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Artist
James Darren
12+ albums
jazzswingloungeAllcrooner
about
James Darren (born James William Ercolani on 8 June 1936; died 2 September 2024) was an American singer and actor remembered for his teen pop hit singles including "Goodbye Cruel World" in 1961. Darren began his career as a teen idol. This encompassed roles in films, most notably his role as Moondoggie in Gidget in 1959, as well as a string of pop hits for Colpix Records, the biggest of which was "Goodbye Cruel World" (#3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1961). He is also featured in one of the Scopitone series of pop music video jukebox films ("Because You're Mine"). Darren's role in the gritty 1961 World War II film The Guns of Navarone was an attempt to break out of his teen image. He then achieved success co-starring as impulsive scientist and adventurer Tony Newman in the science fiction television series, The Time Tunnel (1966-67). In the 1970s, Darren appeared as a celebrity panelist on Match Game. Later, Darren had a regular role as Officer James Corrigan on the television police drama T.J. Hooker from 1983-1986. Subsequently he worked as a director on many action-based television series, including Hunter, The A-Team, and Nowhere Man, as well as dramas such as Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place. In 1998 he achieved renewed popularity as a singer through his appearances on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the role of holographic crooner and advice-giver Vic Fontaine; many of his performances on the show were recorded for the album This One's From the Heart (199
