Bobby Darin, born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, songwriter and actor in film and television.
Background
Bobby Darin was born on May 14, 1936, in the Italian neighborhood of East Harlem in New York City, the son of Vanina "Nina" Cassotto. His father is unknown.
The boy's mother and grandmother, Vivian Ferne Cassotto (Walden), conspired to keep the unwanted pregnancy a secret and led Darin to believe that he was the son, rather than the grandson, of Vivian and her husband, Saverio Cassotto, recently deceased. Not until Darin was in his thirties did he learn that Nina, who had pretended to be his older sister, was really his mother.
Nina subsequently met and married Charles Maffia, a clerk and truck driver. With government assistance supplementing Maffia's modest income, the two women and Maffia moved to the Bronx and raised Darin together.
Education
Darin exhibited an early interest in show business by appearing in elementary school productions and by learning to imitate such popular entertainers as Al Jolson and Donald O'Connor. Darin's grandmother had been a vaudeville singer and dancer and encouraged him to develop his talents.
Between the ages of eight and twelve Darin suffered repeated attacks of rheumatic fever, which left him bedridden for extended periods. Although his condition gradually improved, his physician told his family that he had little chance of surviving past the age of twenty-one. Darin remained on medication and continued to have related health problems for the rest of his life.
Darin was a gifted student and met the rigorous academic requirements for admittance to the Bronx High School of Science, where he learned to play the drums and started a band with four of his classmates. He honed his skills by performing at school dances and by singing and dancing before summer vacationers at New York's Catskill mountain resorts.
After graduating from high school in 1953, Darin attended Hunter College in the Bronx (now Lehman College), where he took theater courses and appeared in a number of stage productions.
Career
After less than a year at Hunter, Darin left college and scratched out a living for the next few years by writing songs and commercial jingles. By that time he had learned to play the piano and guitar as well as the drums and had chosen a new name, Darin, supposedly from a telephone directory.
In 1956, Darin auditioned for Decca Records and was given a one-year contract. He made several unsuccessful records for Decca before moving on to Atco Records, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records, in 1957.
In 1958, Atco released Darin's recording of "Splish Splash. " The song, which Darin reportedly wrote in twelve minutes, was an instant hit and sold more than 100, 000 copies in three weeks. "Splish Splash" and other hit records, including "Early in the Morning" and "Queen of the Hop" made Darin an idol among teenagers at the age of twenty-two and led to appearances on the "Ed Sullivan Show, " Dick Clark's "American Bandstand, " and many other television programs.
Darin, however, aspired to reach an older and wider audience and in 1959 released an album of old favorites called That's All. One of the twelve songs on the album was a new arrangement of "Mack the Knife, " from Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's Threepenny Opera. "Mack the Knife" was released as a single later that year and sold more than two million copies.
Although his voice was considered to be only average by some critics and although the press faulted him for his arrogance and ambition, Darin was an irresistible showman. He developed a physically expressive style that was very much his own. He quickly won over audiences with his finger-snapping and flashy dance steps.
Darin began working the nightclub circuit in Las Vegas by opening for comedian George Burns, who became a father figure to him. Soon he was headlining at the Copacabana and other clubs in New York City and had established himself as one of the most popular and highest-paid nightclub performers in the country.
In 1960, Darin had his first featured acting role in the movie Come September (for which he also wrote the title song), starring Rock Hudson, Gina Lollabrigida, and Sandra Dee.
Unlike many other entertainers who crossed over to film, Darin took his acting career very seriously and often chose challenging dramatic roles. He appeared in more than a dozen movies and was nominated for an Academy Award in 1964 as best actor in a supporting role for his portrayal of Corporal Jim Tompkins in Captain Newman, M. D. Darin continued to perform in Las Vegas and on television for the rest of his life despite heart ailments that hospitalized him and increasingly threatened his career. Bobby Darin died on December 20, 1973, in Los Angeles, California, of heart failure.
During the 1960s, Bobby Darin 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 girl he thought was his sister was actually his mother. These events deeply affected Darin and sent him into a long period of seclusion.
Views
Quotations:
"I could have a roomful of awards and it wouldn't mean beans. "
"When I come out and sing the first few bars of Bill Bailey, it's very exciting. "
"My goal is to be remembered as a human being and as a great performer. "
"Nearly everything I do is part of a master plan to make me the most important entertainer in the world. "
Personality
Bobby Darin suffered from poor health his entire life. He was frail as an infant and, beginning at age eight, was stricken with recurring bouts of rheumatic fever that left him with a seriously weakened heart.
During his first heart surgery, in January 1971, he had two artificial valves implanted in his heart. He spent most of that year recovering from the surgery.
During the last few years of his life, he was often administered oxygen during and after his performances on stage and screen.
Interests
Bobby Darin was an enthusiastic chess player. His television show included an occasional segment in which he would explain a chess move.
Connections
On December 1, 1960, Bobby Darin married Sandra Dee. The couple had one child. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1966.
In June 1973, Darin married Andrea Joy Yeager, a legal secretary. They separated several months later.