Father of Sean Catherine Derek. She wrote a biography titled "Cast of Characters" detailing what it was like having John Derek as a father and Ursula Andress, Linda Evans, and Bo Derek as step-mothers.
Father of Russell Derek (b. 1950) who is paralyzed from the chest down due to a motorcycle accident in 1969.
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.
Son of Lawson Harris and Dolores Johnson.