James Darren, who appeared as surfer character Moondoggie in several “Gidget” films in the late 1950s and early 1960s, once rode the wave of his screen popularity all the way to the coast of Long Island.

The pop star and actor, who died Monday at age 88, starred in a three-week production of the sex farce “Under the Yum Yum Tree” at the Gateway Playhouse in Bellport in June 1961. Also in the show with Darren was Deborah Walley, who had starred opposite him in “Gidget Goes Hawaiian,” which had just been released in theaters. The stars were brought to Gateway as part of an agreement with Columbia Pictures to bring actors from the studio’s then-current films to the Long Island theater. Two years later, Darren sang the theme song for Columbia’s film version of “Under the Yum Yum Tree,” starring Dean Jones in Darren’s role.

Darren was accompanied to Bellport by his second wife, Evy Norlund, a former Miss Denmark, to whom he was still married at the time of his death. Darren’s grandparents in New Jersey looked after the couple’s young son, Christian, during the show.

Darren returned to Long Island in August 1974, when he opened for comedian Buddy Hackett at the Westbury Music Fair (they also played there in 1981). In a 2015 interview with Los Angeles Magazine, Darren recalled meeting Hackett after a performance of Nancy Sinatra’s show at LA’s Cocoanut Grove nightclub. The comedian asked Darren if he wanted to work with him. They ended up playing 14 weeks at the Sahara in Las Vegas and then toured the country together, including a stop in Westbury. When asked what he learned from Hackett about performing in clubs, Darren told Everything magazine.