She began her career as a child model before deciding to pursue acting on the advice of a talent agent she met through actress Ann-Margret, who was acquainted with her parents.

[2] In 1972,[3] she was cast in the romantic drama film Once Upon a Love (1973), which was directed by her first husband John Derek and eventually released as Fantasies in 1981.

[1][17][18] Her father, Paul Collins, was a Hobie Cat executive, and her mother Norma (née White) was a make-up artist and hairdresser to Ann-Margret.

Casselman's attempts to distribute the film globally prompted Derek and Collins to seek a restraining order against its release.

[4][21] During the course of these events, Collins became sexually involved with John Derek, who was 30 years her senior and still married to actress Linda Evans.

[25] In 1979, Derek was selected over Melanie Griffith, Heather Thomas, Tanya Roberts, and several others for the role of Jenny Hanley in the romantic comedy film 10.

[26] Directed by Blake Edwards, the film starred Dudley Moore as a middle-aged man who finds Derek's character to be the ideal woman, i.e., a perfect 10.

Derek's appearance in a dream sequence, running towards Moore in a tight-fitting, nude-colored one-piece swimsuit, launched her status as a mainstream sex symbol.

[29] After 10, Derek was cast in Richard Lang's A Change of Seasons (1980), a dramatic-comedy film that also featured Shirley MacLaine and Anthony Hopkins.

[30] In 1981, Derek starred in MGM's R-rated Tarzan, the Ape Man, her first leading role in a mainstream Hollywood film.

[31] Upon reviewing the evidence, the Federal District Court in New York determined that Tarzan, the Ape Man and its 1932 predecessor are "based on substantially the same story" when reduced to their major incidents, provided that modifications were made to tone down Derek's nude scenes.

[33] For her performance as Jane Parker, Derek shared the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress with Faye Dunaway, the latter for her starring role as Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest.

Directed again by John Derek, Bolero explores the female protagonist's sexual awakening and her journey around the world to find an ideal first lover to take her virginity.

Derek appeared in several more feature films during the early 2000s, including Frozen with Fear (2000), The Master of Disguise (2002), for which she received her second Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Supporting Actress, and Malibu's Most Wanted (2003).

She also had guest roles on the television shows Family Law, Queen of Swords, Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, Lucky, Still Standing, and 7th Heaven.

[40][41] Derek has also appeared at public events with former Republican Congressman David Dreier, whom she briefly dated following the death of her first husband.

[42][43] In 2002, Derek was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, on the Operations Committee, by former President George W.

[46] In a 2020 interview with Variety, when asked who she was supporting in the then-upcoming presidential election, Derek explained, "I don't talk about who I vote for anymore.

"[15] Responding to a related query about Donald Trump's cameo in the 1989 film Ghosts Can't Do It, Derek said that the part was written specifically for him and that "he was great.

[47] Derek was set to participate in the 2016 Comedy Central roast of Rob Lowe,[48] but she was unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict.

She regularly appears on United Service Organizations tours, for which the Special Forces Association named her an honorary Green Beret.

[52] Derek has been active for over 15 years with the environmental agency WildAid,[8][54] which provides funds to protect sharks and dissuade people from purchasing wildlife products.