by John Derek, the film dealt little with Tarzan and instead focused on the character of Jane Parker and specifically on Derek's physical attributes. Derek appeared nude in two scenes, one of which involved her being bathed and body-painted. Ahead of the release, MGM and the distributor, United Artists, were sued for an injunction by the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate, which alleged that the film exceeded the scope of a 1931 license agreement ("1931 Agreement") that permitted MGM to use Tarzan and other Burroughs characters in the 1932 film Tarzan the Ape Man. The agreement stipulated that the studio could only produce remakes if the story of the 1932 film was maintained. Additionally, the Burroughs estate contended that MGM's character license under the deal was terminated in 1977, thereby constituting a violation of their copyright. Upon examination of the evidence, the Federal District Court in New York ruled that both films, reduced to their major incidents—and with adjustments made to the 1981 version to tone down Derek's nude scenes—are "based on substantially the same story." It was further concluded that MGM's character license remained in effect as the legal prerequisites for its termination had not been met. Accordingly, the Burroughs estate's request for an injunction was denied. Although Tarzan, the Ape Man received negative reviews, the film became a box-office success, making over $35 million in ticket sales and becoming the 15th highest-grossing film of 1981. For her performance as Jane Parker, Derek shared the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress with Faye Dunaway, the latter for her starring role as Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest.
Derek next appeared in the romantic drama film Bolero (1984). Directed by John Derek, the film explores the female protagonist's sexual awakening and her journey around the world to find an ideal first lover to take her virginity. Due to its sexual nature and substantial nudity, Bolero was handed an X rating, a classification typically reserved for pornography or extreme horror. Critical reviews, including those of Derek's performance, were negative ("[Bo Derek] would be a lot more appealing if she tried less assiduously to please"). For her role in the film, she won her second Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress. The production dominated the 5th Golden Raspberry Awards, winning five additional "Razzies," including Worst Picture, Worst Director (John Derek), Worst Screenplay (John Derek), Worst New Star (Olivia d'Abo), and Worst Musical Score (Peter Bernstein and Elmer Bernstein).
In 1987, Derek teamed up with Steven Paul of the firm sales agency Paul Entertainment to sell the unreleased feature film A Knight of Love, in which she was set to star, but the project never materialized.
After a five-year hiatus, Derek returned to feature films with the romantic fantasy comedy Ghosts Can't Do It (1989). The final collaboration with her husband as director, it was a critical and financial failure. Earning Derek her third Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress, the film also won awards for Worst Picture, Worst Director (John Derek), and Worst Supporting Actor (Donald Trump).
Following her role in Ghosts Can't Do It, Derek appeared in the television films Hot Chocolate (1992) and Shattered Image (1994) and the erotic thriller film Woman of Desire (1994). For her performance in the 1995 buddy comedy film Tommy Boy, Derek was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress but ultimately lost to Madonna for her performance in Four Rooms.
In 1998, Derek guest-starred on four episodes of the television series Wind on Water. In 1999, she appeared on the ABC sitcom The Drew Carey Show.
At the 20th Golden Raspberry Awards in 2000, Derek was nominated for Worst Actress of the Century, sharing the nomination with Madonna (the eventual winner), Brooke Shields, Elizabeth Berkley, and Pia Zadora.
Derek appeared in several more feature films during the early 2000s, including Frozen with Fear (2000), The Master of Disguise (2002), for which she received her second Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Supporting Actress, and Malibu's Most Wanted (2003). She also had guest roles on the television shows Family Law, Queen of Swords, Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, Lucky, Still Standing, and 7th Heaven.
In 2006, Derek starred in 40 episodes of the 65-episode telenovela-style nighttime soap opera Fashion House. In 2012, she appeared on the CBS police procedural CSI: Miami.
Derek had a featured role in the 2015 made-for-television disaster comedy film Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!
