James Darren, who became an instant teen idol as the boyish surfer Moondoggie in the “Gidget” films and had a successful career in television and music, has died. He was 88 years old.

Darren went to a Los Angeles hospital last week for elective heart surgery but was deemed too weak and sent home, his son Jim Moret told several media outlets. However, his poor health forced him to return to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he died in his sleep surrounded by his family.

Born James Ercolani in Philadelphia, Darren already had a stage name when he starred in Gidget and its sequels in 1959. The ’50s surf hit brought him instant fame, and he soon capitalized on that notoriety with a number 3 hit single called “Goodbye Cruel World” in 1961.

Darren had several other pop hits, including “Her Royal Majesty” and “Conscience”, but soon moved into television, playing the lead role in the science fiction series “The Time Tunnel” from 1966 to 1967, a policeman in “TJ Hooker” from 1983 to 1986, and the role of Vic Fontainel in the spin-off “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” from 1998 to 1999.

Darren continued his acting and singing career while also directing television episodes including Hunter, The A-Team and Silk Stalkings.

Darren married Gloria Terlitsky in 1955 and the couple had one son, James Jr., before divorcing in 1958. Two years later, he remarried to Evy Norlund, the former Miss Denmark, and they had two sons, Christian and Anthony.

The post James Darren, Teen Idol and Singer Who Starred in ‘Gidget’ and ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,’ Dies at 88 appeared first on TheWrap.