James Darren, the former teen idol and pop singer who played the dreamy surfer Moondoggie in three Gidget movies before ...

James Darren, a singer, director, and actor known for playing a dreamboat surfer in Gidget and for roles in TV shows such as T.J. Hooker and The Time Tunnel, died Monday in Los Angeles.

Screenplay takes Gidget (now played by Deborah Walley, whom the picture introduces), severs her from the romantic ties that bind her to boy friend Jeff (James Darren) in California, and plants her ...