James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (2024)

Spotlight

  • BOB THOMASAssociated Press
  • Updated
  • 0

James Darren, the former teen idol actor known for his role as Moondoggie in the Gidget films, died Monday in Los Angeles. He was 88.

LOS ANGELES —James Darren,a teen idol who helped ignite the 1960s surfing craze as a charismatic beach boy paired off with Sandra Dee in the hit film “Gidget,” died Monday at 88.

Darren died in his sleep at a Los Angeles hospital, his son Jim Moret told news outlets.

Moret told The Hollywood Reporter that Darren was supposed have had an aortic valve replacement but was too weak for the surgery. “I always thought he would pull through,” his son told the entertainment trade, “because he was so cool. He was always cool.”

In his long career, Darren acted, sang and built up a successful behind-the-scenes career as a television director, helming episodes of such well-known series as“Beverly Hills 90210”and “Melrose Place.” In the 1980s, he was Officer Jim Corrigan on the television cop show “T.J. Hooker.”

People are also reading…

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (1)

But to young movie fans of the late 1950s, he would be remembered best as Moondoggie, the dark-haired surfer boy in the smash 1959 release “Gidget.” Dee starred as the title character, a spunky Southern Californian who hits the beach and eventually falls in love with Moondoggie.

“I was in love with Sandra,” Darren later recalled. “I thought that she was absolutely perfect as Gidget. She had tremendous charm.”

The film was based on a novel that a California man, Frederick Kohner, had writtenabout his own teenage daughterand helped spur interest in surfing — one that influenced pop music, slang and even fashion.

For Darren, his success with teen fans led to a recording contract, as it did with many young actors at the time, among themTab HunterandAnnette Funicello.Two of Darren's singles, “Goodbye Cruel World” and “Her Royal Majesty,” reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. (“Goodbye Cruel World” also appeared inSteven Spielberg's 2022 semi-autobiographical film, “The Fabelmans.”) Other singles included “Gidget” and “Angel Face.”

Darren was the only “Gidget” cast member who appeared in both its sequels, 1961's “Gidget Goes Hawaiian” and 1963's “Gidget Goes to Rome.” Dee was replaced by Deborah Walley in the second film and Cindy Carol in the third. (“Gidget” later became a television show,launching the career of Sally Field.)

“They had me under contract; I was a prisoner,” Darren told Entertainment Weekly in 2004. “But with those lovely young ladies, it was the best prison I think I'll ever be in.”

As a contract player at Columbia Studios, Darren appeared in grown-up films, too, including “The Brothers Rico,” “Operation Meatball” and“The Guns of Navarone.”

By the mid-'60s, when Darren appeared in “For Those Who Think Young” and “The Lively Set,” his big-screen acting career was almost over. He appeared in just a handful of movies after the 1960s ended, last appearing in2017's “Lucky,”directed by John Carroll Lynch.

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (2)

But he remained active on television, appearing as a lead on the sci-fi show“The Time Tunnel”in the late 1960s, and doing guest spots and small recurring roles in TV shows such as “The Love Boat,” “Hawaii Five-O” and “Fantasy Island.”

Darren was a series regular for four seasons of theWilliam Shatner-starrer“T.J. Hooker” in the 1980s. While appearing on the show, he noticed that no director was listed for an upcoming sequence and asked if he could try out for it.

“When it was shown, I got several offers to direct,” he told the New York Daily News. “Soon I was getting so many offers to direct, I kind of gave up acting and singing.”

For almost two years, Darren directed episodes of “Walker, Texas Ranger,” “Hunter,” “Melrose Place,” “Beverly Hills 90210” and other series. He returned to acting in the 1990s with small roles in “Melrose Place” and “Star Trek, Deep Space Nine.”

Darren was born James Ercolani in 1936 and grew up in South Philadelphia, not far from such fellow teen idols of the 1950s and ’60s as Fabian and Frankie Avalon. Singing came easy to him, and at 14 he was appearing in local nightclubs.

“From the age of 5 or 6 I knew I wanted to be an entertainer, or famous maybe,” he said in a 2003 interview with the News-Press of Fort Myers, Florida. He noted that such luminaries asEddie Fisherand Al Martino had lived in the same area as he did, “a real neighborhood. It made you feel you could be successful, too.”

According to a 1958 Los Angeles Times profile, he got a break when he went to New York to get some pictures taken and the photographer's office put him in touch with a talent scout.

He was soon signed by Columbia Pictures, and the newspaper said that after a few appearances, his fan mail at the studio was running “second only to Kim Novak's. ... The studio now feels that the young man is ready to hit the jackpot.”

Darren married his first wife, Gloria, in 1955 and together had Moret, an “Inside Edition” correspondent and former CNN anchorman. After a divorce he married Evy Norlund, who came to the U.S. as the Danish entry in the Miss Universe contest. They had two sons, Christian and Anthony.

He was also the godfather of Nancy Sinatra's daughter A.J. Lambert. Sinatra, his “For Those Who Think Young” co-star, posted The Hollywood Reporter obituary on her X page, with a broken heart emoji.

Bob Thomas,a longtime Associated Press journalist who died in 2014, was the principal writer of this obituary.

Photos: Notable deaths in 2024

Andreas Brehme

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (3)

Brian Mulroney

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (4)

Paul Alexander

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (5)

Chris Simon

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (7)

M. Emmet Walsh

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (8)

Laurent de Brunhoff

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (9)

Peter Angelos

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (10)

Joe Lieberman

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (11)

Louis Gossett Jr.

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (12)

Joe Flaherty

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (13)

John Sinclair

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (14)

Larry Lucchino

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (15)

Christopher Durang

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (16)

Jerry Grote

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (17)

Schappell Twins

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (18)

Peter Higgs

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (19)

Ralph Puckett Jr.

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (20)

O.J. Simpson

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (21)

Eleanor Coppola

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (22)

Robert MacNeil

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (23)

Faith Ringgold

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (24)

Steve Sloan

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (25)

Ken Holtzman

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (26)

Carl Erskine

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (27)

Whitey Herzog

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (28)

Bob Graham

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (29)

Dickey Betts

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (30)

Mandisa

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (31)

David Pryor

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (32)

Roman Gabriel

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (33)

Andrew Davis

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (34)

Terry Anderson

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (35)

Duane Eddy

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (36)

Dick Rutan

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (38)

Steve Albini

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (39)

Jimmy Johnson

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (40)

Sean Burroughs

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (41)

Roger Corman

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (42)

A.J. Smith

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (43)

David Sanborn

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (44)

Obit Alice Munro

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (45)

Dabney Coleman

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (46)

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (47)

Jim Otto

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (48)

Ivan Boesky

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (49)

Jan. A.P. Kaczmarek

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (50)

Carlie Colin

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (51)

Morgan Spurlock

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (52)

Richard M. Sherman

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (53)

Bill Walton

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (54)

Albert Ruddy

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (55)

Larry Allen

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (56)

Janis Paige

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (57)

Parnelli Jones

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (58)

Chet Walker

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (59)

The Rev. James Lawson Jr.

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (60)

Jerry West

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (61)

Ron Simons

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (62)

Bob Schul

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (63)

Willie Mays

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (64)

Donald Sutherland

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (65)

Bill Cobbs

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (66)

Kinky Friedman

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (67)

Martin Mull

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (68)

Robert Towne

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (69)

Vic Seixas

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (70)

James Inhofe

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (71)

Joe Bonsall

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (72)

Shelley Duvall

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (73)

Dr. Ruth Westheimer

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (74)

Richard Simmons

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (75)

Jacoby Jones

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (76)

Shannen Doherty

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (77)

James Sikking

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (78)

Pat Williams

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (79)

Lou Dobbs

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (80)

Bob Newhart

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (81)

Cheng Pei-Pei

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (82)

Abdul 'Duke' Fakir

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (83)

Bernice Johnson Reagon

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (84)

John Mayall

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (85)

Erica Ash

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (86)

Jack Russell

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (87)

Chi Chi Rodriguez

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (88)

Susan Wojcicki

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (89)

Frank Selvy

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (90)

Wally Amos

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (91)

Gena Rowlands

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (92)

Peter Marshall

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (93)

Alain Delon

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (94)

Phil Donahue

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (95)

James Darren

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (96)

Al Attles

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (97)

0 Comments

'); var s = document.createElement('script'); s.setAttribute('src', 'https://assets.revcontent.com/master/delivery.js'); document.body.appendChild(s); window.removeEventListener('scroll', throttledRevContent); __tnt.log('Load Rev Content'); } } }, 100); window.addEventListener('scroll', throttledRevContent); }

James Darren, 'Gidget' teen idol, singer and director, dies at 88 (2024)
Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Patricia Veum II

Last Updated:

Views: 5418

Rating: 4.3 / 5 (64 voted)

Reviews: 87% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Patricia Veum II

Birthday: 1994-12-16

Address: 2064 Little Summit, Goldieton, MS 97651-0862

Phone: +6873952696715

Job: Principal Officer

Hobby: Rafting, Cabaret, Candle making, Jigsaw puzzles, Inline skating, Magic, Graffiti

Introduction: My name is Patricia Veum II, I am a vast, combative, smiling, famous, inexpensive, zealous, sparkling person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.