James Darren
Acting
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. James William Ercolani (June 8, 1936 - September 2, 2024), known by his stage name James Darren, was an American television and film actor, television director, and singer. He wanted to be an actor and studied in New York City with Stella Adler for a number of years. He would also occasionally sing although he later said "I wasn't really a singer. I was a kid in Philly whose dad would take him to bars and nightclubs and I would get up and sing two songs." Darren was discovered by talent agent and casting director Joyce Selznick after he got some photographs taken by Maurice Seymour to show potential agents: His secretary, a woman by the name of Yvonne Bouvier, "asked me if I was interested in getting into film. I said yeah, I was. She said I know someone you should meet. She set up a meeting between me and Joyce Selznick, who worked for Screen Gems. Joyce brought me over to Columbia Pictures about a week later and got me a contract there." Columbia signed Darren to a long term contract in July 1956. A few weeks later, he was filming his first film, Rumble on the Docks. His appearance was well received and he got a lot of fan mail - second at the studio only to Kim Novak. Darren guest starred on an episode of TV's The Web ("Kill and Run") then Columbia gave him a support role in an "A" picture, the comedy Operation Mad Ball, starring Jack Lemmon. He had support roles in two films directed by Phil Karlson: The Brothers Rico and Gunman's Walk. In between he was in The Tijuana Story, although his role was relatively small. Darren was third billed in the surf film, Gidget. He also sang the title track. The film was a hit with teen audiences and so was the song. Darren wound up recording a string of pop hits for Colpix Records, the biggest of which was "Goodbye Cruel World". It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. Another sizeable hit was "Her Royal Majesty". He is also featured in one of the Scopitone series of pop music video jukebox films ("Because You're Mine"). Darren was third billed in a series of films for Columbia: The Gene Krupa Story, All the Young Men, and Let No Man Write My Epitaph. He had a cameo as himself in a teen film, Because They're Young, singing the title track. Darren had a supporting role in the World War II film The Guns of Navarone. Also popular was Gidget Goes Hawaiian, where Darren reprised his role as Moondoggie; he was given top billing. Darren also acted in Diamond Head as well as a third time in Gidget Goes to Rome, which he sang the title track for, Under the Yum Yum Tree. In 1963, Darren signed a seven picture deal with Universal, starting with The Lively Set. He was the singing voice of Yogi Bear in the animated film, Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!, on the song "Ven-e, Ven-o, Ven-a". He was the singing voice of his own character "Jimmy Darrock" on an episode of The Flintstones. However the character's dialogue was provided by voice actor Lennie Weinrib. He subsequently launched a career as a director, notably of action-based series , including Hunter, The A-Team, Silk Stalkings, Renegade, and Nowhere Man, as well as dramas such as Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place. Description above from the Wikipedia article James Darren, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that originally aired only in the Cleveland area during much of its first two years on the air. It then went into syndication in 1963 and remained on television until 1982. It was distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting and for much of its run, originated from studios of two of the company's TV stations in Cleveland and Philadelphia.
The Mike Douglas Show
Follow the lives of a group of teenagers living in the upscale, star-studded community of Beverly Hills, California and attending the fictitious West Beverly Hills High School and, subsequently, the fictitious California University after graduation.
Beverly Hills, 90210
Passengers who search for romantic nights aboard a beautiful ship travelling to tropical or mysterious countries, decide to pass their vacation aboard the "Love Boat", where Gopher, Dr. Bricker, Isaac, Julie, and Captain Stubing try their best to please them, and sometimes help them fall in love. Things are not always so easy, but in the end, love wins.
The Love Boat
At Deep Space Nine, a space station located next to a wormhole in the vicinity of the liberated planet of Bajor, Commander Sisko and crew welcome alien visitors, root out evildoers and solve all types of unexpected problems that come their way.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Dr. Mark Sloan is a good-natured, offbeat physician who is called upon to solve murders.
Diagnosis: Murder
Follow the lives of a group of young adults living in a brownstone apartment complex on Melrose Place, in Los Angeles, California.
Melrose Place
On September 14, 1998, a Hollywood Squares revival debuted with Tom Bergeron as its host. In addition to her production duties, Whoopi Goldberg served as the permanent center square, with series head writer Bruce Vilanch, Gilbert Gottfried, Martin Mull, and Caroline Rhea as regular panelists and Brad Garrett, Bobcat Goldthwait, Jeffrey Tambor, George Wallace, Kathy Griffin and various others as semi-regular panelists. Shadoe Stevens returned to announce, although he was not given a square on the panel as he had been when John Davidson was host.
Hollywood Squares
Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for 12 seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. Jack Lord portrayed Detective Lieutenant Steve McGarrett, the head of a special state police task force which was based on an actual unit that existed under martial law in the 1940s. The theme music composed by Morton Stevens became especially popular. Many episodes would end with McGarrett instructing his subordinate to "Book 'em, Danno!", sometimes specifying a charge such as "murder one".
Hawaii Five-O
A fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel work as soldiers of fortune while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit."
The A-Team
An anthology comedy series featuring a line up of different celebrity guest stars appearing in anywhere from one, two, three, and four short stories or vignettes within an hour about versions of love and romance.
Love, American Style
Beautiful, intelligent, and ultra-sophisticated, Charlie's Angels are everything a man could dream of... and way more than they could ever handle! Receiving their orders via speaker phone from their never seen boss, Charlie, the Angels employ their incomparable sleuthing and combat skills, as well as their lethal feminine charm, to crack even the most seemingly insurmountable of cases.
Charlie's Angels
The misadventures of two modern-day Stone Age families, the Flintstones and the Rubbles.
The Flintstones
No description available.
The Merv Griffin Show
Sergeant Thomas Jefferson Hooker is a tough-as-nails veteran police officer with the LCPD who turns his back on a gold badge and goes back to patrolling the streets and training recruits. Along with his young partners in blue, Hooker take on Lake City's toughest criminals.
T. J. Hooker
Framed for murder, Detective Reno Raines becomes a fugitive bounty hunter who fights crime while trying to clear his name. His troubles began after he testified about police corruption, leading Lt. Donald Dixon to set him up.
Renegade
Revolves around typical family problems, such as firing a clumsy housekeeper, throwing a retirement bash for a colleague, and finding quality time away from the children.
The Donna Reed Show
Hunter is an American police drama television series created by Frank Lupo, and starring Fred Dryer as Sgt. Rick Hunter and Stepfanie Kramer as Sgt. Dee Dee McCall, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1991. However, Kramer left after the sixth season to pursue other acting and musical opportunities. In the seventh season, Hunter partnered with two different women officers. The titular character, Sgt. Rick Hunter, was a wily, physically imposing, and often rule-breaking homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. The show's main characters, Hunter and McCall, resolve many of their cases by shooting dead the perpetrators. The show's executive producer during the first season was Stephen J. Cannell, whose company produced the series.
Hunter
Sergeant “Pepper"” Anderson, an undercover cop for the Criminal Conspiracy Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department, poses undercover from mob girl to prostitute.
Police Woman
Modern-day Texas Ranger, Cordell Walker's independent crime-solving methods have their roots in the rugged traditions of the Old West. Walker's closest friend is former Ranger, C.D. Parker, who retired after a knee injury, and now owns "C.D.'s," a Country/Western saloon/restaurant. Rookie Ranger, James "Jimmy" Trivette is an ex-football player who bases his crime-solving methods on reason and uses computers and cellular phones. Alex Cahill is the Assistant DA who shares a mutual attraction with Walker, but often disagrees with his unorthodox approach to law enforcement.