Bobby, whose real name is Walden Robert Cassotto, was born May 14, 1936,
in New York. His father died before he was born, and he was raised by his mother and sister Nina. Bobby's family was extremely poor when he was born. They were on relief, and his crib was literally a cut-down cardboard box: he will never forget those days.
Never allowing the poverty of the moment to stop him from striving to improve his own and entire family's economic situation, Bobby's life has been characterized by a
continuous effort to better himself. The intense striving for self-improvement is characterized today by his drive to conquer new areas of show business, and to make further strides in each area.
As a youngster, Bobby realized fully the value of a good education if he were to better
himself. While in grammar school he set his sights for, and won the privilege of attending, the Bronx High School Of Science--generally recognized as the outstanding high school in New
York, which only accepts students of exceptional intelligence and who are able to pass rigid
entrance examinations.
Bobby's next goal was earning a scholarship to New Yorks Hunter College, as he was not able to afford tuition to any college or university of
comparable academic stature--this goal too, was accomplished.
Following Bobby's freshman year at Hunter his desire to embark on a acting career became so intense that he left school and began pounding the pavements, looking for any kind of acting job he could get. Surprisingly enough, he got a job almost immediately and for several months toured the country with a
children's dramatic group which staged plays for grammar schools--Bobby's role was that of a Indian chief!
His immediate success in his first try at an acting career gave the 18 year old Darin a false sense of security in his newly chosen profession, and led him to believe that "acting is a cinch"....This feeling of security slowly gave way to despair and disillusionment as the weeks of looking for acting jobs turned into months and then a year with no success.
At the depths of
despair, having lived with a friend in a dingy coldwater flat and sometimes being forced to eat soda crackers and milk pilfered from store fronts to get even one "meal" a day. Bobby happened to meet a young songwriter named Donnie Kirshner.
The pair took a liking to each other, and Bobby showed Kirshner a few of the songs he has written to pass the time in his despair. Kirshner sensed
Bobby's flair for writing , and suggested that they start their own small business writing and selling commercials for local stores. Bobby would write and sing the ditties and Kirshner would sell them--although the pair never had much money in their pockets, the business they got at least made it possible for Bobby to eat decent meals almost everyday, and occasionally to buy a new shirt or pair of slacks.
During one recording session for a radio commercial, Bobby recorded a song which he had
written. A personal manager heard the song and took it to Decca records, where he was immediately offered a contract. Bobby grabbed the contract to use singing as a stepping stone to achieve his ultimate acting ambitions.
Three days after signing with Decca, the company put him on the old Tommy Dorsey network TV show, to sing a song he has recorded for them the day before: "Rock Island
Line". Bobby had never sung before a live audience as a professional in his life, and being unfamiliar with singing and stage techniques, he wrote the lyrics to the song on the palms of his hands. The results of the show, in Bobby's own words were "I bombed!"
However, a strange thing happened to Bobby while he was
performing. Although naturally nervous at first, he became almost immediately at ease and found that he loved the feeling of being on stage in front of a live audience--especially the applause that followed his number, even though he wasn't satisfied with his performance. At that very moment, singing became something more than merely a stepping stone to an acting career for Bobby, and he became determined to use all his energies to master the challenge it presented.
An ironic note is that the week after Bobby's TV appearance, the Dorsey show presented another new, unknown young singer to the nation: Elvis Presley!
A year passed without a commercially
successful record, and Bobby asked for and received his release from Decca , almost immediately signing with Atco records. Another equally unfulfilling year had almost passed when a friends mother suggested a song title to Bobby: "Splish Splash, I was takin' a bath". Bobby and his friend had a good laugh over the title , and to carry the joke even further, Bobby sat down at the piano to pound out the title to music.
Twelve minutes later, "Splish Splash" , which sold more then one million records and ignited one of the hottest careers in history of show business, was written.
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