Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, impressionist, and actor in film and television. He performed jazz, pop, rock and roll, folk, swing, and country music.
He started his career as a songwriter for Connie Francis. He recorded his first million-selling single, "Splish Splash", in 1958. That was followed by "Dream Lover", "Mack the Knife", and "Beyond the Sea", which brought him worldwide fame. In 1962 he won a Golden Globe Award for his first film, Come September, co-starring his first wife, actress Sandra Dee.
During the 1960s, he became more politically active and worked on Robert F. Kennedy's Democratic presidential campaign. He was present on the night of June 4/5, 1968, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles at the time of Kennedy's assassination. During the same year, he discovered he had been raised by his grandmother, not his mother, and that the woman he thought was his sister was actually his mother. Those events deeply affected Darin and sent him into a long period of seclusion.
Although he made a successful comeback (in television) in the early 1970s, his health was beginning to fail, as he had always expected, following bouts of rheumatic fever in childhood. The knowledge of his vulnerability had always spurred him on to use his musical talent while still young. He died at the age of 37 after a heart operation in Los Angeles.
Acting
Movie
Shadows
as Man at Rehearsal (uncredited)
1960
Movie
Hell Is for Heroes
as Pvt. Dave 'J.J.' Corby
1962
TV
Night Gallery
1970
TV
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
as Self
1962
Movie
Come September
as Tony
1961
TV
The Oscars
as Self
1953
TV
Ironside
1967
Movie
Pepe
as Bobby Darin
1960
Movie
Too Late Blues
as John 'Ghost' Wakefield
1961
TV
The Grammys
as Self
1959
Movie
Pressure Point
as Patient
1962
TV
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
as Self
1968
Movie
Captain Newman, M.D.
as Cpl. Jim Tomkins
1963
Movie
If a Man Answers
as Eugene Wright
1962
TV
What's My Line?
as Self - Mystery Guest
1950
Movie
The Happy Ending
as Franco
1969
Movie
That Funny Feeling
as Tom Milford
1965
TV
The Ed Sullivan Show
as Self
1948
TV
The Flip Wilson Show
as Self
1970
TV
The Jack Benny Program
as Bobby Darin
1950
Movie
State Fair
as Jerry Dundee
1962
Movie
Gunfight in Abilene
as Cal Wayne
1967
Movie
Stranger in the House
as Barney Teale
1967
TV
This Is Your Life
as Self
1952
