James Darren’s death at 88 closes a chapter on a particular kind of American dream: the kid from Philadelphia with immigrant parents who rode a wave of charisma straight into movie history. As Moondoggie in the Gidget films, he became the face of sun‑drenched innocence, his chemistry with Sandra Dee defining a generation’s idea of young love and freedom. But he was never just a pretty face. His hit “Goodbye Cruel World” climbed the charts, and he reinvented himself again and again, from time‑traveling scientist in The Time Tunnel to steady presence and director on T.J. Hooker, working alongside William Shatner and Heather Locklear.

Behind the camera lights, he was a young husband at 19, then a devoted father whose son, journalist Jim Moret, still called him “always cool” even at the end. Too weak for the valve surgery that might have saved him, he slipped away in his sleep, leaving behind films, songs, and a family who knew the man behind Moondoggie’s smile. His surf may be over, but the wake he left shimmers on.