Also known as a singer and his singing talents are revealed as the portrayal of the hologram Vic Fontaine on a couple of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993) episodes.
As a teen he commuted from South Philly to New York to attend Stella Adler's drama classes.
At one time in the 1970s he toured the country with comedian Buddy Hackett as a singer.
Father of CNN anchorman Jim Moret.
First wife Gloria Terlitzky was a childhood sweetheart. They had a child named Jimmy. Second wife Evy Norlund, Miss Denmark of 1958, gave him two sons, Christian and Anthony.
Godfather of A.J. Lambert, who is the daughter of Nancy Sinatra and granddaughter of Frank Sinatra. Darren was a close friend of Sinatra and his family.
He is of Italian ancestry.
He is the only actor to appear in all three "Gidget" films: Gidget (1959), Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and Gidget Goes to Rome (1963).
He was originally not given the Moondoggie character in Columbia Pictures' Gidget (1959) because the role required two songs to sing and Darren had not proven himself a capable enough singer. On his own, he cut a single with the studio's recording subsidiary, Colpix Records, which charted. Columbia changed its mind and gave him the role despite the fact that he couldn't surf and was a weak swimmer. He nevertheless became a huge teen idol and reprised the Moondoggie role in both Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and Gidget Goes to Rome (1963), all with different Gidgets: Sandra Dee; Deborah Walley and Cindy Carol.
His current surname, Darren, since 1959, was inspired by the famous automobile of the 1950s.
His wife, Evy Norlund, is the former Miss Denmark of 1958.
Interviewed in Tom Weaver's book "I Talked with a Zombie" (McFarland & Co., 2008).
Introduced to talent agent 'Joyce Selznick' by a secretary at a Photography Shop on Broadway in New York City, called "Maurice Seymour of Hollywood." He was signed to Columbia Pictures in 1956 and given the name "James Darren" by the studio in honor of the Kaiser-Darrin sports car.