‘Gidget’ teen idol, singer and director James Darren dies at 88. In his long career, Darren has made acting, singing and a successful back-to-back. Today we will discuss about James Darren accident: Health problems,Relationship,Wikipedia,Jim Moret.
James Darren accident: Health problems,Relationship,Wikipedia,Jim Moret
James Darren, a teen idol who helped ignite the 1960s surfing craze as a charismatic beach boy with Sandra Dee in the hit movie “Gidget,” died Monday at 88 .
Darren died in his sleep in a Los Angeles hospital, his son Jim Morett told news outlets.
Moretz told The Hollywood Reporter that Darren was believed to have had an aortic valve replacement, but was too weak for the surgery. “I always thought he would go on,” his son told Entertainment Industry, “because he was so good. He was always good.”
Over his long career, Darren has acted, sung and had a successful career behind the scenes as a television director, directing episodes of such famous series as “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Melrose Place.” In the 1980s, he was Officer Jim Corrigan on the television police show “T.J. Hooker”.
But for young movie fans of the late 1950s, he will be best remembered as the dark-haired surfer boy Moondoggie in the 1959 hit “Gidget.” Dee starred as the title character, an adventurous Southern Californian who goes to the beach and eventually falls in love with Moondoggie.
Darren later recalled, “I loved Sandra.” “I thought she was perfect as Gidget. She had great charm.”
The film was based on a novel that a California man, Frederick Kohner, wrote about his teenage daughter and helped spark interest in surfing – which influenced pop music, slang, and even fashion. Was.
For Darren, his success with teenage fans led to a recording contract, as was the case with many young actors at the time, among them Tab Hunter and Annette 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 in Steven Spielberg’s 2022 semi-autobiographical film, “The Fablemans”.) Other singles included “Gidget” and “Ange”.
Health problems
“They had me under contract; I was a prisoner,” Darren told Entertainment Weekly in 2004. “But with those beautiful young women, I think it was the best prison I’ll ever be in.”
As a contract player at Columbia Studios, Darren also appeared in adult films, 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 only a few films after the end of the 1960s, last appearing in “Lucky” directed by John Carroll Lynch in 2017.
But he remained active on television, appearing in the lead role on the sci-fi show “The Time Tunnel” in the late 1960s, and having guest roles and small recurring roles on TV shows such as “The Love Boat,” “Hawaii Five-0” Did roles. O” and “ Fantasy Island .”
James Darren accident: Health problems,Relationship,Wikipedia,Jim Moret
Darren was a series regular for four seasons of the William Shatner-starrer “T.J. Hooker” in the 1980s. While visiting the show, he noticed that no director was listed for the upcoming sequel 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 started getting so many offers for direction that I 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 fellow teen idols of the 1950s and ’60s like Fabian and Frankie Avalon. Singing came easy to him and at the age of 14 he began appearing in local nightclubs.
In a 2003 interview with the News-Press of Fort Myers, Florida, he said, “By age 5 or 6 I knew I was going to be a
Relationship
Darren married his first wife, Gloria, in 1955 and they had Morett, an “Inside Edition” correspondent and former CNN anchorman. After the divorce he married Evi Norlund, who had come to America as the Danish entry in the Miss Universe pageant. They had two sons, Christian and Anthony.
Wikipedia
James Darren, the teen idol who rose to fame for his role in “Gidget” and later appeared in shows like “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and “T.J. Hooker,” died Monday at the age of 88. Died at Cedars-Sinai Hospital. in Los Angeles. His son, Jim Morett, confirmed the news, saying that Darren expressed his love for his family while being treated in the cardiac unit. Morett said, “He was a good man. He was very talented.” “He was always young.”
Born in Philadelphia, Darren began his acting career after studying with Stella Adler in New York. He signed with Columbia Pictures, making his film debut in “Rumble on the Docks”. His breakthrough role came in the 1959 film “Gidget”, where he played Surfer Moondoggie. Darren also sang the title track for the film, which became a critical hit and marked the beginning of a successful singing career. He achieved a gold record with “Goodbye Cruel World” in 1961 and released over 14 albums throughout his career.
Darren continued his acting career with roles in films such as “The Guns of Navarone” and “Because They’re Young”. Despite typecasting disappointments, she reprized her Moondoggie role in the sequels “Gidget Goes Hawaiian” and “Gidget Goes to Rome”.
In television, Darren starred in “The Time Tunnel” and was a regular on “T.J. Hooker” from 1983 to 1986. He also turned to directing, working on popular series such as “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Melrose Place.” In 1998, he gained a new fan base in the form of holographic lounge singer Vic Fontaine from “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”.
James Darren is survived by his wife Evie and sons Jim Moretz, Christian Darren and Tony Darren, as well as five grandchildren.
Jim Moret
Jim Morett is a Los Angeles-based journalist and author. He frequently covers human interest stories, hard news, and celebrity news. He has been a frequent guest host on Larry King Live and has also hosted HLN’s Jane Velez Mitchell.
The former CNN anchor details his relationship with his father, James Darren, in his memoir The Last Day of My Life. In one chapter, the author details his journey to forgiveness after his father legally relinquished his parental rights to Moretz when he was only 13 years old.
The journalist revealed in the book how he faced feelings of abandonment after separating from his father. The news anchor has also worked on several other shows, including KTLA’s Morning News and Fox 5’s Good Day New York.
James Darren accident: Health problems,Relationship,Wikipedia,Jim Moret
A graduate of UCLA and Southwestern University School of Law, Moretz has been open about the suicidal thoughts he has struggled with in the past. In his book, he revealed that his life had at one time turned upside down as he struggled with mounting debts and huge debts. Speaking about his book in an interview with CNN, Moretz said: