Children of the 1960s might recognize the late actor James Darren from his role as Moondoggie, aka Jeffrey Matthews, from the hit 1959 beach party movie “Gidget.” Darren reprised his role in “Gidget Goes Hawaiian” and “Gidget Goes to Rome.” Darren, however, was massively prolific in film, TV, and music, and his decades-long career was only cut short this week when the actor passed away at the age of 88. He left behind a sizable body of work that includes 14 studio albums, dozens of appearances in TV shows, and movies beyond Gidget. He shared the screen with future “Gilligan’s Island” stars Bob Denver and Tina Louise in “Those Who Think Young,” popped up in Jess Franco’s 1969 version of “Venus in Furs,” and most recently appeared in the Harry Dean Stanton film “Lucky” (one of the best films of 2017).
To Trekkies, Darren is best known for playing Vic Fontaine, the holographic Rat Pack-era lounge singer on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.” Vic Fontaine was a fascinating and weird character in a series jam-packed with fascinating and weird characters. Vic wouldn’t just croon American standards in his 1960s Las Vegas lounge, but often stepped off the stage to give sage, one-on-one advice to any curious seekers. Strangely, even the non-Earthling characters came to love Vic and his vintage Vegas home. Vic only appeared in seven episodes, but he was incredibly memorable. He even got to sing a gorgeous rendition of “The Way You Look Tonight” in the series finale.
The character became so beloved by the denizens of DS9 that he was eventually taught that he was indeed a hologram (most holodeck characters exist only within their programmed scenario). Vic became the station’s ersatz counselor, offering legitimate psychological analysis to characters when they were recovering from trauma. Most notably, he comforted Nog (Aron Eisenberg), who moved into the holographic 1960s Las Vegas setting after having his leg blown off in combat.
Vic Fontaine, the crooning shrink
According to the lore of “Deep Space Nine,” Vic Fontaine was a special request of Dr. Bashir (Alexander Siddig), and he was programmed to be sentient by an engineer named Felix, often mentioned by never seen. The 1960s Las Vegas setting offered an element of visual variety to the show, as it often bored the showrunners to film episodes on the same eight sets day in and day out. Also, it was established on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” that starships employ full-time counselors to aid Starfleet officers through their personal issues and sci-fi trauma, so it seemed unusual that Deep Space Nine wouldn’t have a counselor on board. This would have been wholly appropriate, given that it was a series about a wounded planet recovering from a genocidal military occupation.
Vic Fontaine, who first appeared in the sixth-season episode “His Way” (April 22, 1998), quickly took up that role. He offered romantic advice to Odo (René Auberjonois) after intuiting the varied relationship strife among the gathered DS9 crewmembers. He saw that Odo was in love with Major Kira (Nana Visitor), but was unable to express himself openly. Vic walked Odo through typical human romance, offering pointers.
As mentioned, Vic also had an interesting relationship with Nog, the Ferengi officer who was drafted into the war effort. Nog lost his foot in an explosion, but modern medicine was able to grow a new one without too many issues. Regardless, Nog was horrified by being mutilated in the war and required a constant escape. In “It’s Only a Paper Moon” (December 30, 1998) Nog is seen repeatedly rebuffing the advice of his flesh-and-blood contemporaries, content to live in an artificial Vegas lounge indefinitely. Only the holographic Vic can approach Nog gently and point out that living in a fantasy isn’t a good way to heal. It may be a good temporary salve, but one must reenter the real world eventually.
The inception of Vic Fontaine
The idea of Vic Fontaine was conceived by “Deep Space Nine” showrunner Ira Steven Behr. In Terry J. Erdmann’s invaluable sourcebook “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion,” Behr is quoted as saying that he wanted a character that was kind of like of Yoda, but who could be played by Frank Sinatra, Jr. Behr reportedly asked Sinatra to appear in the show (it seems that Sinatra was a Trekkie), but that he wanted to play an alien, not a ’60s lounge singer. Darren was eventually approached and it was a wonderful match, as he brought an uncharacteristic warmth to an otherwise terse “Star Trek” series.
The way Behr approached Darren was also amusing. It seems that Behr was visiting a memorabilia convention, hoping to find a birthday present for someone, and Darren happened to be there signing autographs. Behr’s friend, Fred Rappaport, knew Darren and wanted to talk to him. It turned out that Rappaport had the ideal ice-breaker all ready to go: ask James Darren about his short-live line of pasta sauces. That was enough to arrange an audition … which Darren nailed. According to Behr:
“Jimmy Darren comes in, and he’s talking about how he owns a pair of Dean Martin’s shoes, and he knows where to get the right tuxedos, at Sy Devore’s store, and all of that stuff, and he’s being great. We’re all listening to him. And suddenly he starts talking about him and Frank and Dean and gambling and making all this money, and suddenly we realize that he’s doing the part. It catches us totally by surprise. We’re sitting there with the script pages and don’t even realize it! He had gone right from being Jimmy to being Vic — without a beat.
Darren was perfect for Vic Fontaine. Behr suggested a few other actors be auditoined just in case, but no one would hear it. James Darren was Vic Fontaine. The singer became an installation on Deep Space Nine, and everyone — viewers and characters — loved him.
R.I.P. James Darren.
