Gidget’s beloved Moondoggie, teen star James Darren, experienced six decades of fame, exceeding the 1940s roadster that inspired his name.

The teen idol, now 87, was the wish of swooning teen girls worldwide at the height of his success. Throughout those years, enthusiastic fans would tackle him to the ground, snatching all they could, including the wavy black hair locks.

Moving from Philadelphia to Hollywood in the mid-1950s, James Darren, born James Ercolani, took the name James Darren after the rare Kaiser Darrin sports car was discontinued in 1954.

Darren began his career where his namesake had ended, with a main role in the low-budget 1956 picture Rumble on the Docks, which he described as his “first break.”

“That was my first break because I started getting 400 to 500 letters a month from that film.” “You’re not talking about a major film here,” Darren added. So that elevated me to a higher level at the studio, and they took note.”

After performing in several films, he was cast alongside the renowned Sandra Dee in the 1959 blockbuster film Gidget. This was the first part that allowed the budding star to showcase his outstanding singing abilities.

“I wasn’t much of a singer.” When I was a kid in Philly, my father would take me to bars and nightclubs, and I’d stand up and sing two songs. I didn’t start singing professionally until Gidget. “They knew I liked singing, but they had no idea how well I could sing,” Darren told the LA Times, adding that the production was so impressed with his abilities that he sung the title track, “Gidget.”

And when girls saw the attractive young man with flowing dark hair and a heart-melting voice, Darren swiftly became a heartthrob.

When promoting his song on a San Francisco radio station, the multi-talented actor recalls the fanfare: “…there were this group of young ladies [from the audience] who broke through the glass door and dragged me out on the sidewalk.” “They started pulling hairs from my head as souvenirs,” Darren explained. “I recall lying on the pavement, looking up at all those faces in the sky…I was having fun with it–not the agony, but the attention. The cops rescued me and escorted me to the roof. And when I looked down from the roof, they screamed. That was entertaining…It was fantastic. It was fantastic!”

Darren’s career erupted as one of the stars of the beach party culture, establishing his career as a musician as well.

His first hit, “Goodbye Cool World,” topped the charts in 1961, and in 1962 he released “Her Royal Majesty,” a song written by Carole King and Gary Goffin.

Darren then had a minor role in The Guns of Navarone, a 1961 World War II picture starring Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, and David Niven, in an attempt to shed his youthful image.

But removing the beach babe image wasn’t as simple as he had imagined. Dee had moved on from her role as the boy-crazy adolescent, but Darren had not.

The “Angel Face” vocalist then appeared in Gidget Goes Hawaiian, with Deborah Walley as the title character, and for the final time in Gidget Goes to Rome in 1962, with Cindy Carol as the high school surfer girl.

He sung the title song for the Golden Globe-winning film Under the Yum Yum Tree the next year, while still in character transition, and then tumbled through time in the Sci-Fi TV series Time Tunnel from 1966 to 1967.

“After Time Tunnel, I got a lot of film offers, but they were all for things I didn’t want to do.” “I hit the nightclubs and never looked back,” said Darren, noting that by “nightclubs,” he meant crooning for an older cocktail clientele. “Some of it is time warp stuff. So why not? That is what people recall. That is why I am present.”

He appeared in episodes of Charlie’s Angels, Hawaii Five-O, the Love Boat, and Fantasy Island during the next decade.

From 1982 until 1985, he finally overcame the beach-bopping stereotype as Officer Jim Corrigan in the popular police drama T.J Hooker, featuring William Shatner and Heather Locklear.

This was also when he started his career as a director, with credits including the final episode of T.J. Hooker, Melrose Place, Beverly Hills 90210, Walker, and Texas Ranger.

Following in the footsteps of Shatner, widely known for his portrayal as James T. Kirk in the Star Trek TV series, the Diamond Head star later starred in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as a hologram crooner, a performance that inspired his 1999 album, “This One’s for the Heart.”

Though his career has slowed in the recent two decades, he can be seen in 2017’s Lucky–his last film appearance–and he continues to play his jazzy, big-band style music, which is highly influenced by his close buddy Frank Sinatra as well as icon Tony Bennet.

Darren was married to Miss Denmark in 1958 and Evy Norlund in 1960, and he voiced Yogi’s musical melodies in Hey There! It’s Yogi Bear. The couple has two children, and he has one son, prominent broadcast journalist James Moret, with ex-wife Gloria Terlitsky (1955 to 1958).

And, in case you’re wondering, Darren doesn’t possess a Kaiser Darrin; instead, he has a silver 1958 Porsche 1600 Super Speedster that he purchased for $6,000 over 50 years ago. “It’s one of the most beautiful cars I’ve ever seen.” The design is timeless. “I’d like to put it in my living room, but my wife won’t let me,” Darren explained.

What are your favorite James Darren memories? Do you still enjoy hearing his music?

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