James Darren
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
Took his name from the popular Kaiser Darrin sports car of the 1950s.
Darren and his wife are godparents to Frank Sinatra's first grandchild, Angela Jennifer Lambert (Nancy's daughter).
Biography
Born Jimmy Ercolini and raised on 10th Street between Ritner and Porter in the same South Philadelphia neighborhood that produced Fabian, Bobby Rydell and Frankie Avalon, James Darren grew into a tall, dark and handsome Italian heartthrob who would also enjoy a run as a teenage singing sensation. While studying acting with Stella Adler in NYC, a chance meeting with Columbia Pictures eastern talent scout Joyce Selznick opened the door to a screen career, and he joined the studio's stable of fine young actors, delivering a standout performance in his feature debut as the juvenile gang leader and star of "Rumble on the Docks" (1956). Darren continued to impress in subsequent outings but really came into his own as Jeff 'Moondoggie' Matthews opposite Sandra Dee's "Gidget" (1959). Especially effective as the young man torn between the carefree surfing life and the responsibilities of growing up, he also displayed a pleasant singing voice on the film's title song and the even better "The Next Best Thing to Love," launching a recording career that boasted five Top 10 singles during the early 60s, including the Grammy-nominated "Goodbye Cruel World" (1961), which peaked at Number Three.
Darren reprised his "Gidget" persona twice, contributing his ingratiating talent to "Gidget Goes Hawaiian" (1961) and "Gidget Goes to Rome" (1963), both a little lackluster compared to the original. Still, in some filmgoers' minds, he was forever established as Moondoggie, despite his acclaimed work as best friend Eddie Sirota in "The Gene Krupa Story" (1959), as the slum kid who perseveres to become a concert pianist in "Let No Man Write My Epitaph" (1960), and as an underutilized member of the all-star gang of saboteurs in J Lee Thompson's "The Guns of Navarone" (1961). Still, compared with his Philadelphian brethren Fabian, Rydell and Avalon, who all took their cracks in teen movies, Darren exhibited more staying power, segueing to a successful career as a TV actor after his pop-star status waned. His first role as a series regular came as time-traveling scientist Tony Newman in the ABC series "Time Tunnel" (1966-67), and he later spent three seasons as veteran patrolman Jim Corrigan, partnered with Heather Locklear's Stacy Sheridan, on "T.J. Hooker" (ABC, 1983-85; CBS, 1985-86). When Darren made his directing debut with an episode near the end of that show's final season, people liked what they saw, and he started to receive offers to direct for other series.
Darren began working exclusively behind the scenes, helming episodes of "Hunter" and "Stingray" (both NBC) and "Werewolf" (Fox), among others. "I figured this [directing] was a good way to stay in the business, and I didn't have to worry about how I looked. I didn't have to shave every morning. I would get up, shower, comb my hair back, put on a baseball cap and go to work." (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, September 27, 1999) He reteamed with Locklear, directing episodes of Fox's "Melrose Place" from 1995-97, and eventually acted opposite her as the sleazy Tony Marlin during that show's final season (1998-99), but only after creating the part of Vic Fontaine in the syndicated "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." Calling his holographic Las Vegas lounge singer a "combination of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and myself," Darren appeared in ten episodes (including the series finale) and revitalized his singing career. Never considered much of a pop-rock vocalist in his heyday, he released his 13th album, "This One's From the Heart" (1999), which featured songs he had performed on the series, and garnered his first real critical acclaim as a crooner, having finally found himself in the idiom of Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Sammy Cahn and the like.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Life Events
1956
Feature acting debut, "Rumble on the Docks"
1959
Portrayed Eddie Sirota in "The Gene Krupa Story"; sang "Let There Be Love" in film
1959
Played Jeff 'Moondoggie' Matthews opposite Sandra Dee's "Gidget"; first of four films with director Paul Wendkos (a fellow Philadelphian), sang the songs "Gidget" and "The Next Best Thing To Love"
1960
Reteamed with Wendkos for "Because They're Young", starring Dick Clark as an understanding, do-good teacher
1960
Registered impressively as slum kid who keeps his head high and becomes a concert pianist in "Let No Man Write My Epitaph"
1961
Joined all-star saboteur gang of Gregory Peck, Anthony Quayle, David Niven, Anthony Quinn and Stanley Baker in J Lee Thompson's "The Guns of Navarone"
1961
Acted in Wendkos' "Gidget Goes Hawaiian", this time opposite Deborah Walley
1961
Received Grammy Award nomination (Best Rock and Roll Recording) for "Goodbye Cruel World"
1962
Played native Hawaiian in love with Yvette Mimieux in "Diamond Head"; when her irate father, bigoted pineapple baron Charles Heston, "accidentally" kills Darren, she then takes up with his brother (George Chakiris)
1963
Final turn as 'Moondoggie' (opposite Cindy Carol) in Wendkos' "Gidget Goes to Rome"
1966
Starred with Robert Colbert as time-travelling scientists in the ABC series "The Time Tunnel"
1967
Reached the Top 40 with "All"
1977
Made the charts again with "You Take My Heart Away"
1978
Last feature to date, Bobby Roth's engaging independent "The Boss' Son"
1986
Made directorial debut with an episode of "T.J. Hooker" (CBS) near the end of its final season
1988
Helmed "Gladiator School" (ABC), a "Police Story" TV-movie
1997
Received star on the Philadelphia Walk of Fame (September 25)
1999
Released 13th album, "This One's From the Heart"
Photo Collections
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Took his name from the popular Kaiser Darrin sports car of the 1950s.
Darren and his wife are godparents to Frank Sinatra's first grandchild, Angela Jennifer Lambert (Nancy's daughter).
On how he ended up acting on "Melrose Place": "Actually, I was called one evening by Anson Willimas who had directed me in an episode of 'Deep Space Nine'. He was then doing, or preparing to do, 'Melrose Place' and said there was a part that was perfect for me. However, after reading it, I didn't agree with him. But the producers were quite convincing and asked if I would play the character of Tony Marlin, who I thought was a total jerk ... But you know, a job is a job. And I must say that I loved working with the cast. I had directed them many times before, so it was nice seeing them again." --James Darren quoted at www.startrek.com (September 1999).
"I started singing long before I became an actor. My father would take me to dives and strip joints in South Philly--anywhere that would allow a 14-year-old kid to sing in those days. And I truly loved it. I mean, I'd be singing and they'd be sitting out there in the dark, talking, smoking and drinking, and not hearing a word I was singing. And that was OK, because I learned to just sing for myself. Sometimes I was lucky to have a trio of musicians behind me, sometimes just a sax player. It was great.
"I was in Atlantic city in April with an 18-piece orchestra and it was incredible. Both the return to acting and singing were like a dream to me. I never imagined I'd get in front of a camera again . . . And I never dreamed I'd sing publicly again. I'm also doing these big symphony dates. I performed with the symphony in San Francisco. When you're standing in front of 60 to 70 world-class musicians, it's the greatest feeling for a singer." --Darren quoted in Chicago Sun-Times, September 27, 1999.
