Oh, the shark, babe

Today is Bobby Darin’s birthday!

Darin (May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973), you will recall, was an American singer, songwriter, and actor of film and television. He performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk, and country.

When I was growing up, we had a 45-record of Darin’s 1959 hit “Mack the Knife”, which our mother loved. We accused her of listening to it too much and teased her about her uncharacteristic affection for Bobby Darin. My sister and I even had a dance routine worked out with specific hand gestures, which we would perform for years to come (and may have as recently as the boy’s wedding). Of course, we thought it was spectacularly silly and made much fun of Bobby Darin. But truth be told, we secretly liked him a lot.

He made some not-so-classic films with his wife Sandra Dee, but I do love Come September (1960), which stars Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida and, in a small part, Leslie Howard’s son, Ronald Howard.

Awkward, to say the least…

Bobby Darin was best when playing young, finger-snapping hipsters and he was not so great in serious roles. He memorably over-acted in the part of a shell-shocked soldier in Captain Newman, M.D. (1963) with Gregory Peck and Angie Dickinson, and was even nominated for an Academy Award. He didn’t win, of course, but it must have been a thrill for him. (At the Cannes Film Festival he won the French Film Critics Award for best actor. Zut alors!)

Singing was his real forte though and he became world famous for such hits as “Splish Splash”, “Dream Lover” and “Beyond the Sea”. He died much too young at age 37. Here he is singing his great #1 hit “Mack the Knife”.

P.S. Darin had a custom car built called the “Dream Car”, designed by Andy DiDia, which is on display at the St. Louis Museum of Transportation. It is, like its owner, pretty darn cool.