Gidget (1959): RIP James Darren, 88
 

Re: Gidget (1959): RIP James Darren, 88
 

A boyhood hero, I was 7 years old when Time Tunnel originally aired. It was second only to Batman in my book.

RIP

Re: Gidget (1959): RIP James Darren, 88
 

There was a caller to a radio show last night talking about Time Tunnel - I just thought the topic was old TV shows - had no idea it was because James Darren had died.

This is sad news for me as I've been a big fan of James Darren for a long time. As a kid I watched reruns of The Time Tunnel and a couple years ago we watched that series again. James Darren (Tony Newman) was my favorite of the cast. As I got into old movies I watched Gidget and then all of the Gidget movies in the series (Gidget Goes Hawaiian and Gidget Goes to Rome). And of course I've seen him in a number of older dramas, war and western films.


My appreciation for James Darren as an actor grew when I first seen him as Vic Fontaine the hologram in Star Trek Deep Space Nine. 'Vic' became an instant favorite of mine with his 1960s Vegas nightclub act and his no nonsense pearls of wisdom. One of my favorite scenes with Vic...and something that has stayed with me, is his advice at the end of this video clip for STDSN 'It's Only a Paper Moon':
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDjg2K58YXc

James Darren had a great way of singing too, very smooth easy to listen to vocal style. I'm remembering him this way:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0fI6SR6Qow

a good one season tv series