LOOK AT ME, I'M SANDRA DEE

If you love teen movies of the 1960s, then you must remember Sandra Dee. She was the queen of teen films. Although under contract to Universal Studios, Columbia Pictures borrowed her in 1959 to make the classic teenage beach comedy

But Dee didn’t start out as a star. She was born with the questionable name of Alexandra Zuck, whose last name could be a disaster by changing just one letter. Bayonne, New Jersey is where she was born April 23, 1942, at the height of World War II. She was an adorable little girl and her parents introduced her to modeling at the age of 4. She also got into commercials. She became a very successful model at age 14 in New York City and was earning top dollar.

She and her family moved to Hollywood in 1957 so she could get into films. After graduating from University High School, she was “discovered.” She was cast in director Robert Wise’s MGM war film, Until They Sail. Filmed in New Zealand, the movie was about sisters looking for men when the Marines landed. Starring with Dee were Joan Fontaine, Jean Simmons, Piper Laurie, Paul Newman, and Charles Drake. Dee won a Golden Globe Award as the most promising newcomer of the year.

MGM was happy with her performance in Until They Sail, and they cast her in The Reluctant Debutante (1958) with handsome newcomer John Saxon, age 23 (b. 1935). Dee was a luscious 17 at the time. Also in the cast were stage and screen star Rex Harrison (My Fair Lady), Kay Kendall (Les Girls), and Angela Lansbury (Broadway’s Mame). This comedy romance has Dee playing the American-raised daughter of Brit Harrison, who visits London during the debutante’s ball.

The year 1959 was a watershed time for Sandra Dee. Ross Hunter cast her in the major tearjerker and glamour film, Imitation of Life. Starring as Dee’s mother was the glamorous blonde star from MGM, Lana Turner. The film became Universal’s highest grossing film to that time and was a world-wide sensation. It catapulted Dee into a household name, much like Turner’s persona. Newcomer John Gavin played Turner’s love interest. And also that year, Dee was borrowed by Columbia Pictures for the aforementioned Gidget smash.

Warner Bros. wanted to get in on some of that money-making star so they borrowed Dee as well for another hit movie, A Summer Place (1959) with then blonde heart-throb Troy Donahue, 23, as her love interest. Donahue quickly became washed up, an alcoholic and addict, and died in 2001 at age 65.

Back at Dee’s home studio of Universal, producer Ross Hunter once again made a lavishly costumed epic for star Lana Turner in Portrait in Black in 1960. Dee was reunited with handsome John Saxon once again, and another hit was notched on her belt. By this time she was voted seventh biggest star of 1960.

Dee, being a ripe and luscious young lady, also had a personal life. When on location in Italy for the comedy Come September, she met and fell in love with singer Bobby Darin (“Mack the Knife”), who had a part in the movie. With gorgeous co-stars such as Rock Hudson and Italian bombshell Gina Lollobrigida to inspire them, the couple got married December 1, 1960 after the film was completed. The couple subsequently added to their family with little son Dodd, who was born in December 1961. Alas, the Darins divorced in 1967.

Dee went over to Twentieth Century Fox studios in 1963 to star with mega-star James Stewart in another comedy, Take Her, She’s Mine, co-starring TV favorite Jim Nabors (Gomer Pyle), another giant hit. She was still on top of the heap.

Producer Ross Hunter loved Dee and cast her in yet another comedy, this time with musical stars Andy Williams and Robert Goulet, plus the added comedy touch of hilarious Rip Taylor. It was titled I’d Rather Be Rich (1964). It was time for another pairing with Bobby Darin, and the film was That Funny Feeling (1965) with the wonderfully talented Donald O’Connor (Singin’ In The Rain) and funny lady Kathleen Freeman. Dee plays a maid who cleans Darin’s apartment, falls in love with him, and tries to pretend that his apartment is hers. It’s all a funny mix-up of course.

With the movie business changing and with studios no longer wishing to have stars under long-term contract, Dee was dumped by the studio. She was now on her on, a fish out of water, and no studio to protect her, nearly a washed up ingenue at 24.

She had been suffering from anorexia her whole life and she also fell into a depression because of her divorce from Bobby Darin. This led her to indulge in drinking alcohol a little too much. This did her kidneys no good.

She still worked on occasion; she did another film for Ross Hunter called Rosie in 1967 with screen legend Rosalind Russell (Auntie Mame), TV’s Audrey Meadows, and that wicked witch, Margaret Hamilton. Dee plays Russell’s granddaughter Daphne. Dee’s character saves Russell’s Rosie from being declare insane by her evil children who want her money. It turned out to be a box-office flop.

Her health deteriorated further and she became seen less and less around the Hollywood crowd. She remained off-screen for more than three years. Most people had forgotten who she was, and for an actor that can be career death. She took a part in a grade Z studio production of The Dunwich Horror in 1970 as a student caught up in an occult plot.

The 1970s saw Dee turning to television to get acting roles. She did such shows as Night Gallery and Love, American Style. She was hit hard by Darin’s sudden death in 1973 from heart failure.

There was a three-year gap between Houston, We’ve Got a Problem in 1974 and Fantasy Island in 1977. She was drinking heavily and her kidneys were severely damaged. After her appearance on Police Woman in 1978 there was a five-year drought until her role on Fantasy Island in 1983. Her last feature film was a low-budget stinker called Lost, shot in Colorado. It was a box-office bomb.

The sad conclusion to what had been a stellar career as a top star ended when Sandra Dee died of kidney disease on February 20, 2005 at only 62...

SOURCE

MY FIVE FAVORITE MALE SINGERS

Music has played such an important part in my life. It really is the soundtrack to my life. As everyone knows, I love the old singers. I last published my favorite male singer list in 2013, so here is my updated list. They all had a way with a song...

5. DICK HAYMES (1918-1980)   

Dick Haymes burst on the scene in the early 1940s after paying his dues as a vocalist with the Harry James and Tommy Dorsey Orchestras. His deep baritone highlighted many songs of the era like: "You'll Never Know', "Little White Lies", and "It Might As Well Be Spring". Signed with Decca Records, Dick got second choice of songs due to Bing Crosby being the main crooner at the studio. Dick had trouble with alcohol and marriages in the 1950s and 1960s, but his voice remained rebust and engaging until his death from lung cancer. 2013 ranking: 6

4. TONY MARTIN (1913-2012)

I had the opportunity to see and hear Tony Martin perform live in 1999, and he remained a great vocalist throughout his career. His recording career started in the mid 1930s, and he emerged as a very capable singer. He had numerous hits throughout his career like: "It's A Blue World", "Tennement Symphony", "I Get Ideas", "Stranger In Paradise", and "All The Things You Are" among countless other songs. He faced a lot of heart ache in later years. His wife, the beautiful Cyd Charisse died in 2008, and his only son Tony Jr died in 2011. 2013 ranking: 10

3. BOBBY DARIN (1936-1973)

Bobby Darin filled more living and life in his 37 years on this earth than most people do in a lifetime. He burst on the scene with his hit "Splish Splash" in 1958. He wanted to be bigger than Sinatra, and in ways he was a more dynamic performer. He had many signature songs like "Mack The Knife", "Beyond The Sea", and "Artificial Flowers". He acted in movies, was a top draw in Las Vegas, and made countless records. Unfortunately, his life was cut short when he had heart surgery and never recovered. He was way too young to die.  2013 ranking: 3

2. DEAN MARTIN (1917-1995)

Dean Martin was one of those singers that made singing look so easy. It looked like he was lazy but in the 1940s and 1950s he worked hard to become a great crooner like his idols Bing Crosby and The Mills Brothers. He gained wide recognition being a part of a comedy team with Jerry Lewis, but when he broke up with Lewis in 1956, Dean became a superstar. He had numerous hits in his career like "That's Amore", "Memories Are Made Of This", "Sway", and "Volare" among others. He was one of the biggest television stars of his time, headlining his own variety series from 1965 to 1974. Dean was never the same after his son was killed in 1987, and Dino died alone on Christmas Day 1995.  2013 ranking: 2

1. BING CROSBY (1903-1977)

Bing Crosby has the most widely recorded voice in the history of humankind. During World War II, Bing was voted the most widely respected person in the world. He recorded his first record in 1925, but it was not until the 1930s that Bing soared to super stardom. He first recorded with Brunswick Records and had hits like: "Please", "Brother Can You Spare A Dime", and "I Surrender Dear". He made his starring movie debut in 1932's The Big Broadcast. Bing was a top movie draw at Paramount Studio from 1932 to 1956, and he was signed to Decca Records from 1935 to 1957. Bing was the first multi media star, and I could write for pages what Bing did for the entertainment industry. He was and is and has been my favorite singer for decades. I doubt that will ever change.  2013 ranking: 1

Again, this is just my list and only my top five favorites. My five runners up would be: Buddy Clark (1912-1949), Vic Damone (1928-2018), Nat King Cole (1919-1965),  Al Jolson (1886-1950),  and Frank Sinatra (1915-1998). I have numerous singers that I love and collect, but these are my favorite...

HOLLYWOOD LOVE: BOBBY DARIN AND CONNIE FRANCIS

In the late 1950s, music was changing. A new group of singers emerged from these early days of rock ‘n’ roll. Two of those singers that rose to fame were Bobby Darin and Connie Francis. Not only were they the king and queen of these new recording artists, but they also had a short lived  love affair. It was a love affair that Connie Francis never really recovered from.

Bobby's new manager George Scheck worked hard to help the career of a young new singer he had discovered named Connie Francis (Concetta Franconero). Her father was an intimidating man who wasn't about to let ANYTHING stand in the way of his daughter's career. But this didn't stop Bobby Darin, who fell head-over-heels in love with Connie. In fact, he started to tell people that he wanted to marry her and that, not only would she make the perfect wife, but also the perfect mother for his children! (According to Connie Francis, Bobby actually proposed to her prior to EITHER of them ever having a hit record.). Despite some disagreement about material, after several weeks Darin and Francis developed a romantic relationship. Francis' strict Italian father would separate the couple whenever possible. When her father learned that Bobby Darin had suggested the two lovers elope after one of her shows, he ran Darin out of the building at gunpoint, telling him to never see his daughter again.

Once successful, Bobby and Connie remained close "professional" friends forever, even co-hosting the Heart-To-Heart Telethon for the American Heart Association as the King and Queen of Hearts! In 1959, they appeared together on The Ed Sullivan Show and sang a couple of duets. Ironically, Connie even recorded "My Teenage Love", the demo Bobby had written and recorded that first launched his career! (She also cut his composition "My First Real Love", which was released as her fourth MGM single ... and the backing group credited on the record, The Jaybirds, was, in fact, Bobby Darin overdubbed!

Francis saw Darin only two more times – once when the two were scheduled to sing together for a television show, and again when Francis was spotlighted on the TV series This Is Your Life. By the time of the latter's taping, Bobby Darin had married actress Sandra Dee. In her autobiography Francis stated she and her father were driving into the Lincoln Tunnel when the radio DJ announced Dee and Darin's marriage. Her father made a negative comment about Bobby finally being out of their lives. Angered, Francis wrote, she hoped the Hudson River would fill the Lincoln Tunnel, killing both her and her father.

When Bobby Darin died tragically young at the age of 37 in 1973, Connie had to be sedated. She threatened to slice her wrists and was unconsolable for days. Francis later wrote that not marrying Darin was the biggest mistake of her life. As late as 2011, Connie was talking about her lost love Bobby Darin. Would the relationship have worked? Probably not. Bobby Darin wanted a wife that would sit at home while he had the fame. He found that woman in Sandra Dee. Connie, at the time of their romance, had as much drive and determination as Bobby Darin had. The relationship might have never gone anywhere, but Bobby and Connie both shared a lasting love for each other…

BOBBY DARIN AND HIS FORGOTTEN SECOND WIFE

Despite getting a divorce, many fans believe that Bobby Darin's true love was Sandra Dee. They seemed to have a love that was timeless. However, Darin was married to another woman for a short time before his death. His second wife had her story published in the National Enquirer. The article This article, written by Al Coombes, appeared in the January 20, 1974 issue of the National Enquirer Magazine...

Only days before Bobby Darin's tragic death, his ex-wife lamented" "If Bobby doesn't quit his overworked pace, he'll kill himself."

Andrea Yeager Darin made this grim prophesy to an Enquirer reporter. Eight days later, the man Andrea loved was dead.

Bobby Darin, who had suffered for years from a severe heart condition, died on December 20 at the age of 37 - after having his second open heart operation in 2 years.

In an exclusive interview on December 12, Andrea - without makeup and looking gaunt from sleepless nights of worry - revealed how Darin's medical problems led to the breakup of their short-lived marriage.

"Bobby's been ill for a long time and he's been working too hard - trying to cram too much into too short a time," sighed 32-year-old Andrea, nervously picking at her long fingernails as she sat hunched over with elbows on knees in her small Beverly Hills apartment. "No matter how hard I pleaded for him to slow down, he wouldn't let up...and now he's in the hospital."

Darin had been rushed to the intensive care unit of Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles on December 10 with congestive heart failure. Andrea, her classically beautiful face drawn with sadness said, "Bobby divorced me last October after only 4 months of marriage. I'm convinced he did it to save me the pain and anxiety I was going through worrying about his health." Andrea's soft eyes brimmed with tears as she recalled the scene that destroyed her marriage.

"It was October 1 and we were outside his doctor's office. I begged Bobby to take a long rest and find out why he was progressively losing his strength. He didn't say a word. He just left me and walked off. He never came home...." Her voice trailed off in anguish.

"Two days later I read in the trade newspapers that we were getting a divorce. That's how I found out! I had no idea," she stammered. "Our life together was beautiful for three years when we lived together. Then we got married, but the timing was wrong."

They were married in June, just days after Darin was released from the hospital where he spent six weeks for treatment of an infection of his heart valve. We went on vacation, then Bobby worked for four weeks at Las Vegas and worked some more at Lake Tahoe. He never recuperated. He refused to take it easy. He was such a perfectionist that everything had to be done right."

No one could stop Darin's gritty drive for perfection even though his private physician shared Andrea's concern that the entertainer needed rest. "Bobby puts so much energy into his act - he should slow down," Dr. Raymond Weston told the Enquirer shortly after Darin entered the hospital for the last time.

"Bobby's had some difficulty recovering from his open heart surgery in 1971. This is because he contracted inflammation of the lining of the heart and its valves last May and this always leads to complications. This seems to be the cause of his present condition."

Throughout the interview with Andrea, who daily visited Darin's bedside, she fought a losing battle to control her emotions. "I'm still in shock about the divorce. If only he slows down so he won't kill himself, maybe we could get back together. You see, I still love Bobby very much."

SOURCE

STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: FUNERAL OF GRACIE ALLEN

 

Here is the sad procession following the death of the great Gracie Allen on August 27, 1964 at the age of 62. Following casket of Gracie Allen in funeral procession at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park are husband, George Burns, holding handkerchief to face. Holding his arms are grandchildren, Laura, left, and Melissa Wilhoite. Behind them is Burns' son, Ronald. Among celebrities acting as pallbears are, from left in foreground, Jack Benny, Edward G. Robinson, Bobby Darin...

MY FIVE FAVORITE MALE SINGERS

Anyone that knows me, knows how obsessed with the music of the 1920s to 1950s I am. I try to collect it all, and it is music that has helped during the down times of my life, and it is the music that has been their during my happy high times. This top five will feature my five male singers of that era. There are other singers I like such as Johnny Cash from the country/western side or Billy Joel from the newer guys, but they belong on another list for another time...

5. BUDDY CLARK (1912-1949)
Buddy Clark has been gone almost 65 years, but his recordings were immensely popular to post war audiences of the 1940s. He started out as a band singer in the early 1930s, and even went to Hollywood to become a ghost singer. (He wasn't ugly, but his looks for more suited for records and radio). His biggest hit was "Linda", but he had numerous hits during his career. His career was sadly cut short when he died in an airplaine crash on November 1, 1949, and another one of his hits, "A Dreamer's Holiday" charted after his death. The name of Buddy Clark is not mentioned much anymore but should be.

4. AL JOLSON (1886-1950)
Jolson self proclaimed himself to be "the greatest entertainer", and no one could argue with that because he was. He started making records in 1911, which  was before the microphone was used in recording. His early records seem as old as the dinosaur now, but even those ancient records are worth listening to. Check out his superb recording of "I'd Climb The Highest Mountain" from 1926. He moved to movies in 1929, but within a decade he was out of vogue and supposedly washed up. The movie "Jolson Story" (1946) revived his career and from 1946 until his death in 1950 his voice never sounded better from his old chestnuts to new songs like "If I Only Had A Match" and "I Got Lucky In The Rain", Jolson's voice sounded better as he aged.

3. BOBBY DARIN (1936-1973)
When I listen to Bobby Darin it always sounds like he is singing like he was running out of town. Sadly, with a weakened heart - he pretty much was entertaining on borrowed time. He burst on to the scene in the late 1950s with the early rock hit "Splish Splash". However, he constantly fought record executives because he wanted to sing songs from the Great American Songbook like Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. Like Jolson, Darin could be full of himself. He told his manager one time that he would be "bigger than Sinatra", but his records demostrated he had a great talent. Some of my favorites by Darin include "Once Upon A Time" and "More", and he recorded a duet album with song writer Johnny Mercer in 1960 that I think is pretty much a masterpiece. He died on the operating table in 1973 during heart surgery, and it was way too soon.

2. DEAN MARTIN (1917-1995)
Like Bobby Darin, it seems like Dino never cared when he sang. There was never anything further from the truth. Dean cited Harry Mills (from the Mills Brothers) and Bing Crosby as two of his idols, and he emerged from the shadows of his comedy team with Jerry Lewis in 1956 to become one of the great recording stars of a generation. He was with Capitol Records from 1948 until his buddy Frank Sinatra started Reprise Records in 1962. I can never get tired listening to Dino's recording of "Ain't That A Kick In The Head" , and I lost track of how many movies it was in. People say that after 1964, he kind of gave up on his singing and became more of a comedian who sang, but I have a performance from 1978 of "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime" that Dean did that I would rank up there with one of the great interpretations of the song. It was a sad Christmas for me when Dean died on that day in 1995.

1. BING CROSBY (1903-1977)
In my humble opinion Bing was the father of all popular music. Because of him there was Sinatra, Dino, Tony Bennett, and a host of other singers who poked out through Bing's shadows. It was a huge shadow Bing cast because he was so popular in the 1930s and 1940s that it has been said that Bing's voice has been heard more times than any human being in the history of the world. I am not sure of that, but no other singer before or since was as popular as Bing was. In the 1930s, his voice soared to near operatic heights on recordings like: "Temptation", "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime", and "Black Moonlight". In the 1940s, his recordings followed the trend of popular songs of the time, and I highly recommend songs like "Humpty Dumpty Heart", "Moonlight Becomes You", and "You Keep Coming Back Like A Song" from this song. Bing retreated from popular music scene once rock took over, but he did make some later albums in the 1970s which were some of the best material he recorded in decades. His death in October of 1977 marked the end of an era for music which never will be duplicated.


Now I know everyone will have suggestions for my list and the other talented singers I left off. However this is just a top five list and people would be left off. However, here are a few runners up that deserve to be mentioned as honorable mentions: Dick Haymes (1918-1980), Al Bowlly (1899-1941) Nat King Cole (1919-1965), Perry Como (1912-2001) and Tony Martin (1912-2011).

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: JUDY HARRIET

I came along too late for the Mickey Mouse club. I never have been a fan of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse as a whole yesterday. However, I had a record in my collection called "The Night That Rock N Roll Died" by a little known singer by the name of Judy Harriet. I did some research and she was a member of the Mickey Mouse Club, and of course I had to find out more.

Born Judy Harriet Spiegelman in Los Angeles in 1942 she dropped her last name for performances to avoid the anti-Semitism that still lingered in the 1950's. Her parents were immigrants from Poland, who arrived in America before World War II. Judy's early training was in classical piano and voice, and just prior to the show she had a recital at Carnegie Hall.

She performed for radio, did amateur and variety shows for television, and had released at least one 78rpm recording for Tops records prior to the show. Judy was never a straight dramatic actress, and was not particularly known for her dancing, though she had had lessons. However, she did enjoy sports, including tennis, horseback-riding, and swimming. Judy became a Mouseketeer on the Mickey Mouse Club in 1955.

Judy at thirteen had grown (and developed) more quickly than other Mouseketeers. Even though she was only of average height, she towered over the Mouseketeer boys at that time, which may have caused the directors to put her on the Blue Team at first. Judy was thus usually only seen on Guest Star Day or Circus Day. Because she seemed older and had a nice speaking voice, she was often used to introduce the guest acts, and to do comic bits with them when needed.

In 1956 she was dropped from the lineup but did a few movies. She sang "Hard Rock Candy Baby" with Judy Tyler in the movie Bop Girl Goes Calypso. In 1958 she released two 45 rpm singles, "Tall Paul/'Nuff Said", and "La Paloma/Espana" on the Surf label. (Annette had hit with "Tall Paul" though). In 1959 she recorded "Just A Guy To Love Me/I Cried For The Last Time", also on Surf.

Also that year she sang "The Night Rock 'n' Roll Died" in the Bing Crosby and Debbie Reynolds movie, Say One For Me. The movie was horrible but the soundtrack is memorable. Later that year, she co-wrote "I Promise You" with Bruce Johnston (who later joined the Beach Boys) featured in the Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow. The next year she recorded "Goliath (Big Man)/The Music of Love" and "Buffalo Bop/Restless Doll" for American International Records in 1960. She also released "Waiting for Joe/She's Got Everything" and "Road to Nowhere/Don't" on Columbia.

Between 1959 and 1964 Judy was in demand as a singer for live performances on the teenage show circuit, at civic events, and at military bases. At one such concert at Schofield Barracks on Oahu she was mobbed by 10,000 cheering GI's, and only escaped through the help of a dozen MP's. She was frequently in the fan magazines, and for a time was a member of the 'Teen Magazine variety troupe that also included the Addrisi Brothers, Tommy Cole, Roberta Shore and the Steiner Brothers. She was also visible on the party scene, dating quite a few television stars, but wasn't linked to any serious romances.

In the early sixties Judy released two more 45's thru Columbia, with the songs Waiting for Joe / She's Got Everything and Road to Nowhere / Don't. Judy stopped performing in 1964 after marrying Tony Richman, with whom she has had two daughters. She took part in the Mouseketeer reunion at Disneyland in 1975, and in the television special for the 25th Anniversary in 1980. For the last thrity years she has pretty much stayed away from the limelight. Now 70 years old, she has removed herself from Disney and her teenage years as much as she could, and I don't blame her...

MUSIC REVIEW: BOBBY DARIN AND JOHNNY MERCER

I am trying to get my son, who is going on two years old, into the music that I love - the great standards. So far, he shows some promise! Anyways, last night he picked a CD from my collection to listen to. It was a great duet album - Bobby Darin and Johnny Mercer: Two Of A Kind!

Two of the all-time giants of American popular music come together in this delightful album originally released in the early sixties on Atlantic. According to the liner notes, written by Stanley Green, it was Bobby Darin's idea to undertake this project, and Mercer "was excited about the idea right from the start." Listening to the finished product, there is no doubt about that. The two are really enjoying themselves in the studio, which means that we, as listeners, are allowed to share in the fun. Johnny Mercer, who was one of the few songwriters who could sing, was in fine voice on this record. I personally think it was one of his best singing efforts.

As Green notes, there are hardly any standards in the album: "For this recital, both men decided that though the accent would be on the old-timers, the all-too-familiar warhorses would be kept carefully locked up in the stable." Thus, Darin and Mercer go through a great selection of old tunes, from "Indiana" to "East of the Rockies" to "Jellyroll," all delivered with a casualness that makes them irresistible. They also unearth a couple of obscure gems like "My Cutie's Due at Two to Two," "Paddlin' Madelin' Home," or "Caretaker's Daughter," and they even have time to throw in a classic written by Harry Barris and originally performed by Bing Crosby with the Rhythm Boys, "Mississippi Mud."

Some of Johnny Mercer's own compositions are also highlighted in this project, proving once more (as though it were really necessary!) that he is one of the most gifted, poetic songwriters of all time. For instance, "If I Had My 'Druthers" is given an enjoyable, laid-back treatment, while the reading of "Bob White" is among the best ever committed to wax.

Finally, the title track, "Two of a Kind," a tale of friendship and camaraderie, is a splendid collaboration by Bobby and Johnny, complete with ad-libbed asides that remind us of the timeless comic tradition of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Just like Bing and Bob, Johnny Mercer and Bobby Darin are, indeed, two of a kind...

MY RATING: 10 OUT OF 10

BORN ON THIS DAY: BOBBY DARIN

Bobby Darin died way too young. Had he lived, he would have only turned 75 today. Darin was born on May 14, 1936 in The Bronx to a poor, working-class family of mostly Italian descent. The person he believed to be his father (who was actually his grandfather) died in jail a few months before he was born. It was the height of the Great Depression, and Darin once remarked that his crib was a cardboard box, then later a dresser drawer.

He was initially raised by his Anglo-American mother Polly and his sister Nina, subsisting on Home Relief until Nina later married and started a family with her new husband, Charlie Maffia. It was not until Darin was an adult that he learned that Nina, 17 years his senior, was in fact his birth mother, and that Polly, the woman he thought was his mother, was really his grandmother. He was never told the identity of his real father, other than that his birth father had no idea Nina was pregnant, and thus never knew that Bobby was even born. Polly mothered him well, despite her own medical history resulting in her addiction to morphine. It was Polly who took the young Bobby to what was left of the old vaudeville circuit in New York and places like the Bronx Opera House, and the RKO Jefferson in Manhattan, where he received his first show business inspiration, and where he saw performers like Sophie Tucker, whom he loved.

Darin was frail and sickly as an infant and, beginning at the age of 8, was stricken with recurring bouts of rheumatic fever, an illness that left him with a seriously weakened heart. Overhearing a doctor tell his mother he would be lucky to reach the age of 16, Darin lived with the constant knowledge that his life might be short, which further motivated him to use his talents. He was driven by his poverty and illness to make something of his life and, with his innate talent for music, by the time he was a teenager he could play several instruments, including piano, drums and guitar. He later added harmonica and xylophone.

Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country. Although unknown to the public, his health was dangerously fragile and strongly motivated him to succeed within the limited lifetime he feared he would, and ultimately did, have.

Darin married Sandra Dee; they met while making the film Come September (1961). They made a few more movies together at Universal Studios that were moderately successful. They had one son, Dodd Mitchell Darin (also known as Morgan Mitchell Darin). Darin and Dee divorced in 1967.

He was also an actor, singer/songwriter and music business entrepreneur. His wish for a legacy was "to be remembered as a human being and as a great performer." Among his many other contributions, he became a goodwill ambassador for the American Heart Association.

In 1973, Darin's ill health took a turn for the worse. After failing to take medication to protect his heart before a dental visit, he developed blood poisoning. This weakened his body and badly affected one of his heart valves. On December 11, Darin entered Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for surgery to repair two artificial heart valves he had received in the previous heart operation back in January 1971. On December 19, a five-man surgical team worked for over six hours to repair Darin's damaged heart. Although the surgery seemed initially successful, Darin died minutes afterward in the recovery room without regaining consciousness on December 20, 1973, at age 37....

MUSICAL MOMENTS: BOBBY DARIN

I never get tired listening to the great Bobby Darin. He came along late in the game, but his singing style harked back to the days of Frank Sinatra and Al Jolson. Sadly, Darin died too young, but his great entertaining lives on...

MUSICAL MOMENTS: BOBBY DARIN

Here is a clip of one of my all-time favorite Bobby Darin songs "Artificial Flowers". This version seems a little bit slower than the commercial recording that I have. This version is taken from a Darin television special...

UNUSUAL DUETS: BOBBY DARIN AND STEVIE WONDER

Here is a different looking Bobby Darin and a very young Stevie Wonder dueting on the Darin classic "If I Was A Carpenter". This was from a 1969 special...

BOBBY DARIN (1936-1973)

Bobby Darin did more great entertaining in his short 37 years of life than some entertainers do in their whole 60 plus year career. It is sad that his life was so short. Here are some clips from this talented entertainer...