Angel face jimmy darren biography
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A Colpix studio version by Darren (credited as Jimmy) made the middle regions of the national charts, his first hit in just two tries.
Another mid-charter came that summer with "Angel Face," a tune Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman wrote for Darren's soon-to-be wife-for-life Evy Norlund, who'd been crowned Miss Denmark the previous year.
The A side of his late '58 debut single, "Mighty Pretty Territory," was inspired by, but not featured in, the recently-premiered ABC series The Naked City, produced by Columbia's Screen Gems TV division (Darren had three other songs on the show's soundtrack album). There were numerous nightclub stints (including regular engagements at the Sahara in Las Vegas) and many guest shots on popular TV series, mostly of the cops-and-crime variety (S.W.A.T., Police Woman, Charlie's Angels, Police Story, Hawaii Five-O, Vega$) and lighter fare (Love American Style, The Love Boat and Fantasy Island).
In 1977 he hopped on Sylvester Stallone's ringside Rocky bandwagon, enjoying a nice run on the charts with a disco cover of "You Take My Heart Away" from the top-grossing, Oscar-winning film.
Bonus for buyers: it's a hit-loaded compilation!
Colpix had a good thing going, for the time being, at least. He had professional photos made by Seymour Zelman at the Maurice Seymour studio after which, in the summer of 1956, casting agent Joyce Selznick (David O.'s niece) convinced Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures to sign him to a contract.
Within a few months, the 20-year-old was top-billed in the crime drama Rumble on the Docks.
His media hat trick concluded with the April 10 theatrical release of Gidget ("The Story of the Beach Generation"), a star-making vehicle for Sandra Dee, its trailer enticing viewers to "Find out why all the boys fidget over Gidget the way slightly older men fidget over Bridget (Bardot)!"
To a lesser degree, the movie also served as a breakthrough for onscreen-billed James in his role of "Moondoggie." He sang "The Next Best Thing to Love" to Sandra, just as he had to Shelley days earlier.
Shayne and Howard Greenfield penned the summer '62 charter "Hail to the Conquering Hero" and Don Costa took the place of regular producer Phillips for early '63's "Pin a Medal on Joey"('...he stole your love from me!'). Gerry Goffin and Carole King came up with his next hit, "Her Royal Majesty" ('...she's the queen that broke my heart'), top ten in March 1962.
Darren continues to perform and record, and released Because of You (Concord Jazz) in 2001.
Angel Faceby Jimmy Darren
Artist Bio:
Jimmy Darren, born on June 8, 1936, is an American actor, singer, and television personality. The B side, "There's No Such Thing," predated the theatrical release of the film that would elevate his star power several notches.
Like many teenagers, he was obsessed with sports cars; the idea for his professional name came from the 1954 Kaiser Darrin convertible roadster (originally designed by Los Angeles auto dealer Howard "Dutch" Darrin and manufactured by Henry J. Kaiser), changing the "i" on an "e." Moving to New York in his late teens, he studied with acting teach Stella Adler (who'd famously mentored Marlon Brando and many others).
He made 19 films with Columbia, including the classic all-American Gidget, starring Sandra Dee and Cliff Robertson. Each catchy, well-produced ditty was another painful stab at Darren's grownup forehead. Hooker between 1982 and '86 and several episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the late '90s, returning him to the gimmick of portraying a fictional singer (Vic Fontaine in this case) performing pop standards, a peculiar retro element of the celebrated sci-fi franchise.
- Michael Jack Kirby
NOTABLE SINGLES:
- Mighty Pretty Territory - 1958
as Jimmy Darren / - There's No Such Thing - 1958
as Jimmy Darren - Gidget - 1959
as Jimmy Darren - Angel Face - 1959
as Jimmy Darren - I Ain't Sharin' Sharon - 1959
as Jimmy Darren - Teenage Tears - 1959
as Jimmy Darren - You Are My Dream - 1960
as Jimmy Darren - Because They're Young - 1960
- Traveling Down a Lonely Road - 1960
as Jimmy Darren - All the Young Men - 1960
as Jimmy Darren - Gotta Have Love - 1961
as Jimmy Darren - Gidget Goes Hawaiian - 1961
as Jimmy Darren - Goodbye Cruel World - 1961
- Her Royal Majesty - 1962
- Conscience - 1962
- Mary's Little Lamb - 1962
- Hail to the Conquering Hero - 1962
- Pin a Medal on Joey - 1963
- They Should Have Given You the Oscar - 1963
- Gegetta - 1963
- Back Stage - 1963
- Punch and Judy - 1964
- Because You're Mine - 1965
- Where Did We Go Wrong - 1966
- Crazy Me - 1966
- All - 1966
- Since I Don't Have You - 1967
- Didn't We - 1967
- Wheeling, West Virginia - 1970
- Bring Me Down Slow - 1971
- Mammy Blue - 1971
- You Take My Heart Away - 1977
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Inducted: 1997
James “Jimmy” Darren, a native of Philadelphia, is a familiar face to audiences throughout the world, from the concert stage to motion pictures and television.
Darren’s background as a singer and drama student, along with a chance introduction to legendary producer Joyce Selznick, led to Darren’s signing a seven-year contract with Columbia Pictures.
For the second time he played a pop singer (in 1959 his character had been "Buzz Berry," this time it was "Kip Dennis") and on both installments Mary (Shelley, never to be confused with the author of Frankenstein) had a crush on him. He followed this with two voice assignments on animated Hanna-Barbera shows, supplying Yogi Bear's singing voice in Hey There, it's Yogi Bear (sidekick Boo-Boo: "Gosh, you sing just like James Darren!") and a Flintstones episode as "Jimmy Darrock." He also left Colpix and signed with Warner Bros.
While a "young criminal" stereotype may have been developing, there was little reason for concern; he was soon to become typecast in a different, star-making way...as a teen idol.
In 1958, the Columbia studio started its Colpix record label, giving him the name Jimmy Darren for record releases.
The Time Tunnel, which took him (and costar Robert Colbert) into historic eras and locations (with a few weird futuristic scenarios thrown in for fun) ran from September '66 until April '67; the series won an Emmy for Photographic Special Effects. He sang the song (credited as "The Next Best Thing to Love") to Mary Stone (played by Shelley Fabares) on the 1959 April Fool episode of The Donna Reed Show, though it made little impact.
Five days later he appeared on the live broadcast of The Academy Awards, performing Jay Livingston and Ray Evans' nominated song "Almost in Your Arms" (from Houseboat, starring Cary Grant, Sophia Loren and Reed Show child actor Paul Petersen), sharing the Oscar stage with Anna Maria Alberghetti, Connie Stevens, Tuesday Weld, Nick Adams and Dean Jones (all in place of Sam Cooke, whose version was used in the film).
Radio jumped on the record; it raced to the top of many stations' playlists around the country in November, rising the following month to number three on Billboard and number two on Cash Box.
So whether he liked it or not, 25-year-old James was a teen idol in film and music, in some ways like two different guys. His main ambition was to be an actor, though singing became just as important when he realized, motivated by others who recognized his talent, that he was pretty good at it.
Some considerable time was to pass before "Jimmy" would have another hit single; "I Ain't Sharin' Sharon," "Teenage Tears" and "You Are My Dream" were interspersed with a role in The Gene Krupa Story and an episode of CBS-TV drama The Lineup. James Darren chose to follow a career in show business, a line of work that, come to think of it, can sometimes resemble a three-ring spectacle or a battle zone.
A second Oscar show appearance had him performing the nominated song "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" (composed by Ernest Gold and Mack David).