Bobby Darin

TV GUIDE 1-28-61

"The Astoundingly Brash Character Of Darin"

It is sad and surprising to note that not everyone is a Bobby Darin fan, especially Richard Gehman, a reporter for TV Guide magazine in 1961.
Gehman states in his article that the then 24 year old Darins "inborn cockiness, arrogance and impertinence make Frank Sinatra resemble Lord Chesterfield". He is also cruel about Bobbys looks mentioning Bobbys receding hairline and how Bobbys face "could of been inflated with a bicycle pump". He seemed to enjoy tearing Bobby down .
"'Cocky' is my favorite word, let them all swing with that word'", he quotes Bobby as saying."I want a battle. If its a battle, I have the chance to change peoples minds."
Gehman goes on the tell how "rude" Bobby could be in his personal life, but then stating that Darin could be "appealing and interesting". He also writes that he felt the "cockiness was a device for attracting attention". He quotes Bobby as saying "When I was three ,I became aware that people would react if you did certain things, I wanted attention. This led to a desire to entertain. I thought and thought for 17 years what I could do. Bing Crosby was my idol....I don't want to probe , I want to perform. I'm interested only in me the performer. That's all there is in my life."(This was before he married Sandra Dee , Gehman writes).
Wrapping up the article, Gehman also took note of Bobbys huge following among teenagers. He writes about hearing two teenagers talking about Bobby and one of them saying he wanted to be like Darin when he grew up. Gehman ends by stating he wondered what Darin would be like when he grew up.