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It is probably fair to say you are the prototypical model for today
of how to successfully sustain a career - from child to
adult, as an actor, singer, director and all-around entertaining.
When you began your career what did you set your sights
on?
I was always an actor. As a matter of fact, I was under
contract to Columbia Pictures, and they didn't know
that I could sing. I sang those songs. They had me go in
to test record "There's No Such Thing as the
Next Best Thing to Love", and then I did it in the
film.
Were you born in LA?
I was born in Philadelphia - from the neighborhood
- in a ten block radius that spawned so many people
in the entertainment business: David Brenner, Jack Klugman
- all within a ten block radius. Mario Lanza, Bobby
Rydell, Frankie Avalan, Fabian, Al Martino - I could
go on and on.
I grew up wanting to be an actor, wanting to be in show
business. I was always the ham in school. It was a problem,
but I was a ham in school. I knew I was going to be in show
business all my life.
What was the biggest challenge in making the move
to LA?
I was taken care of quite a bit. I was under contract at
Columbia Pictures, I had a manager, Joyce Selnick (she was
great, what can I tell you? She took care of me like a sister
or a mom). It wasn't a difficult move. My brother
John came along and a friend who's name was Sonny
Bono came out with me (laughs).
I was doing a movie my first week out here.
How did the role of Moondoggie in Gidget come
your way?
When you're under contract, you do what they suggest
you do (at least if you want to stay under contract). There
was a man named Joe Pasternak who was a producer of musicals.
Not that Gidget was a total musical, but it obviously had...did
you know John Williams did the title score?
No!
Anyway, it was originally Elvis Presley in the Cliff Robertson
part and Debbie Reynolds in the Sandra Dee part, and me
in the Moon Doggie part. Then Pasternak fell out for some
reason - because he was a freelance producer -
and then they just did it in-house at Columbia. Universal
loaned out Sandra Dee to Columbia and Cliff Robertson was
under contract, as was I.
Do you have a favorite memory of Sandra Dee from
the set?
She's just an incredibly sweet human being. Every
memory of Sandra Dee is great. She's very sweet and
very shy. I was in love with her - I adored her. Every
guy on that film was insane about Sandra. I really did have
a giant crush on her. She said she had one on me as well,
which is kind of flattering, but she was only 17. After
the day of shooting, her mom put her in an iron cage and
took her away. There was no way of hanging out with Sandra.
We'd hang out at lunch with her mom, but after hours
she was tucked away in bed.
Things were a lot more innocent back then.
Especially with her mom!
When the film came out, was it crazy in terms
of what it did for your career?
It was incredible. Girls would go nuts. I remember a time
I was in San Francisco. I was doing a show like American
Bandstand. It was called The Dick Stewart Show - a
local show. A group of girls broke through this huge glass
door at this TV station on Van Ness and they pulled me out
on the sidewalk and they were pulling hair out of my head
for so long - which was painful - but it was
fun. Then the police got me and put me up on the roof. Things
like that would just happen.
Is that level of fame and idolatry tough to handle?
You know, when you're young, it's all fun.
It's not something you take so seriously that you
dwell on it or it goes to your head. I was just having a
good time. I bought myself a little Porsche - I was
having a good time. I was just a kid out of Philadelphia
doing everything I had dreamed about doing. It was hard
to believe.
And being taken care of by the execs at Columbia Pictures
- people like Leo Jaffey and Paul Lazarus and Joyce
Selznick - they were like parents.
Are you sad about the passing of the studio system?
Sure. I think it's sad, but then again, I grew up
in it, so it had tremendous meaning for me. I liked Harry
Cohen. I thought he was a great, tough guy - he wouldn't
take any b.s. He knew his business. A lot of people didn't
like him. But in this business, you're either hated
or you're loved and there's no middle ground.
That was the way it was with Harry Cohen.
I miss one sheriff and a few deputies, as opposed to these
big corporate things today. You need an okay from twenty
people. That's always a drag.
It seems like there's no support system
today - a lot of these kids are in rehab at twelve.
It sure helped me. I think everybody needs some sort of
support system, whatever it is. It's difficult when
you're successful at such a young age. Your parents
- my parents didn't because they come from a
very simple cloth. It was something taken seriously, but
they weren't foolish people. If you made a million
bucks, you wouldn't go out and buy the fanciest house
or the fanciest car.
Today it's a whole different ball game. You're
right - a lot of kids are in rehab really young. It's
a cruel business. As I said, the people I was involved with
were great. They cared about business, don't get me
wrong - they weren't angels - but they
really did have a heart. They cared about me. Joyce Selznick
loved me like she would love her kid. It's extremely
rare.
Any advice for the teen idols today? What would
you tell Justin Timberlake?
Just be you. And keep at it. Don't ever give up.
You can work for years and years with nothing happening
and then all of a sudden someone sees you. If you spend
your time in your home, no one will see you. But if you're
out and about, you have a shot. Whatever you can, do it.
Was it tough to make the transition from teen
star to serious adult actor?
It's always hard to be taken seriously. That's
never easy. You have to do something where the critics say,
"Darren was really good." And then everybody
follows suit. If you can get the right critic to say something
constructive about you and positive, then you're okay.
It's tough because you're bucking an image that's
been built for you by the public, so to speak.
When I did Gidget, I was Moondoggie. Even today -
I perform a lot as a singer in different clubs and casinos
around the country - the women who come there come
to see Moondoggie. It's cool with me. It's a
time of their life that meant something special and it meant
something special to me as well. A lot of the people I talk
to in the business who were once teenage idols don't
like it, but it doesn't bother me.
As long as I can do what I do now and people appreciate
what I do now, then I'm fine.
Then you were happy to return for the Gidget sequels,
right?
No. I didn't because I didn't think the stories were as
good - well, Gidget Goes Hawaiian's story was fine - but
I didn't want to do Gidget Goes to Rome. First of all, Deborah
Walley I thought was fine and Cindy Carol was fine, but
once you've established someone like Sandra Dee, it's really
difficult to replace her. It doesn't always succeed.
I know people who love Gidget Goes Hawaiian and Gidget
Goes to Rome as much as they love the first one. I don't
see it, but they love it. But I really believe the first
Gidget film is really a classic film. It's done beautifully
- Paul directed all three of them - it was a
fresh, wonderful story. I'm not crazy about sequels
with anything. Most of the time they fail. The only sequels
that have gone on were the Bond films. You'd think
that without Sean Connery - he's my favorite
Bond - but by the same token, Roger Moore was great.
Were sequels common back then?
Oh, God, yes. That's all they did. It was very common
to do sequels. They weren't always as successful as
the original but successful enough, I guess. They did them
wisely, they didn't spend as much money. I know Universal
did not want to loan out Sandra Dee for the second Gidget.
Why? I don't know. They had a very hot commodity in
Sandra. They thought, "Why blow her on these guys
when we could do our own movie and make the money ourselves?"
Did William Shatner ever give you any advice about
working with Star Trek?
Stay out of his light (laughs). When you're a part
of Star Trek, you're part of a family.
When I play Caesar's Palace in Atlantic City every
year, you'd be amazed at the Trekkies who come to
the show. This is a casino and nightclub. I had just recently
done Casinorama in Toronto, a big venue with a theatre,
and you'd be amazed at the amount of people in the
audience - I bet of the 3,000 people in the audience,
2,000 were Trekkies. I couldn't believe it. I was
there - it had nothing to do with Star Trek
- I was there to sing. They're very loyal people.
What do you credit your career longevity to?
Luck (laughs). You have to be prepared - you have
to have talent. But I really believe you have to be at the
right place at the right time. You've got to want
it. Lots of shows - when I did Star Trek,
I didn't want to do that show. When my agent called,
I didn't want to do it - I didn't want
to play a singer. It was too on the nose. But then they
called three more times and then my agent said, "Why
don't you read the script?" And I read it and
I loved it. Shows you how much of a schmuck I am.
Special thanks to Carol Samrock and all at Carl Samrock
Public Relations. All images copyright Columbia TriStar
Home Entertainment. All rights reserved. |
