The Iconic '80s Actress Who's Been Nominated For A Ridiculous Number Of Golden Raspberries

Hollywood has a long history of glaring age gaps between male actors and the much younger women they're often paired with: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in "To Have and Have Not" (44 years old and 19 respectively), Michael Caine and Michelle Johnson in "Blame it on Rio" (50 and 17), and Tom Skerritt and Drew Barrymore in "Poison Ivy" (58 and 17) are just a few examples. Then there was the controversial relationship between Bo Derek and her husband John, who was 30 years her senior. Although they never acted together in a movie, their creative collaborations resulted in the '80s actress receiving a truly ridiculous amount of Golden Raspberry nominations.

Actor, director, and producer John Derek had previous experience dating much younger women when he spotted a 16-year-old girl named Mary Cathleen Collins, a high school dropout going by the stage name Bo Shane. He whisked her away to Greece to star in "Once Upon a Love," which was belatedly released as "Fantasies" in 1981 after Bo had become a superstar. They embarked on an affair while his then-wife, Linda Evans, filed for divorce. Bo and John hung out in Europe for a couple years (reportedly so he could avoid statutory rape charges back home) before returning to the States and marrying in 1976 when she was 18. 

Bo's official acting career began with a small part in "Orca: The Killer Whale", one underrated monster movie you need to see, before she was cast as a fantasy dream girl in Blake Edwards's sex farce, "10." It was a star-making turn for Bo, earning her a Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year, and she shot to international fame. But thanks to John, her screen career soon took a major downturn.

Bo Derek's next film after the huge box office success of "10" was "A Change of Seasons" with Anthony Hopkins and Shirley MacLaine. It received three nominations at the inaugural Razzies (including Worst Actor for Hopkins), but Derek emerged unscathed on this occasion. From that point, John Derek seized control of his young wife's career, positioning himself as Creative Director of Bo Derek, Inc. and photographing her for a "Playboy" shoot, as he had with two of his previous wives, including Ursula Andress. Thereafter, Bo seemed fully in thrall of John, most notably in an incredibly cringe 1981 interview where she can barely get a word in edgewise and looks visibly uncomfortable about some of his comments.

Bo agreed she would only star in films directed by her husband, beginning with "Tarzan, the Ape Man," a racy spin on Edgar Rice Burroughs' classic tale. Clearly made as an attempt to cash in on Bo's sex appeal, the movie featured a controversial scene where a chimp tries to suck one of her bare breasts, and it subsequently went down in history as one of the worst films ever made. It received six Golden Raspberry nominations and Bo was the sole winner from the production, receiving the unwanted Worst Actress prize.

Undeterred, the pair followed up with the R-rated erotic drama "Bolero," which again heavily eroticized Bo and also featured a brief nude scene involving 14-year-old Olivia D'Abo. Nine Razzie nods followed, including a win for Worst Picture, and Bo was the unlucky recipient of a back-to-back Worst Actress award. "Bolero" holds the distinction of being the oldest film to hold a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

After a five-year hiatus, Bo and John Derek made "Ghosts Can't Do It," their final film together. While it was nowhere near as contentious as their previous collaborations, it bombed at the box office and racked up another Worst Picture win at the Golden Raspberries (tied with "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane"). Poor Bo made it an unbroken hat-trick of Worst Actress wins, and she was also named Worst Actress of the Decade at the same year's awards. Meanwhile, John received his second Worst Director award (after "Bolero") and, thankfully for audiences, he retired from filmmaking.

Bo Derek's acting career never really recovered from the stigma of her dreadful films made with her husband, and she remained a target for the Razzies every time she stuck her head above the parapet in a relatively high-profile film. She received Worst Supporting Actress nods for her appearances in "Tommy Boy" (Chris Farley's best movie) and "The Master of Disguise" starring Dana Carvey. She was also nominated for Worst Actress of the Century in 2000 (Madonna beat her on that one), bringing her total number of Razzie nominations to nine, with four "wins."

Bo and John Derek remained married until he passed away in 1998. Aside from her sporadic screen career, she has advocated for various good causes including veterans' and wildlife charities. Maybe one day down the line she'll get a role that will earn her a Razzie Redeemer Award, which has become known as the one Golden Raspberry you want to win. Some might argue that the Razzies should be retired forever, but her association with the awards makes for a cautionary tale about what damage a controlling svengali can do to a promising young career.