James Darren, of "Time Tunnel" fame, ‘Gidget’ Surfer and Cop on ‘T.J. Hooker,’ Dies at 88

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James Darren, of "Time Tunnel" fame, ‘Gidget’ Surfer and Cop on ‘T.J. Hooker,’ Dies at 88 (www.hollywoodreporter.com)

The 'Time Tunnel' star also was a pop singer and a crooning hologram on 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.'

James Darren, the former teen idol and pop singer who played the dreamy surfer Moondoggie in three Gidget movies before starring on television on The Time Tunnel and T.J. Hooker, died Monday. He was 88.

Darren died in his sleep at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his son Jim Moret, a correspondent for Inside Edition, told The Hollywood Reporter. 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.

“I always thought he would pull through,” Moret said, “because he was so cool. He was always cool.”

Early in his career, the dark-haired Darren received excellent notices for starring in Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960) — portraying the son of a hoodlum defended by Humphrey Bogart’s character in 1949’s Knock on Any Door — and for playing the Greek soldier Spyros Pappadimos in The Guns of Navarone (1961).

Even though he could not surf, the Philadelphia native got the role of Moondoggie (real name: Jerry Matthews) opposite three actresses as the precocious Malibu teen: Sandra Dee in Gidget (1959), Deborah Walley in Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and Cindy Carol in Gidget Goes to Rome (1963).

Darren then spiraled through history as the headstrong Dr. Tony Newman, an electronics genius, on the 1966-67 ABC adventure series The Time Tunnel, also starring Robert Colbert. (Tom Hanks once said it was his favorite show as a kid.)

In an interview with Tom Weaver for the 2008 book I Talked With a Zombie, Darren said he wasn’t interested in doing television or science fiction before he agreed to a meeting with the creator of The Time Tunnel, Irwin Allen.

Allen told him, “This is something you have to do. I know you don’t want to do it, but I think you are perfect for this role, and he convinced me,” Darren recalled. “Irwin was one of the great salespersons of our time. I accepted the role because of my meeting with him.”

Fifteen years later, Darren joined the William Shatner ABC action drama T.J. Hooker in its second season, portraying Officer Jim Corrigan opposite Heather Locklear as his inexperienced partner, Stacy Sheridan.

Darren directed for the first time in 1986 as an emergency fill-in during the final season of T.J. Hooker, and he went to helm episodes of Hunter, Silk Stalkings, Melrose Place, Werewolf, The A-Team and Beverly Hills, 90210. . .

Archive (archive.today)

>The 'Time Tunnel' star also was a pop singer and a crooning hologram on 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.' >James Darren, the former teen idol and pop singer who played the dreamy surfer Moondoggie in three Gidget movies before starring on television on The Time Tunnel and T.J. Hooker, died Monday. He was 88. >Darren died in his sleep at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his son Jim Moret, a correspondent for Inside Edition, told The Hollywood Reporter. 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. >“I always thought he would pull through,” Moret said, “because he was so cool. He was always cool.” >Early in his career, the dark-haired Darren received excellent notices for starring in Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960) — portraying the son of a hoodlum defended by Humphrey Bogart’s character in 1949’s Knock on Any Door — and for playing the Greek soldier Spyros Pappadimos in The Guns of Navarone (1961). >Even though he could not surf, the Philadelphia native got the role of Moondoggie (real name: Jerry Matthews) opposite three actresses as the precocious Malibu teen: Sandra Dee in Gidget (1959), Deborah Walley in Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and Cindy Carol in Gidget Goes to Rome (1963). >Darren then spiraled through history as the headstrong Dr. Tony Newman, an electronics genius, on the 1966-67 ABC adventure series The Time Tunnel, also starring Robert Colbert. (Tom Hanks once said it was his favorite show as a kid.) >In an interview with Tom Weaver for the 2008 book I Talked With a Zombie, Darren said he wasn’t interested in doing television or science fiction before he agreed to a meeting with the creator of The Time Tunnel, Irwin Allen. >Allen told him, “This is something you have to do. I know you don’t want to do it, but I think you are perfect for this role, and he convinced me,” Darren recalled. “Irwin was one of the great salespersons of our time. I accepted the role because of my meeting with him.” >Fifteen years later, Darren joined the William Shatner ABC action drama T.J. Hooker in its second season, portraying Officer Jim Corrigan opposite Heather Locklear as his inexperienced partner, Stacy Sheridan. >Darren directed for the first time in 1986 as an emergency fill-in during the final season of T.J. Hooker, and he went to helm episodes of Hunter, Silk Stalkings, Melrose Place, Werewolf, The A-Team and Beverly Hills, 90210. . . [Archive](https://archive.today/rDiFz)

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