Hello cool voice

Jennifer K Mahal

He was born James William Ercolani. But most people know him as

“Jimmy” Darren. Or Moondoggie. Or Vic Fontaine. Or Officer James

Corrigan. Or Dr. Tony Newman.

“It’s nice to be recognized,” the singer-actor-director said. “You get

a better seat in a restaurant.”

Local recognition doesn’t seem like it will be a problem for Darren,

who will perform Saturday at Orange Coast College’s Robert B. Moore

Theatre.

The college’s performance season is determined by a combination of

community, committees and surveys, said George Blanc, the college’s

administrative dean of economic development and community education.

“He was one of those who was mentioned quite a few times,” Blanc said.

It seems not a generation has gone by that the 64-year-old hasn’t

touched. Darren had five Top-10 singles in the ‘60s, including “Goodbye

Cruel World” and “Her Royal Majesty.” He originated Moondoggie in 1959’s

“Gidget” with Sandra Dee, starred as Dr. Tony Newman in the 1966 sci-fi

cult classic series “Time Tunnel,” fought for law and order as Officer

James Corrigan in “TJ Hooker” during the ‘80s and brought style to the

holodeck in the 90s as Vic Fontaine in “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.”

It is that last role that has brought the Philadelphia-born actor back

to singing.

The man with the smoky voice was immersed in his career as a

television director when producer Ira Behr approached him about playing

Fontaine, a holographic Rat Pack-style crooner.

“I was directing, not considering acting,” Darren said. “I never

thought I’d sing again.”

He turned Behr down three times before reading the script. After that,

he knew he had to do it.

“It just gave me new life in the sense that I had this great desire to

sing again,” Darren said of his “Star Trek” experience. “When I would

sing there, the crew would stand around and applaud.”

Though Darren spent some time in Vegas with the Rat Pack, he doesn’t

consider himself a part of it.

“They were friends,” Darren said.

Darren has been married to Evy Norlund, a former Miss Denmark of 1958

and mother of Christian and Anthony, since 1960. His firstborn son, CNN

anchorman Jim Moret, is from his four-year marriage to Gloria Terlitzky.

He and Norlund are godparents to Nancy Sinatra’s daughter, Angela

Jennifer Lambert.

Darren swears he doesn’t know what he would have done if he hadn’t

made it in Hollywood.

“I had thought about becoming a race car driver, but I really never

concentrated on anything else except being in show business,” Darren

said.

As a teen, Darren studied with famed acting teacher Stella Adler in

New York City for two years. He commuted from Philadelphia via motorcycle

at first.

“My parents didn’t know [about the bike],” Darren said. “They freaked

out.”

He used to hide his motorcycle two blocks away. But one day, he got

caught.

“I had taken my front fender off the bike,” Darren said. “I used to

wear these goggles. When I got home, evidently my face was filthy except

where my goggles were. I went home and my dad said, ‘You have a

motorcycle.”’

His parents made him sell the bike, and from then on Darren took the

train.

While studying in New York, Darren met Joyce “Joey” Selznick, a talent

scout for Columbia Pictures. Selznick became his manager.

“She was really responsible for my entire show business career,”

Darren said.

He changed his name to Darren in 1959, inspired by sports car designer

“Dutch” Darrin and actor Darren McGavin, and embarked on a career filled

with teen-idol roles and music. While watching Nancy Sinatra sing at the

Coconut Grove in 1970, Darren was approached by comedian Buddy Hackett,

who asked him if he would be interested in working with him. Darren,

fresh off of “Time Tunnel” and a round of state fairs, thought Hackett

was pulling his leg. He wasn’t.

Hackett and Darren were an act from 1970 to 1982, playing performing

arts centers and theaters around the country. They also worked the Sahara

in Las Vegas.

Darren would sing, and Hackett would come out during the third or

fourth song and do a stand-up routine.

“I tried to be funny the first few times, and he told me ‘Just be

honest,”’ Darren said. “And the trick is exactly what he said. Don’t be

anything.”

He left the act to do “TJ Hooker” with Heather Locklear, William

Shatner and Adrian Zmed.

“I really enjoyed doing ‘TJ Hooker.’ I loved it,” Darren said. “I had

a great time working with Bill and Heather and Adrian.”

He directed and episode during his four year run as Officer Jimmy

Corrigan. He took the sense of timing he learned from Hackett and used it

to help build a new career.

“What helped me most in directing is the fact that I’m an actor,

because actors trust other actors who are directors,” Darren said.

He has directed episodes of “Melrose Place,” “Beverly Hills 90210,”

and “Walker, Texas Ranger.”

“Directing is very stressful. You have tremendous responsibility,”

Darren said. “As a actor, it’s a lot less responsibility. You think about

your character and your moves. As a singer, it’s fun, just going out

there and being me.”

Darren recently released a compact disc of standards titled “This

One’s From the Heart.”

“I never expected to record again,” Darren said, “but the director of

Concord Jazz is a ‘Star Trek’ fan and saw the show.”But it’s the cartoon

and comic immortalizations that seem to give Darren the biggest charge.

In “Hey there, Yogi Bear,” Yogi tells Boo Boo that he sounds just like

Jimmy Darren. Since Darren did Boo Boo’s singing voice, that’s not too

far of a stretch.

On the “Flintstones,” he is Jimmy Darrock. There are comic book

versions of “Time Tunnel” and he’s been penned into Mad Magazine. There’s

even a Vic Fontaine comic in the works at D.C. Comics.

“I’m going to be a comic book hero,” Darren said, amused. “It’s like a

new life. Bizarre, because I’m fiction, but it’s a new life.”

FYI

* WHAT: James Darren

* WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday

* WHERE: Orange Coast College’s Robert B. Moore Theatre, 2701 Fairview

Road, Costa Mesa

* COST: $23 in advance or $27 at the door. There are $21 advanced

discount tickets available for OCC students, senior citizens and children

age 12 and younger.

* CALL: (714) 432-5880