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Biography
BLP sources|date=March 2010Infobox person| bgcolour =| name = James Darren| image =James Darren Lee Meriwether Robert Colbert Time Tunnel 1966.JPG| image_size = 200px| caption =Darren, at left, with Lee Meriwether and Robert Colbert in The Time Tunnel , 1966.| birth_name = James William Ercolani| birth_date = Birth date and age|1936|6|8| birth_place = Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , United States | death_date =| death_place =| other_names =| website =| notable role = Moondoggie in Gidget Tony Newman in The Time Tunnel Vic Fontaine in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine | years_active = 1956-present| spouse = Gloria Terlitsky (1955–1959) (divorced) 1 son Evy Norlund (1960-present) 2 children James William Ercolani (born June 8, 1936), known by his stage name James& nbsp;Darren , is an United States|American television and film actor, television director, and singer.
Career
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , on June 8, 1936, Darren began his career as a teen idol , having been discovered by talent agent and casting director Joyce Selznick . This encompassed roles in films, most notably his role as Moondoggie in Gidget in 1959, as well as a string of pop music|pop hits for Colpix Records , the biggest of which was " Goodbye Cruel World (James Darren song)|Goodbye Cruel World " (#3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1961). It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a music recording sales certification|gold disc .cite book | first= Joseph | last= Murrells | year= 1978 | title= The Book of Golden Discs | edition= 2nd | publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd | location= London | page= 133 | isbn= 0-214-20512-6 Another sizeable hit was "Her Royal Majesty" (#6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962). He is also featured in one of the Scopitone series of pop music video jukebox films ("Because You're Mine").
Darren's role in the 1961 World War II film The Guns of Navarone (film)|The Guns of Navarone was an attempt to break out of his teen image. He was the singing voice of Yogi Bear in the 1964 animated film, '' Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! , on the song "Ven-e, Ven-o, Ven-a". Prior to that, he was the singing and speaking voice of "Jimmy Darrock" on an episode of The Flintstones . He then achieved success co-starring as impulsive scientist and adventurer Tony Newman in the science fiction television series, The Time Tunnel (1966–1967).
In the 1970s Darren appeared as a celebrity panelist on Match Game .
Later Darren had a regular role as Officer James Corrigan on the television police drama T.J. Hooker from 1983–1986. Subsequently he worked as a director on many action-based television series, including Hunter (U.S. TV series)|Hunter , The A-Team , and Nowhere Man (TV series)|Nowhere Man , as well as dramas such as Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place (1992 TV series)|Melrose Place .
In 1998 he achieved renewed popularity as a singer through his appearances on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the role of hologram|holographic crooner and advice-giver List of recurring characters in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine#Fontaine.2C Vic|Vic Fontaine ; many of his performances on the show were re-recorded for the album '' This One's From the Heart (1999). The album showed Darren, a close friend of Frank Sinatra , comfortably singing in the Sinatra style; the 2001 follow-up Because of You (James Darren album)|Because of You showed similar inspiration from Tony Bennett .
Personal life
Darren dated Barbara Bouchet after she won the "Miss Gidget" contest in 1959. He has been married twice:
His first wife was Gloria Terlitzky (married 1955 to 1959) with whom he had one son, Jim Moret , who for nearly a decade worked as a CNN reporter and anchor, and is currently Chief Correspondent for the syndicated news program Inside Edition .
His second (and current) wife is http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0635411 Evy Norlund, married on February 6, 1960, with whom he has two sons, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0996099/ Christian Darren, a writer, and Tony Darren, a musician and singer-songwriter.
Darren and his wife are godparent s to Nancy Sinatra 's daughter, Angela Jennifer Lambert, ( Frank Sinatra 's first grandchild). Darren and Nancy Sinatra also share a birthday, June 8, 1936 and 1940, respectively.
Selected discography
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Singles
1959 "Gidget" (US #41)
1959 "Angel Face" (US #47)
1960 "Because They're Young" ( UK Singles Chart|UK #29)cite book
| first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | isbn= 1-904994-10-5 | page= 141
1961 "Goodbye Cruel World" (US #3, UK #28)
1962 "Her Royal Majesty" (US #6, UK #36)
1962 "Conscience" (US #11, UK #30)
1962 "Mary's Little Lamb" (US #39)
1962 "Hail to the Conquering Hero" (US #97)
1963 "Pin a Medal on Joey" (US #54)
1965 "Because You're Mine" (US AC #30)
1967 "All" (US #35/US AC #5)
1967 "Didn't We" (US AC #36)
1977 "You Take My Heart Away" (US #52)
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Albums
1960 James Darren No. 1 (reissued 2004)
1961 Sings the Movies ( Gidget Goes Hawaiian )
1962 Love Among the Young (reissued 2004)
1962 Sings for All Sizes
1963 Bye Bye Birdie (with The Marcels , Paul Petersen , & Shelley Fabares )
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV series)|Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (Guest star in The Mechanical Man )
The Time Tunnel (1966–1967)
TJ Hooker (1982–1985)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1998–1999)
References
Reflist
External links
http://www.jamesdarren.com Official website
IMDb name|id=0201626|name=James Darren
memoryalpha
http://www.famousinterview.ca/interviews/james_darren.htm Interview with James Darren about Frank Sinatra
Persondata|NAME= Darren, James |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Ercolani, James William |SHORT DESCRIPTION= Actor |DATE OF BIRTH= 1936-6-8 |PLACE OF BIRTH= Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , United States |DATE OF DEATH= |PLACE OF DEATH= DEFAULTSORT:Darren, James Category:1936 births Category:Actors from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:American film actors Category:American male singers Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American television actors Category:American television directors Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
de:James Darren es:James Darren fr:James Darren it:James Darren pl:James Darren
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