
James Darren
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
James William Ercolani (June 8, 1936 - September 2, 2024), known by his stage name James Darren, was an American television and film actor, television director, and singer. He wanted to be an actor and studied in New York City with Stella Adler for a number of years. He would also occasionally sing although he later said "I wasn't really a singer. I was a kid in Philly whose dad would take him to bars and nightclubs and I would get up and sing two songs."
Darren was discovered by talent agent and casting director Joyce Selznick after he got some photographs taken by Maurice Seymour to show potential agents: His secretary, a woman by the name of Yvonne Bouvier, asked me if I was interested in getting into film. I said yeah, I was. She said I know someone you should meet. She set up a meeting between me and Joyce Selznick, who worked for Screen Gems. Joyce brought me over to Columbia Pictures about a week later and got me a contract there. Columbia signed Darren to a long term contract in July 1956. A few weeks later, he was filming his first film, Rumble on the Docks. His appearance was well received and he got a lot of fan mail - second at the studio only to Kim Novak. Darren guest starred on an episode of TV's The Web ("Kill and Run") then Columbia gave him a support role in an "A" picture, the comedy Operation Mad Ball, starring Jack Lemmon.
He had support roles in two films directed by Phil Karlson: The Brothers Rico and Gunman's Walk. In between he was in The Tijuana Story, although his role was relatively small. Darren was third billed in the surf film, Gidget. He also sang the title track. The film was a hit with teen audiences and so was the song. Darren wound up recording a string of pop hits for Colpix Records, the biggest of which was "Goodbye Cruel World". It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. Another sizeable hit was "Her Royal Majesty". He is also featured in one of the Scopitone series of pop music video jukebox films ("Because You're Mine").
Darren was third billed in a series of films for Columbia: The Gene Krupa Story, All the Young Men, and Let No Man Write My Epitaph. He had a cameo as himself in a teen film, Because They're Young, singing the title track. Darren had a supporting role in the World War II film The Guns of Navarone. Also popular was Gidget Goes Hawaiian, where Darren reprised his role as Moondoggie; he was given top billing.
Darren also acted in Diamond Head as well as a third time in Gidget Goes to Rome, which he sang the title track for, Under the Yum Yum Tree. In 1963, Darren signed a seven picture deal with Universal, starting with The Lively Set. He was the singing voice of Yogi Bear in the animated film, Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!, on the song "Ven-e, Ven-o, Ven-a". He was the singing voice of his own character "Jimmy Darrock" on an episode of The Flintstones. However the character's dialogue was provided by voice actor Lennie Weinrib. He subsequently launched a career as a director, notably of action-based series , including Hunter, The A-Team, Silk Stalkings, Renegade, and Nowhere Man, as well as dramas such as Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place.
Description above from the Wikipedia article James Darren, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 0.187 |
Birthday | 1936-06-08 |
Place of Birth | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
Also Known As | James & Evy, James & Gloria, James William Ercolani, |

1961

The Guns of Navarone
7.3/795
A team of allied saboteurs are assigned an impossible mission: infiltrate an impregnable Nazi-held island and destroy the two enormous long-range fiel...
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The Guns of Navarone

1969

Venus in Furs
5.3/49
A musician finds the corpse of a beautiful woman on the beach. The woman returns from the dead to take revenge on the group of wealthy sadists respons...
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Venus in Furs

1957

The Brothers Rico
6.2/32
Eddie Rico, the erstwhile bookkeeper for a big Mafia boss, is now making a living as an honest merchant in Florida with his family. Things go sour whe...
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The Brothers Rico

1963

Gidget Goes to Rome
4.8/12
Francis, now 17, is still in love with Moondoggy. She can persuade her parents to allow them a journey to Rome, together with two of her and two of hi...
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Gidget Goes to Rome

1958

Gunman's Walk
6.7/55
A powerful rancher always protects his wild adult son by paying for damages and bribing witnesses, until his crimes become too serious to rectify.
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Gunman's Walk

1957

Operation Mad Ball
6.4/17
In this wacky military spoof, Lemmon plays a terminally bored Army private waging a war of wits as he tries to throw a party under the nose of his obn...
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Operation Mad Ball

1961

Gidget Goes Hawaiian
4.5/11
Francis is desperate: her parents want to force her to come with them on vacation to Hawaii - just during the two weeks when her beloved "Moondoggy" i...
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Gidget Goes Hawaiian

1959

Gidget
6/39
Due to an accident while swimming in the sea, Francis meets the surfer Moondoggie. She's fascinated with his sport and starts to hang out with his cli...
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Gidget

1959

The Gene Krupa Story
7/6
The story of legendary jazz drummer, Gene Krupa. Since his youth, all Gene ever wanted to do is play the drums and make music. This is something his p...
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The Gene Krupa Story

1971

City Beneath the Sea
4.1/11
A group of 21st-century colonists inhabit an underwater city called Pacifica. Originally intended as a purely scientific installation, the U. S. gover...
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City Beneath the Sea

1956

Rumble on the Docks
5.7/3
A Brooklyn-born 17-year-old's loyalty is torn between his parents' old-fashion values and a local gangster's flashy lifestyle.
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Rumble on the Docks

1964

For Those Who Think Young
5.2/9
A wealthy young man tries to woo a university student, while her two uncles work to popularize a local club.
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For Those Who Think Young

1971

Mooch Goes to Hollywood
5.1/8
A dog tries to become a canine star with the help of Zsa Zsa Gabor.
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Mooch Goes to Hollywood

1960

Let No Man Write My Epitaph
6.1/7
Nick Romano lives in a poor tenement building on the south side of Chicago with his well-meaning but drug-addicted mother, Nellie. She encourages him...
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Let No Man Write My Epitaph

1960

All the Young Men
6.333/9
During the Korean War, the lieutenant in charge of a Marine rifle platoon is killed in battle. Before he dies, he places the platoon's sergeant, who's...
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All the Young Men

1964

The Lively Set
0/0
A college student drops out to build a race car and falls for his buddy's sister.
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The Lively Set

1962

Diamond Head
5.4/10
Rich Hawaiian pineapple grower and US Senatorial candidate Richard Howland tries to control everything and everyone around him, including his headstro...
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Diamond Head

1957

The Tijuana Story
4.3/10
Courageous newspaper editor Manuel Acosta Mesa tries to take on the mob in Tijuana through his newspaper, reporting on the violence, prostitution and...
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The Tijuana Story

1964

Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!
6.3/52
Following a misunderstanding about Yogi Bear’s whereabouts, Cindy Bear ends up in captivity at a Missouri circus. It’s now up to Yogi and his friend,...
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Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!

1960

Because They're Young
5.5/6
Director Paul Wendkos' 1960 film adaptation of the controversial novel "Harrison High", about an idealistic young high-school teacher dealing with ove...
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Because They're Young

1981

Scruples
0/0
Sequel to the 1980 mini-series, taking up the plot where it -- and Judith Krantz's source novel -- left off. Billy Ikehorn (Shelley Smith) is the owne...
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Scruples

2017

Lucky
7.3/581
Follows the journey of a 90-year-old atheist and the quirky characters that inhabit his off-the-map desert town. He finds himself at the precipice of...
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Lucky

1978

The Boss' Son
0/0
Bobby Rose has just returned home after graduating business school. He agrees to start working for his father, a successful carpet manufacturer. Bobby...
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The Boss' Son

2018

What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
7.2/42
A documentary exploring the legacy of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the reasons it went from the black sheep of Star Trek to a beloved mainstay of the f...
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What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

1982

Aliens From Another Planet
5/1
A senator is sent to inspect a project that can send people into the future or past & decide if it is feasible to continue. One of the scientists work...
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Aliens From Another Planet

1975

The Lives of Jenny Dolan
0/0
A newspaper reporter's life is endangered when she is assigned to investigate a political assassination.
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The Lives of Jenny Dolan

1980

Turnover Smith
0/0
A criminology professor uses scientific methods, advanced computer technology, his expertise in chess, and the leg work of several of his students to...
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Turnover Smith

2018

New Dimensions
0/0
Surf music came out of Orange County California in the late fifties and early sixties. It exploded the radio waves along the coast line to become one...
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New Dimensions

1986

T.J. Hooker - Blood Sport
0/0
Hooker and his team become the protection detail of a Senator, and an old friend of Hooker's, after Hooker saves his life during a routine prisoner tr...
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