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
