James Darren, of ‘Gidget’ and ‘T.J. Hooker’ fame, dead at 88

Singer and on-screen heartthrob James Darren — known for the “Gidget” films and “T.J. Hooker” — has died. He was 88 .

Darren, who was also a television director, died in his sleep Monday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he’d been initially hospitalized for an aortic valve replacement, son Jim Moret confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.

“I always thought he would pull through,” said the “Inside Edition” correspondent. “Because he was so cool. He was always cool.”

Moret noted to the outlet that though his father needed the surgery, doctors determined he couldn’t withstand it and sent him home, only for the actor to have to be hospitalized again.

Darren made his big screen debut in 1956’s “Rumble on the Docks,” followed the next year by his first television role in an episode of “The Web.” In 1959, Darren broke out as “Gidget” surfer Jeffrey “Moondoggie” Matthews — a role he reprised in 1961’s “Gidget Goes Hawaiian” and 1963’s “Gidget Goes to Rome.”

By 1966, Darren scored the lead role of Dr. Tony Newman in the Emmy-winning “Time Tunnel,” though the show only lasted a single season.

Darren went on to appear in episodes of “S.W.A.T.,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Hawaii Five-O,” “The Love Boat,” “Fantasy Island” and “One Day at a Time,” before he landed his next big ticket role: Officer Jim Corrigan in “T.J. Hooker,” alongside William Shatner and Heather Locklear.

“T.J. Hooker” took its final bow in 1986, the same year Darren made his directorial debut with an episode of the crime drama, followed the next year by helming an episode of “The A-Team.” He eventually directed seven episodes each of “Werewolf” and “Hunter,” as well as episodes of “Walker, Texas Ranger,” “Silk Stalkings” and “Beverly Hills, 90210.”

He followed up directing two episodes of “Melrose Place” — his last directing gig — with a five-episode run on the soap as Tony Marlin. Between 1998 and 1999, Darren played Vic Fontaine on eight episodes of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.”

Darren last appeared on screen in 2017’s “Lucky.” Id had been his first time on screen in nearly two decades, following 2001’s “Random Acts.”

Musically, Darren was known for singles like “Goodbye Cruel World,” and “Her Royal Majesty” — which peaked at 3 and 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 , respectively — as well as “Conscience,” and “Because They’re Young. “