John Derek

John Derek was born on August 12, 1926 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA as Derek Delevan Harris.

In 1944 he was drafted into the United States Army and serviced in the Philippines during the last days of World War II.

Father of Russell Andre Derek (1950-1999) and Sean Catherine Derek (born 1953) with Pati Behrs.

Walked out on first wife Pati Behrs and their family in 1955 for a pre-fame Ursula Andress, who had recently immigrated to the U.S. from Italy and spoke almost no English at the time. Behrs threatened to bring a morals charge against Derek for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, which could've meant deportation for Andress.

He was an actor and director, known for The Ten Commandments (1956), Ghosts Can't Do It (1989) and Bolero (1984). He was married to Bo Derek, Linda Evans, Ursula Andress and Pati Behrs.

It is often carelessly and erroneously stated (even by reputable journalists such as Barbara Walters) that Derek "left" his second wife Ursula Andress for third wife Linda Evans, which is bullshit. Derek threw Andress out of his California home in 1964 over suspicions that she'd been cheating on him with Ron Ely. Andress then went back to Europe, having affairs with John Richardson and Marcello Mastroianni before officially leaving Derek for Jean-Paul Belmondo in February 1965. Derek didn't even meet Linda Evans until September 1965.

Ex-father-in-law of Lynette Berry, who was married to Russell from 1968 to 1983.

Son Russell was paralyzed from the chest down due to a motorcycle accident in 1969.

In 1973, left third wife Linda Evans for seventeen-year-old Bo Derek (then Cathy Collins) during the shooting of Fantasies (1981) on the island of Mykonos in Greece. The film's backers were from a church organization and there was concern they would have John arrested for statutory rape. To escape charges the couple moved to Munich, Germany, then to Tijuana, Mexico until Bo's eighteenth birthday.

In voting for 1981's RAZZIE Awards for Worst Achievements in Film, Derek's direction of Tarzan the Ape Man (1981) (starring his wife Bo Derek) and Michael Cimino's direction of the legendary debacle Heaven's Gate (1980) ran neck-and-neck. A mere handful of late ballots threw the Worst Director nod to Cimino.