John Derek

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BIRTHDAY

August 12, 1926

Hollywood, California, United States

DIED

May 22, 1998

RECENT CREDITS

Ghosts Can't Do It (FILM) Jun. 1, 1990

Bolero (FILM) Aug. 1, 1984

Tarzan, The Ape Man (FILM) Jul. 24, 1981

Childish Things (FILM) Jul. 2, 1969

Once Before I Die (FILM) Jan. 1, 1967

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BIOGRAPHY

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The son of writer-director Lawson Harris and actress Dolores Johnson, John Derek won notice with his first major role as a juvenile delinquent in Nicholas Ray's social drama, "Knock on Any Door" (1949) and as politician Willie Stark's troubled son in "All the King's Men" (1950). Although he traded on his good looks playing dashing leads in a succession of action films and costume dramas in the 1950s (including 1956's "The Ten Commandments"), he gradually turned from acting to still photography. By the mid-60s, Derek had moved into producing and directing features which generally received a poor critical and popular reception like "Once Before I Die" (1965), which co-starred his second wife Ursula Andress, and "Childish Things/Tale of the Cock/Confessions of Tom Harris" (1969) which featured his third wife Linda Evans. In the 80s, he wrote, shot and directed a string of lackluster films that exhibited the limited charms of his fourth wife, Bo Derek, including "Tarzan, the Ape Man" (1981), "Bolero" (1984) and their last opus "Ghosts Don't Do It" (1990).

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