John Derek Biography

John Derek, who was born as Derek Delevan Harris, was an American actor, director, producer and photographer. He was the favourite film star of teenagers in the 1950s for his strikingly handsome and hot-eyed looks. He is recognized for his work in 'Rogues of Sherwood Forest', 'Knock on Any Door', 'The Ten Commandments', 'Ghosts Can't Do It', '10' and 'Bolero'. In his youth, his dictum was "Live fast, die young and make a good-looking corpse". After appearing in dozens of films, he lost interest in acting and turned to direction and production of movies. He also explored still photography to some extent. Besides work, he made headlines for marrying four glamorous starlets in his lifetime. His fourth marriage to Bo Derek lasted the longest, from 1976 until his last breath in 1998. He was also known as Bo Derek’s Svengali after launching her meteoric career under 'Svengali Productions', which was their joint company. He died at the age of 71 due to heart failure. He was living in a ranch in Santa Ynez Valley with Bo and claimed to have very few friends and no acquaintances.