James Darren, Actor That Played Moondoggie in ‘Gidget,’ Dies at 88

James Darren, who rose to fame for his portrayal of Moondoggie in the Gidget films, has died. The actor, singer and TV director was 88 years old.

Darren died in his sleep at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on September 2, according to a statement on his website. He had entered the hospital for an aortic valve replacement but was deemed too weak to have the surgery. He went home but had to return, according to the announcement.

Though he did not grow up surfing, Darren made an indelible mark on the sport by playing Jeffrey “Moondoggie” Matthews in the 1959 film Gidget. The movie, starring Sandra Dee in the title role, was instrumental in launching the surfing boom of the 1960s, and Darren would go on to reprise the role two more times in 1961’s Gidget Goes Hawaiian and 1963’s Gidget Goes to Rome.

Darren’s performance of Gidget’s title song also launched a successful career in music. “They were thinking about having someone do the vocal and I would lip sync,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 2004, “I told them I could do it. So we went into one of the sound stages and I sang ‘Gidget.’ They said, ‘He sings fine,’ then I did all the other songs.” Darren would go on to release the chart-topping songs “Goodbye Cruel World” and “Her Royal Majesty.”

Beyond his involvement with Gidget, Darren had a successful and varied career in the entertainment industry. On television, he played Vic Fontaine in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Officer Jim Corrigan in T.J. Hooker and Dr. Tony Newman in The Time Tunnel. On film, he starred in The Guns of Navarone and the Let No Man Write My Epitaph. From there, Darren went behind the camera, directing episodes of Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place and Walker, Texas Ranger.

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

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