R.I.P James Darren: ‘Gidget’ And ‘T.J. Hooker’ Actor Dead At 88

Actor and singer James Darren, who became famous after starring the Gidget movies and on TV in shows like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and T.J Hooker, has died. He was 88 years old, per TMZ.

Darren’s career began in 1956 with the film Rumble on the Docks, but he rose to prominence when he starred as Moondoggie in 1959’s surf movie, Gidget, co-starring Sandra Dee. After singing the title track for the film, he also gained popularity as a pop star with several hit singles in America and abroad, including “Goodbye Cruel World,” which was certified gold.

Darren’s film career includes The Gene Krupa Story (1959), Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960) and The Guns of Navarone (1961). He later began an illustrious career in television, guest starring on dozens of shows throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s and hosting the interview series Portrait of a Legend for PBS.

In the 1980s, he starred as Officer James Corrigan in the police series T.J. Hooker alongside Heather Locklear and William Shatner, and had yet another career resurgence in the 1990s when he played crooner Vic Fontaine on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Locklear, who played Darren’s partner on T.J. Hooker (and later co-starred with him when he made an appearance on Melrose Place), remembered her colleague fondly, writing that he was “one of [her] favorite people.”

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Darren died in his sleep on Monday (Sept. 2) after being admitted to Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. A cause of death has not yet been confirmed, but his son, Jim Moret, confirmed that the actor was being treated for cardiac issues prior to his death; Moret said that though Darren was supposed to have an aortic valve replacement, he was deemed too weak to have the surgery just before his death, TMZ reports.

Darren is survived by his three sons and five grandchildren.