John Derek has the enviable habit of marrying the world's most beautiful women and then taunting the rest of us with wonderful pictures of them. It seems to be his life's work. He didn't start out that way. Born Derek Harris to Hollywood director Lawson Harris and actress Dolores Johnson, it seemed natural that he should become an actor. His boyish good looks condemned him to pretty-boy romantic leads (All the King's Men, Prince of Players); later he appeared in The Ten Commandments and Exodus. Acting bored him, though, and he chose to become a photographer. He had married the French actress Patti Behrs and fathered two children with her, son Russell (now 29) and daughter Sean (25). That marriage ended in divorce in 1955. A few years later, he met Ursula Andress. She spoke only a few words of English--Derek's only language--but the difficulty with verbal communication wasn't enough to squash the affection that was building between them. he made her his project--changing her hair, changing her eyebrows, encouraging her to lose weight and, in the process, marrying her. Film critics who saw her in Dr. No and She were appreciative: "The most awesome piece of natural Swiss arhitecture since the Alps," one remarked. John and Ursula went their separate ways in 1965; Ursula became linked with Jean-Paul Belmondo, Ryan O'Neal and others--most recently, Harry (Clash of the Titans) Hamlin, by whom she has a son. John didn't stay home and twiddle his thumbs, either. He met and married Linda Evans, whom we first saw on the television hoss opera The Big Valley. John starred her in his own movie, Wildflowers She now drives John Forsythe and Bo Hopkins, as well as several million TV viewers, to distraction in Dynasty. While she and John were together filming a low-budget movie on the Greek island of Mykonos, John found himself getting more and more involved with the film's 16-year-old- co-star, Mary Cathleen Collins, who used the stage name Bo Shane. When Linda left Greece, John and Bo Started living together. The situation was not easy for Linda, and she divorced John, who then, in 1977, married Bo. But eventually, all became friends: For example, on John's 53rd birthday, Ursula, Linda and Bo all showed up wearing T-shirts with John's picture on the back.
John and Bo are currently researching locations in Europe for their new movie projects, Pirate Annie and Adam and Eve. A lot of men have difficulty keeping one beautiful woman happy; it is astonishing that John is able to manage his embarrassment of riches as successfully as he does--and with the entire world watching, as well. But beauty, after all, is its own reward.
