"James Darren & Evy Norlund: A Golden Love Story Etched in Hollywood History" "In the shimmering orbit of late-1950s Hollywood, circa 1958, James Darren was quickly ascending the ranks of leading men. Born James William Ercolani in South Philadelphia in 1936, Darren had already made his mark in Columbia Pictures’ gritty crime dramas like Rumble on the Docks (1956) before gaining national fame opposite Sandra Dee in the youth-centric surf classic Gidget (1959). It was during the promotional event