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James Darren, the former teen idol who baby boomers remember as Gidget’s quirky boyfriend Moondoggy, has died at the age of 88.
His son, “Inside Edition” host Jim Mullet, said: Variety Darren died on Monday at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles after receiving treatment in the cardiac ward. “He was a good man, very talented and eternally youthful,” Moret said.
Darren was born James Ercolani in Philadelphia on June 8, 1936. He was discovered at a young age by casting director Joyce Selznick and signed to Columbia Pictures on the basis of his good looks alone.
This fairy tale continued until his film debut in the 1956 B-movie Dad and Daddy, in which he played the male lead.
As his star status rose, he appeared in many more films, including The Brothers Rico (1957), Gunman’s Walk (1958), and others.
A fan favorite to the point that he received tons of mail every week, he became a bona fide teen idol when he played Moondoggie, Gidget’s handsome boyfriend, in Gidget (1959). He eventually tired of the role, but reprised it in Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and Gidget Goes to Rome (1962). Though he was the only one to play Moondoggie, he starred with three Gidgets: Sandra Dee, Deborah Walley, and Cindy Carroll.
His popularity launched a lucrative career as a crooner, and his biggest hit was the number three smash “Goodbye Cruel World” in 1961.
He appeared in other films, including The Guns of Navarone (1961), Diamond Head (1962), and Venus in Furs (1969), but was much more active on television.
He voiced and impersonated Jimmy Darroch in 1965’s The Flintstones, and made numerous guest appearances on television, including as a regular on The Time Tunnel (1966–1967) and T. J. Hooker (1982–1985).
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Most recently, he reprised his role as crooner Vic Fontaine in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1998–1999), a role that marked his return to music.
He branched out into directing, eagerly embraced the job as Moondoggie and became a regular at autograph signings.
Darren is survived by his second wife Evie, with whom he was married for over 60 years, their three children and five grandchildren.
