hello and welcome to our latest news update today James Darren an actor director and singer who had his breakout role of moond doggy in the 1959 movie gigit died Monday at age 88 variety reported the Entertainer died at Ceda Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles according to variety citing his son Jim morrett a chief correspondent for Inside Edition has sought comment from Darren's and morette's agents in response to a post paying tribute to Darren on X from singer Nancy Sinatra Moret responded Nancy my father loved you thank you so much for your kind and loving words Darren had a lengthy resume spanning across film and television starting as early as 1956 according to IMDb but his rolling gig helped him reach heartthrob status in the eyes of teenage movie goers 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 at a studio in San Francisco and word got out that I was there Darren said in the interview thousands of girls were screaming out front when I had to leave the building they tackled me to the ground and pulled pieces of my hair out the police had to rescue me and took me to the roof until things settled down it was total pandemonium in gigit Darren played Mond doggy a surfer who rescues the main character from a bed of kelp and eventually Becomes Her romantic interest he also appeared in two later gig movies 1961's gig goes hawan and 1963's gig goes to Rome Darren also had supporting roles in the show The Time Tunnel TJ hooker alongside co-star William Shatner and Star Trek Deep Space 9 he also directed episodes of shows including Beverly Hills 90210 zero and Melrose Place born in Philadelphia Darren studied acting in New York and eventually was signed to Colombia pictures variety reported he is survived by his wife eie his three children and five grandchildren the outlet said that wraps up our detailed update on James Darren stay tuned for more updates as the season progresses and don't forget to like comment and subscribe for the latest news on acurate AI news thanks for watching and see you next time