CNN
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James Darren, an actor, director and singer who broke through with the role of Moondoggie in the 1959 film “Gidget,” died Monday at the age of 88, Variety reported.

The entertainer died at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, Variety reports, citing his son Jim Moret, chief correspondent for Inside Edition. CNN has asked Darren and Moret’s agents for comment.

Responding to a post by singer Nancy Sinatra paying tribute to Darren on X, Moret said: “Nancy, my father loved you. Thank you for your kind and loving words.”

According to IMDb, by 1956 Darren had already had a long career in film and television, but it was his role in Gidget that made him a heartthrob in the eyes of young moviegoers. In a 2015 interview with Los Angeles Magazine, he was asked when he first realized he was a Hollywood sensation.

“The defining moment was when I was in a studio in San Francisco and word got around that I was there,” Darren said in the interview. “Thousands of girls were screaming outside the door. When I had to leave the building, they threw me to the ground and ripped out strands of my hair. The police had to rescue me and took me to the roof until things calmed down. It was total chaos.”

In Gidget, Darren played Moondoggie, a surfer who rescues the main character from a bed of kelp and eventually becomes her romantic interest. He also appeared in two later Gidget films: Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and Gidget Goes to Rome (1963).

Darren has also had supporting roles in the series The Time Tunnel, TJ Hooker alongside co-star William Shatner and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He has also directed episodes of series such as Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place.

Darren was born in Philadelphia, studied acting in New York and was eventually signed by Columbia Pictures, Variety reported. He leaves behind his wife Evy, his three children and five grandchildren, the outlet said.