Biography
James Darren, born James William Ercolani on 8 June 1936 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was an American actor, singer and television director. He died on 2 September 2024. He studied acting in New York with Stella Adler and was signed to a contract by Columbia Pictures in 1956 after being discovered by Joyce Selznick. His film debut came in Rumble on the Docks (1956).
Darren appeared as Pvt. Spyros Pappadimos in The Guns of Navarone (1961). He played Moondoggie in the Gidget films (1959–63) and Tony Newman in the television series The Time Tunnel (1966–67). Later credits include the role of Vic Fontaine in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) and directing episodes of The A-Team (1983) and Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990). He also pursued a singing career with several hit singles in the early 1960s.
