Biography for
James Darren More at IMDb Pro »

Date of Birth

8 June 1936, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Birth Name

James William Ercolani

Height

5' 10½" (1.79 m)

Mini Biography

Tall, good-looking James Darren was a student of acting coach Stella Adler and made his name in the 1950s in a series of teenage-themed films. A better actor than most of his contemporary teenage heartthrobs, he nevertheless found it difficult to escape the teen-idol image he got in pictures like Gidget (1959) and Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961). He also gained fame in the early and mid-1960s as a singer, with several hits to his credit, including "Goodbye Cruel World" and "Her Royal Majesty". His film work tapered off in the 1960s, but he did much TV work and had two hit series, "The Time Tunnel" (1966) in the 1960s and "T.J. Hooker" (1982) in the 1980s.

IMDb Mini Biography By: frankfob2@yahoo.com

Spouse

Evy Norlund	(6 February 1960 - present) 2 children
Gloria Terlitsky	(1955 - 1959) (divorced) 1 son

Trivia

Also known as a singer and his singing talents are revealed as the portrayal of the hologram Vic Fontaine on a couple of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993) episodes.

Father of CNN anchorman Jim Moret.

His wife, Evy Norlund, is the former Miss Denmark of 1958.

His current surname, Darren, since 1959, was inspired by the famous automobile of the 1950s.

Godfather of A.J. Lambert, who is the daughter of Nancy Sinatra and granddaughter of Frank Sinatra. Darren was a close friend of Sinatra and his family.

He is of Italian ancestry.

At one time in the 1970s he toured the country with comedian Buddy Hackett as a singer.

First wife Gloria Terlitzky was a childhood sweetheart. They had a child named Jimmy. Second wife Evy Norlund', a former Miss Denmark of 1958, gave him two sons, Christian and Anthony.

He was originally not given the Moondoggie character in Columbia Pictures' Gidget (1959) because the role required two songs to sing and Darren had not proven himself a capable enough singer. On his own, he cut a single with the studio's recording subsidiary, Colpix Records, which charted. Columbia changed its mind and gave him the role despite the fact that he couldn't surf and was a weak swimmer. He nevertheless became a huge teen idol and reprised the Moondoggie role in both Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and Gidget Goes to Rome (1963), all with different Gidgets: Sandra Dee; Deborah Walley and Cindy Carol.

Spotted by talent agent Joyce Selznick of Columbia Pictures while waiting for an elevator, he was signed in 1956 and given the name "James Darren" by the studio in honour of the Kaiser-Darrin sports car.

As a teen he commuted from South Philly to New York to attend Stella Adler's drama classes.

His father was killed in the raid on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Interviewed in Tom Weaver's book "I Talked with a Zombie" (McFarland & Co., 2008).

Personal Quotes

[on being a teen idol] At times it was Chinese torture.

I think Ricky Nelson said it best in "Garden Party": "You can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself." If you're content with doing what you're doing, stick with it. If not, find the road that takes you there.

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