R.I.P. James Darren

Thanks, Eve Golden, for the intel that James Darren (James Ercolani, 1936-2024) left us yesterday.

I am going to lead with the elephant in the room, which most other obits have been either too polite (or too ignorant) to address: this decedent is not to be confused with Bobby Darin, James Darren’s contemporary, who was also a pop singer and actor, and also Italian. The difference between the two entertainers is one of flipped proportions: Bobby Darin was a major pop singer who dabbled in acting. James Darren was a serious actor who had studied with Stella Adler, who sang on the side and had a few minor hits. Bobby Darin was from New York; James Darren, like Frankie Avalon, Fabian, and Bobby Rydell, was from Philly. And Bobby Darin died over 50 years ago, while James Darren died yesterday.

Darren’s first screen role, unusually, was a lead. He starred in the low budget juvenile delinquent exploitation film Rumble on the Dock (1956) at the age of 20. His breakthrough role was the part of Moondoggie in the Gidget films (1959-63). He also starred opposite Pamela Tiffin in two youth films, For Those Who Think Young, and The Lively Set in 1964. During that same period he was also in Operation Mad Ball (1957) with Ernie Kovacs and Jack Lemmon, The Gene Krupa Story (1959), Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960), The Guns of Navarone (1961), and Diamond Head (1962). In 1960 he married Evy Norlund, Miss Denmark 1958!

Darren sang the theme song to the film Under the Yum Yum Tree (1963). His other hit songs of the day included the circus-themed “Goodbye Cruel World” (#3, 1961), “Her Royal Majesty” (#6, 1962), and “Conscience” (#11, 1962). As a prop crooner, he appeared on the variety shows of Ed Sullivan, Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Bob Hope, and Dick Clark. In 1964 he appeared on The Flintstones as “Jimmy Darrock”, and provided the singing voice of Yogi Bear in the Hanna-Barbera feature Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear.

Working in cartoons would seem to be a kind of death knell to one’s currency as a pop singer, but interestingly in the mid ’60s he was still booked on shows like Shivaree and Hollywood-a-Go-Go. This was because, though his singles were no longer cracking the top 20, he was still a TV star.

His next stage is what might be called his Irwin Allen period, when he starred on the show The Time Tunnel (1966-67), appeared in an episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1966), starred in the pilot for Man from the 25th Century (1968, unsold), and was in the film City Beneath the Sea (1971).

Darren was clearly seeking a more mature image when he starred in Jesus Franco’s erotic film Paroxismus (1969), released in the US in bowdlerized version by AIP as Venus in Furs, though it is not based on that notorious novel. The gambit did nothing for his movie career, and Darren spent about a decade guest starring on television shows like Love American Style, S.WA.T., Police Woman, Police Story, Charlie’s Angels,Hawaii Five-O, The Love Boat, and Fantasy Island. He appeared opposite Shirley Jones in the tv movie/pilot The Lives of Jenny Dolan (1975) but it wasn’t picked up.

Then, there were a couple of positive developments:

He was cast as a regular on T.J. Hooker (1982-86) opposite William Shatner and Heather Locklear. And:

He got a recurring role as a computer generated crooner on the holodeck in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1998-1999). He also had a recurring role on Melrose Place, and appeared with Dick Van Dyke on Diagnosis: Murder. In the ’80s and ’90s, Darren also directed for such shows as Melrose Place, Beverly Hills 90210, Hunter, and Walker, Texas Ranger.

In 2017, Darren came out of retirement to appear in John Carroll Lynch’s film Lucky, with Harry Dean Stanton, Ed Begley Jr,David Lynch,Ron Livingston, and Tom Skerritt.

Darren’s son Jim Moret (b. 1956) is a long time correspondent on InsideEdition, and a frequent entertainment news contributor on CNN, MSBC, Fox News, and Court TV.