James William Ercolani Bio/Wiki, Net Worth, Married 2018
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 ...
Gidget, The Guns of Navarone, Gidget Goes Hawaiian, Gidget Goes to Rome, The Lively Set, Rumble on the Docks, Gunman's Walk, For Those Who Think Young, The Gene Krupa Story, The Brothers Rico, Diamond Head, Operation Mad Ball, Venus in Furs, Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!, The Lives of Jenny Dolan, The ...
TV Shows
T. J. Hooker, The Time Tunnel
Star Sign
Gemini
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Quote
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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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[on being a teen idol] At times it was Chinese torture.
He is the only actor to appear in all three "Gidget" films (as the same character): Gidget (1959), Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and Gidget Goes to Rome (1963). Joby Baker also appeared in all 3 Gidget movies (as different characters).
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Interviewed in Tom Weaver's book "I Talked with a Zombie" (McFarland & Co., 2008).
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As a teen he commuted from South Philly to New York to attend Stella Adler's drama classes.
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Introduced to talent agent Joyce Selznick by a secretary at a Photography Shop, on Broadway in New York City, called "Maurice Seymour of Hollywood". He was signed by Columbia Pictures in 1956 and given the name "James Darren" by the studio, in honor of the Kaiser-Darrin sports car.
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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.
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First wife Gloria Terlitzky was a childhood sweetheart. They had a child named Jimmy. Second wife Evy Norlund, Miss Denmark of 1958, gave him two sons, Christian and Anthony.
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At one time in the 1970s he toured the country with comedian Buddy Hackett as a singer.
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He is of Italian ancestry.
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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.
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His current surname, Darren, since 1959, was inspired by the famous automobile of the 1950s.
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His wife, Evy Norlund, is the former Miss Denmark of 1958.
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.
$700,000
