‘Gidget’ and ‘T.J. Hooker’ Star Was 88

James Darren has died at the age of 88. The actor was best known for his role in the 1959 film Gidget, as well as his TV role decades later on T.J. Hooker. At the start of his career, Darren was considered to be a teen idol.

According to a statement on his website, the actor died in his sleep at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Monday, Sept. 2.

His son, Inside Edition correspondent Jim Moret, told The Hollywood Reporter that his father went to the hospital for an aortic valve replacement but was deemed too weak to have the surgery.

“I always thought he would pull through because he was so cool. He was always cool,” Moret told the outlet. PEOPLE reached out to Moret’s representative for comment.

Darren, born James Ercolani, was born in Philadelphia in 1936. His parents were Italian immigrants, and he spent more time getting into trouble outside school then hitting the books. “I was a Dennis the Menace sort, not a bad kid,” he told PEOPLE in 1983. After dropping out of school at 16, he began pursuing acting and was discovered by a talent scout.

The Philadelphia native studied under legendary acting coach Stella Adler in New York before signing with Columbia Pictures and making his motion picture debut in the 1956 drama Rumble on the Docks, per his website. Though the movie was low-budget, Darren began receiving lots of fan mail. In 1957, he appeared in Operation Mad Ball, The Brothers Rico and The Tijuana Story, and in 1958, he appeared in Gunman’s Walk.

His biggest role came in 1959’s Gidget. Sandra Dee starred as the titular hero in the surfer flick, with Darren as her love interest, a surfer nicknamed “Moondoggie.” The film became a massive success and pushed California surf culture and the film’s stars into the mainstream. 

Fame wasn’t always fun for Darren. “One time in San Francisco, I was on a dance-party TV show and hundreds of girls mobbed the studio, took the glass door right off, dragged me outside, down on the ground, pulling hairs out of my head for souvenirs,” he told PEOPLE. “I was terrified. Tears were streaming down my face from the pain of having my hair pulled out.” 

The movie also led to his singing career. Darren sang the title track for the film, and its success led him to record and release more songs, including his biggest hit, 1961’s “Goodbye Cruel World,” which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Darren reprised the role in 1961’s Gidget Goes Hawaiian and 1963’s Gidget Goes to Rome — even though the actress who played Gidget changed each time, with Deborah Walley and Cindy Carol, respectively, playing the character in the sequels. “They had me under contract,” he explained to Entertainment Weekly in 2004. “I was a prisoner. But with those lovely young ladies, it was the best prison I think I’ll ever be in.”

Darren played teen idols on The Donna Reed Show and The Flintstones, and appeared in movies including The Gene Krupa Story, The Guns of Navarone, Diamond Head, The Lively Set and Venus in Furs. In 1966, he landed the starring role on the science-fiction TV series The Time Tunnel, which ran for one season. 

In the 1970s, Darren made a series of TV appearances, including on Charlie’s Angels, Police Story, Hawaii Five-O, Vegas, The Love Boat and Fantasy Island. He also continued to perform music, and was the host of PBS’s interview show Portrait of a Legend. 

From 1983 to 1986, Darren starred on the police drama T. J. Hooker alongside William Shatner and Heather Locklear. He got the part thanks to a friend who was a producer on the series, who had them write the role of Officer Jim Corrigan for him.

“I get panicky when I don’t work,” he told PEOPLE. “I like to feel like a normal person with a normal job.” He also hoped the show would boost his name and face recognition beyond Gidget. “I get disappointed when someone doesn’t know me from other things I’ve done.”

Darren also directed an episode of T.J. Hooker and went on to direct episodes of Melrose Place, Beverly Hills, 90210, Walker Texas Ranger and Werewolf.

In 1998, he began appearing on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Vic Fontaine, a holographic singer who also gave out romantic advice. The Rat Pack-style character was originally written for Frank Sinatra, Jr., and then was offered to Steve Lawrence before Darren landed the role.

But Darren originally didn’t want to play another singer. His agent urged him to actually read the script. “Of course, I did read the script and, of course, I did love it,” he told StarTrek.com in 2019. “It was just a great role. Vic Fontaine was like — what can I say? — it was a dream come true for me. It was one of the most enjoyable roles for me to have played.”

“If he’d been just a singer, I wouldn’t have enjoyed it one-tenth as much as I did,” he explained, adding that he became very close with the rest of the cast while filming the episodes in which he appeared.

Darren married Gloria Terlitsky, his childhood sweetheart, in 1955. They welcomed a son, Jim, in 1956. They divorced in 1958. Jim, a journalist, was adopted by Gloria’s third husband and took the last name Moret.

In 1960, he married Evy Norlund, a former Miss Denmark. They welcomed two sons: Christian in 1960 and Anthony in 1964.

Darren was also the godfather to Nancy Sinatra‘s daughter.

“One of my dearest, closest friends in all the world, of all my life has passed away,” Sinatra wrote in a tribute on X,

“Godfather to my daughter, AJ. Wishing him 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,” her statement continued.

Although Darren sometimes wanted to outrun his Gidget days, he admitted to the Los Angeles Times in 2019 that when he performed his one-man shows, it was always his Gidget stories that got the biggest response.

“Gidget was, you know, I was so fortunate to get that role because when you do a movie or a TV series, whatever, the character you play is what people fall in love with or hate,” he said in an interview. “Either one. And fortunately for me, fortunately they fell in love with Moondoggie.”

Darren is survived by his wife and children.