Bobby Darin has "hit" with greater impact and faster public acceptance than any young performer in the history of show business.
Too, Bobby has opened up the door to strictly adult entertainment mediums for other young performers to walk through: he was the first young singer to headline the country's top nightclubs, such as Las Vegas' Sands and Flamingo, New York's Copacabana; he was the first young performer to present his own television Spectacular, aimed primarily at an adult audience; and he was the first young singer to bridge the single record and album gap between the teenage and adult buying public, currently selling with equal popularity to both groups.
The ability to draw avid fans from all age groups is probably the most amazing part of the Darin phenomenon. It is never possible to determine exactly what it is about a performer that makes him a star and attracts huge numbers of faithful fans --- the phenomenon is usually attibuted to an indefinable "personal magnetism," which seems to draw fans and adulation as a magnet draws metal.
In Bobby's case the key to his "personal magnetism," which attracts fans from all age groups, can be best explained with one word: VERSATILITY!
Bobby is not confined to a rigid pattern or style in anything he does, and can tailor his every performance to suit an individual audience. His singing easily runs the gamut of every form of popular music; his flawless impersonations of well-known celebrities matches those of the best mimics; his wit and articulate speech allow him to ad lib with equal success to teenage audiences or sophisticated supper club patrons; his innate acting talent in films allows him to be as successful with emotion-packed, dramatic portrayals ( Pressure Point, Captain Newman, M.D. ), as in an out-and-out comedy role (If a Man Answers ).
Raw versatility is inborn, and in this respect Bobby's talents are God-given. But polished versatility is the result of hard, hard work. And in this respect the success he has attained can be credited solely to the hard work and drive supplied by Bobby himself. A veritable dynamo of energy and drive, Bobby is constantly trying to improve his performance in all areas.
Currently at the top of the heap among his contemporaries, sought after in nightclubs, television and continually a top record seller, Bobby is now concentrating his energies on attaining equal success in motion pictures --- a goal which appears well on its way to being achieved.
A stranger to motion picture audiences prior to 1962, that year saw Bobby become the first actor in the history of talking pictures to have FIVE starring films released within one calendar year!
The films were Paramount's Too Late Blues and Hell Is for Heros, 20th Century-Fox's State Fair, Universal's If a Man Answers, and Stanley Kramer's Pressure Point. Prior to the above films, Bobby made his motion picture debut in Universal's Come September, in which he co-starred with Rock Hudson, Gina Lollobrigida and Sandra Dee.
Darin recently completed a co-starring role with Gregory Peck and Toy Curtis in Universal's Captain Newman, M.D., which won him a firm two-picture contract with the studio. These commitments are apart from continuous important offers for starring roles from other producers.
The motion picture area is now getting a close run for its money for Bobby's undivided energy and talents. In early 1962 Bobby brought to reality one of his ambitions of long standing: he orgainzed his own independant record production and music publishing firm, T.M. Music, Inc. Virtually every spare minute that he is not actually performing is devoted to his new company; meeting with song writers, arrangers, artists, listening to demonstration records and tapes, mapping plans with the T.M. staff in both New York and Hollywood, writng songs for other artists, and supervising all recording sessions himself. In addition to the creative gratification derived, Bobby thrives on the executive activities of master-minding the entire operation, which is already one of the most successful in the industry.
The primary purpose of T.M. Music is to give opportunity to fresh, young talent in every area of the music business, and Bobby's motto is "no tape or demo record will go unheard." This is undoubtedly a reflection on his early days as a young songwriter and singer, when Bobby learned that doors seldom opened if you were a "nobody." It is this type of attitude --- the willingness to give anyone and everyone a chance to prove this talent --- that has brought Bobby so much respect and loyalty within the industry, and has helped to make him the success that he is in his own career.
Although motion pictures are now Bobby's chief concern and will undoubtedly be the essence of his future, it was as a singer that he first made an impact upon the nation and gained the opportunity to prove his talent in other mediums.
"And now, the greatest rhythm singer in the business ..... Bobby Darin!" is the introduction Ed Sullivan gave to the young performer when he appeared for the first time on his show in May of 1959. From the immediate reaction CBS-TV received it was apparent that the public agreed with Mr. Sullivan.
Darin went on that year to win two of the recording industry's highest awards: the "Grammy," for "Best New Singer" and "Best Record" of the year, for "Mack the Knife." His nightclub and TV stock soared, and since that time the offers haven't stopped pouring in in both these mediums.
Bobby thrives on change, on improvement, and on continually meeting and conquering the many challenges of new show business areas. Not content to confine himself, he has taught himself to play the piano, vibraphone, drums, banjo and guitar --- and also to dance!
Bobby is unique in another respect. He is not only a polished performer, he is one of our most accomplished young songwriters. For his first dramatic film role in Universal's Come September, Bobby wrote "Multiplication," which, backed with "Irresistable You," became one of the biggest selling records throughout the world. He also wrote the song that ignited his career, "Splish Splash," as well as "Dream Lover," one of the biggest records of 1959, and many other hits, including "Things," "Your the Reason I'm Living," "18 Yellow Roses," and "That's the Way Love Is" from his best selling That's All album.
Bobby also wrote, and sang, the title song from Universal's If a Man Answers, in which he starred, PLUS having composed the love theme used throughout the entire picture!
An excellent example of Bobby's versatility and talent as a performer was seen in 1961 when he top-lined his own TV Special, for Revlon, with Bob Hope and Joanie Summers. Bobby ran the complete gamut of singing and acting styles, and the result was outstanding critical acclaim and the highest rating of the season.
At the age of 27, Bobby possesses a degree of stage presence and flair for showmanship which some performers never achieve in a lifetime.
The New York Times credits him as being "the most striking instance of the renaissance of showmanship."
Bobby, whose real name is Walden Robert Cassotto, was born May 17, 1936, in New York. His father died before he was born, and he was raised by his mother and his older sister, Nina. Bobby's family was extremely poor, 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 his entire family's economic situation, Bobby's life has been characterized by a continuous effort to better himself. This intense striving for self-imporvement is characterized today by his drive to conquer new areas of show business, and to make further strides in each area already mastered. As a youngster, Bobby fully realized the need for a good education if he were to better himself. While in grammar school, he set his sights for, and then 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 York's 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 his Freshman year at Hunter, his desire to embark on an acting career became so intense that he left school and began pounding the pavements, looking for any type of acting job he could get. After struggling unsuccessfully for a year in New York, Bobby met a young song publisher named Donnie Kirschner, and they began to build a modest business out of writing and selling radio commercials for local stores. Bobby would write the ditties, and Kirschner would sell them. A personal manager heard one of Bobby's demonstration recordings and took it to Decca Records, who immediately offered him a contract. Bobby grabbed the contract to use as a stepping stone to achieve his ultimate acting ambitions.
A year passed without a successful record for Darin, and he switched to the Atco label. Another equally unfulfilling year had almost passed when a friend's mother kiddingly suggested a song title to Bobby --- "Splish, Splash, Taking 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 one million records, was written.
Following "Splish Splash" came four more hits in a row, all written by Bobby, including two more gold records: "Queen of the Hop," "Plain Jane," "Early in the Morning," and "Dream Lover." During the popularity of "Dream Lover," Bobby released an album of ballads and 'swing' songs, aimed at adults and teenagers alike, titled That's All.
The first song on the album was "Mack the Knife," which received such fantastic reaction that it was eventually put out as a single, and has sold more than 2,500,000 copies all over the world. The album also contained a later Darin single record hit, "Beyond the Sea," and is the largest selling album in the history of Acto records: over 500,000 copies.
At the time when the album was beginning to gain in popularity, Bobby opened in Las Vegas with George Burns. It was his first big-time nightclub engagement, and he amazed the patrons and press with his style and showmanship. Immediately following his Las Vegas stint, he opened his first Los Angeles engagement at the Cloister, and promptly set a new attendance record at the club; a record which he completely shattered, incidentally, when he returned to the Cloister in April of 1960.
From that point on, Bobby was firmly established as a great new talent.
Nightclub, television and picture offers began to pour in. Appearances on the the top TV shows and headline engagements at the nation's leading nightclubs followed. Motion picture studios and film producers stood in line with contracts the likes of which had never been offered to anyone who had never before made a film.
Bobby is very quick to give a great deal of credit for his meteoric rise to the astute and devoted guidance of his personal manager, Steve Blauner. Blauner, only two years older than Darin, is also a partner in Bobby's Ferrion, Inc. production company and the pair have probably the most successful young star-manager relationships in the history of the business.
One of Bobby's greatest triumphs was his record-breaking engagement at New York's Copacabana, Mecca for nightclub performers, in June of 1960. His first New York engagement, Bobby gave the Copa the biggest business they'd had in years.
"The best since Al Jolson," wrote Walter Winchell.
"The greatest nightclub talent since Sammy Davis, Jr. .... 'Mr. Showman of 1960'," wrote Gene Knight of the Journal-American.
The success was especially sweet because many "old pros" in show business had predicted that no one as young as Darin could possibly draw crowds at the Copacabana --- how wrong they were!!!
Bobby married his Come September co-star, actress Sandra Dee, in December of 1960. In December of the following year, they became parents of a son, Dodd Mitchell Darin.
Remembering all too clearly the struggles of his early life, Bobby has continuously donated his time and talent to charitable activities. Most performers pick a charity to associate themselves with. In Bobby's case, a charity picked him. As a child, Bobby suffered four separate attacks of rheumatic fever --- although he miraculously came through it with virtually no harmful affects, Bobby has dedicated himself to doing everything in his power to help fight the disease.
In February, 1963, for the fourth consecutive year, Bobby was named "King of Hearts" for the American Heart Association. He is the first popular male singing star to win the title more than twice.
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