James Darren, TV director who played Moondoggie in the ‘Gidget’ films, dies at 88

James Darren, the teen idol who famously played dreamy surfer Moondoggie in the “Gidget” films of the 1950s and 1960s and segued into roles behind the camera, has died. He was 88.

Darren died Monday in his sleep at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to a statement posted on the actor’s official website.

His son Jim Moret, a chief correspondent for “Inside Edition,” said that his father entered the hospital for an aortic valve replacement but was deemed too weak to have the surgery. He went home but had to return, the statement said.

Darren rose to fame playing Jeffrey “Moondoggie” Matthews in 1959’s surf classic “Gidget” with Sandra Dee and in the 1961 sequel “Gidget Goes Hawaiian.” Dee was replaced by Deborah Walley in the second film and Cindy Carol in the third, 1963’s “Gidget Goes to Rome.” The original film, which was shot in Malibu amid Southern California’s nascent surf scene, was adapted into a TV series in 1965 that launched Sally Field’s career as the titular character.

“Sandra Dee, I loved. I would have [dated her], but she was 17 [Darren was 20]. She had a very protective mom. When she and I appeared on Sally Jessy Raphael’s talk show together [in 1991], I told her I was in love with her, and she said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me then?,’” he told The Times in 2019.

Darren, who did not star in the TV series, was the only cast member to appear in both film sequels. His character, a frisky college-student-turned-surf-bum who caught Gidget’s eye, got his nickname “because he made love by the moon and he was a dog!” Darren told The Times in 2004. Incidentally, Darren had “never surfed” in his life before starring in the films, but learned how to stand on a board and ride a small wave.

Darren was signed to Columbia Pictures in 1958 and, under contract there, he first began singing professionally in the “Gidget” films and topped the pop charts with the songs “Goodbye Cruel World” and “Her Royal Majesty.”

He also starred in “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” played Officer Jim Corrigan in “T.J. Hooker” and the hip scientist Dr. Tony Newman in the 1966-67 ABC series “The Time Tunnel.” He appeared in the Oscar-winning 1961 adventure “The Guns of Navarone” and the 1960 drama “Let No Man Write My Epitaph.” Darren went on to have a successful career directing television series, including “Beverly Hills, 90210,” “Melrose Place” and “Walker, Texas Ranger.”

Before “Gidget,” the Philadelphia-born actor studied acting with Stella Adler in New York and appeared in the films “Operation Mad Ball” and “Gunman’s Walk.” He also starred in 1964’s “For Those Who Think Young” with Frank Sinatra’s daughter, Nancy Sinatra, and later became godfather to her daughter A.J. Lambert.

Sinatra paid tribute Monday to Darren on X, writing that “One of my dearest, closest friends in all the world, of all my life has passed away.” She also wished Darren “a fast & beautiful journey through the Universe & beyond.”

“Godspeed, sweet Jimmy. My heart is torn but full of love for Evy, Christian, Anthony & Jimmy Jr,” she tweeted.

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Born James Ercolani on June 8, 1936, Darren was a second-generation American of Italian descent. He knew by age 14 that he wanted to get into showbiz and began singing in nightclubs with his father in Philadelphia and New Jersey. A chance encounter in New York with movie producer Joyce Selznick, the niece of legendary “Gone With the Wind” producer David O. Selznick, led to his role in “Gidget” and the younger Selznick managing him.

“I think being under contract was exciting. I liked that. It is job security, but we were groomed and cared for. Joyce Selznick, she was really great. She loved me. She really took great care of me like a sister would,” he told The Times.

Darren is survived by three sons, Jim, Christian and Anthony, and his second wife, Evy Norlund.