James Darren From ‘T. J. Hooker’ Is 87 And Went On To Sing As A Hologram

There’s no shortage of police dramas out there, especially today, with that list ever growing. But T. J. Hooker managed to stand out with a powerful cast who brought memorable characters to life. Officer Jim Corrigan filled a specific, colorful archetype the pretty bad boy who valued results over the rule book. The face behind this roguish cop was James Darren, whose work extends far beyond this landmark series.

Pennsylvania native Darren was born as James William Ercolani on June 8, 1936. He knew right away that he wanted to act and studied in New York alongside actress and acting teacher Stella Adler, who came to work with a type of method acting that had actors empathetically draw from the emotions of the character’s situation, not their own. Soon into his career after studying with the masters, Darren scored a contract with Columbia Pictures.

He is on the case

A preview into his time on T. J. Hooker, Darren rose to fame as a teen heartthrob, exacerbated not just by his appearance and the roles he took up, but also by his experience as a pop singer. Darren would deny truly being a musical person, saying, “I wasn’t really a singer. I was a kid in Philly whose dad would take him to bars and nightclubs and I would get up and sing two songs.” But he gave listeners some very beloved hits, including “Goodbye Cruel World” in 1961, which reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

RELATED: The Cast of ‘T. J. Hooker’ Then And Now 2023

Darren had the power to steal the show even early on; as Moondoggie in 1959’s Gidget, he was third-billed but ended up the leading man. He can also be seen in the music video for the jukebox film “Because You’re Mine.”

It was when he joined the cast of T. J. Hooker that Darren mused on the nature of his career, observing, “Every career has its hills and valleys. The most important thing is that you are happy with you. Not anybody’s career, no one that I know of, has always been climbing.” Climb he did, featuring not just in front of the camera but also behind it, directing several episodes that helped launch his career as a director. Shows that got his special director’s touch include The A-Team, Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place.

How many children did James Darren have?

Darren discussed his career in terms of hills and valleys, and his career seemed to be a series of peaks – although the downward slopes were never really terribly negative. Despite his dismissive attitude towards his own musical prowess, his singing career enjoyed renewed success. He had some Vulcan assistance with that, as he got to show off his pipes in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, where he played the holographic crooner and advisor Vic Fontaine. He drew inspiration from his friend Frank Sinatra and from Tony Bennett.

From there, Darren enjoyed a steady stream of work, landing roles in Random Acts (2001) and Lucky (2017).

Even his personal life – mostly – enjoyed the kind of idealized success usually only seen in, well, the movies. He’d been smitten with a woman named Gloria Terlitsky since ’53 and they had an element of star-crossed lovers adding to the thrill of their romance, as Gloria’s father forbade the relationship because they were different faiths. The two wed in ’55 and had a son together, James Jr. (“Jimmy”), who became a chief correspondent for Inside Edition.

It wasn’t a total fairytale, however, as the two ended up divorcing in ’58. James Jr. was adopted by Gloria’s third husband and became Jim Moret. Meanwhile, Darren ended up marrying Miss Denmark, Evy Norlund, and the couple had two children, Christian and Anthony.

The singles slowed down decades ago, but his last album, Live! For The First Time, released in 2019. Today, Darren is 87 and has built quite the well-rounded career for himself.

Who was your favorite officer on the job in T. J. Hooker?