James Darren

James Darren was an actor, director, and singer who played the holographic lounge singer Vic Fontaine in the sixth and seventh seasons of . He also played the mirror universe in the seventh season episode .
He was probably best known for his regular roles in the television series and with William Shatner. 
== Personal ==
Darren, born James William Ercolani, was originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA and moved to New York City to fulfill his dream to become a singer and actor. After a short time taking acting lessons he met talent agent Joyce Selznick who gave him a seven year contract with Columbia. In 1955 he moved to Hollywood, California and stood in front of the camera for nineteen Columbia films. The following year he took his stage name James Darren, named after the Kaiser-Darrin sports car.
In 1955 Darren and his first wife Gloria Terlitsky married. They later divorced in 1959. Terlitsky is also the mother of Darren's first son, James "Jim" Jr. During his early years he was friends with the famous Rat Pack, which included , , , and . He was also chosen to be the godfather of Angela Jennifer Lambert, daughter of Frank Sinatra's daughter .
From 1960 until his death, Darren was married to Evy Norlund, Miss Denmark 1958, the actress who played Suzanne Fontaine in the 1959 movie The Flying Fontaines. The couple had two sons.
Darren died on 2 September 2024, aged 88. 
== Acting career ==
After Darren received his seven year contract with Columbia he starred and co-starred in films such as (1956, with Celia Lovsky), (1957, with Dick Crockett and Roy Jenson), (1957), (1957), (1958), and (1959, with Susan Oliver, Yvonne Craig, Lawrence Dobkin, an uncredited Stanley Adams and Celia Lovsky). Other appearances include (1957, with DeForest Kelley), The Donna Reed Show (1959, with Ted Knight), and The Lineup (1959).
In 1959 Darren appeared in , which also featured Yvonne Craig. Darren would reprise his role for (1961, with music by George Duning) and (1963).
Other acting credits in the '60s include the drama Because They're Young (1960), (1960, with Paul Baxley), (1960, with Ricardo Montalban and uncredited appearances by Peter Brocco and Roy Jenson), (1961) (with Walter Gotell), (1963, with France Nuyen), (1964), (1964, with Charles Drake), (1969), and an episode of (1966, with Seymour Cassel).
Parallel to , Darren portrayed the leading role of Dr. Anthony Newman in The Time Tunnel (1966-1967). Fellow Trek actors Whit Bissell and Lee Meriwether were part of the main cast while Trek stunt performers Charles Picerni and David Sharpe served as stunt doubles for Darren. The series featured fellow Trek alumni John Winston, Bart La Rue, Warren Stevens, Paul Fix, Paul Carr, Torin Thatcher, Victor Lundin, Joseph Ruskin, Abraham Sofaer, Paul Comi, Lawrence Montaigne, Bruce Mars, Perry Lopez, Theo Marcuse, David Opatoshu, Nehemiah Persoff, Michael Ansara, Dick Geary, Elizabeth Rogers, Malachi Throne, Peter Brocco, Dick Dial, John Crawford, Vince Howard, John Hoyt, Arnold Moss, Rhodes Reason, Anthony Caruso, Robert Walker, Arthur Batanides, Chuck Hicks and Gil Perkins in guest roles. Writers included Carey Wilber and Robert Hamner, and the show also featured music by George Duning. After The Time Tunnel was cancelled, producer cast Darren in the titular role of the sci-fi pilot The Man From the 25th Century, which also featured John Crawford, however the project was not picked up as a series.
While touring through the United States, Darren participated in a few film projects such as (1971, with Whit Bissell), (1975, with Percy Rodriguez, Paul Carr, Rod Arrants, and Alan Oppenheimer), and the drama The Boss' Son (1978). He was also more prominently seen as guest actor in a few television series including S.W.A.T. (1976, with David Opatoshu and Paul Sorensen), Police Woman (1976, with Charles Dierkop), Baa Baa Black Sheep (1977, with Joey Aresco and John Larroquette), (1977, starring Kate Jackson, with Patty Maloney), (1978-1979, with Nehemiah Persoff and Brian Tochi), (1980, with William Lucking), The Love Boat (1981, with Gina Hecht), and (1979-1982, starring Ricardo Montalban, and with Wendy Schaal).
Between 1982 and 1986 he returned to a regular role and starred as Officer Jim Corrigan in T. J. Hooker along with William Shatner as the title character and Richard Herd as police chief. Beside Shatner himself, Winrich Kolbe, Cliff Bole, Charlie Picerni, and Richard Compton directed him in several episodes.
After the end of T. J. Hooker, Darren made only a few guest performances in (1992, with Paul Collins), (1992, with Branscombe Richmond and Tracy Scoggins), (1994, with Charlie Brill, Gary Frank, and Jon Rashad Kamal), and (1997, with Darwyn Carson). He also portrayed the cruel Tony Marlin in five episodes of in 1999, along with Trek performers Mark L. Taylor, Dey Young, Kathleen Garrett, Susan Savage, and David Doty.
After Deep Space Nine, Darren rarely acted. He played the role of Allen in the drama Random Acts (2001), and Paulie in Lucky (2017, with Ed Begley, Jr. and Bertila Damas).
== Music career ==
For Gidget he performed the title song "Gidget" and the song "The Next Best Thing to Love", the previous one became a successful release the same year.
In 1961 his song "Goodbye Cruel World" stepped on position three of the US music charts and one year later his song "Her Royal Majesty" was voted into the top ten and he also lent his voice and likeness to an episode of (1965), with his character called "Jimmy Darrock". He also performed two times at the Academy Awards; 1959 the song "Almost in Your Arms" and 1964 the song "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World".
After his television experience with The Time Tunnel, which was cancelled after one season, Darren formed a duo with comedian and the two toured about ten years through the country. During this time he only stopped the tour for a few film breaks.
In 1999 Darren released the album "This One's From The Heart" with songs he performed as Vic Fontaine on Deep Space Nine, his first album after twenty years. The album included the following seventeen songs:
*"This One's From The Heart"
**"The Best Is Yet to Come"
**"Come Fly with Me"
**"That Old Black Magic"
**"All the Way"
**"It's Only a Paper Moon"
**"I've Got the World on a String"
**"You'd Better Love Me"
**"Sophisticated Lady"
**"Just in Time"
**"I've Got You Under My Skin"
**"The Way You Look Tonight"
**"Here's to the Losers"
**"You're Nobody 'til Somebody Loves You"
**"Dancing in the Dark"
**"Night and Day"
**"I'll Be Seeing You"
**"Satin Doll"
Also in 1999 he performed on stage in Atlantic City after a fourteen year break. After this album, Darren released another studio album, "Because of You", in 2001. Other songs of his can be heard in the movies Down to You (2000), Hearts in Atlantis (2001), and Chooch (2003).
== Director ==
Darren made his directing debut during his performance in T.J. Hooker and directed the fifth season episode Into the Night in 1986. Star Trek performers in this episode include Shatner, Marc Alaimo, Rhonda Aldrich, and Philip Weyland.
Darren's directorial experience was built up with directing jobs in the following years, including episodes of The A-Team (1986, starring Dwight Schultz), Stingray (1987), Werewolf (1987-1988, starring Lance LeGault and with Brian Thompson, Ethan Phillips, and Todd Bryant), Tequila and Bonetti (1992, with Charles Rocket and Erick Avari), (1993, starring Clarence Gilyard, Jr. and Noble Willingham), Renegade (1994), Nowhere Man (1995, starring Bruce Greenwood and with Deep Space Nine co-star Mike Starr), (1994-1995, with Charlie Brill, Gina Ravarra, and Nicolas Surovy), and Savannah (1996, starring Ray Wise and Beth Toussaint).
His most recent directing jobs include episodes of (1996, with Steven Culp) and Melrose Place (1996-1997, with Lily Mariye).
== Appearances as Vic Fontaine ==
*
** (Season 6)
** 
** (Season 7)
** 
** 
** (as Mirror Vic Fontaine, uncredited)
** 
** 
== External links ==
* – official site
* 
* 
* 
* 
de:James Darren
es:James Darren
nl:James Darren
Category:Performers
Category:DS9 performers