“I want to make it faster than anyone has ever made it before. I’d like to be a legend by the time I’m 25.” 

The Artist

August 26, 1973: Bobby Darin strides confidently onto the stage of the Las Vegas Hilton’s Lounge, just as he had done dozens of times before. He dons his signature black tuxedo, patterned vest, and pointy wingtips, his hairpiece laying perfectly on his increasingly balding head. You could never tell it was false. He’s greeted by a crowd anxious to see one of Vegas’ most prominent performers, after all, its his last show of the year in Vegas. But what the crowd doesn’t know is that Darin has been backstage for forty five minutes sucking oxygen from a mask and tank, in preparation for tonight’s performance. What the crowd also doesn’t know, though Darin can sense it, is that this will be his last show ever.

Walden Robert Cassotto was born on May 14, 1936 in East Harlem New York. Early in his life, his family moved to the Bronx section of New York City, where Darin attended the prestigous Bronx High School of Science. At age six, Cassotto developed rheumatic fever, a disease that would plague him for most of his childhood. About two years later, Cassotto overheard the family doctor tell his mother that he wouldn’t reach age sixteen. The knowledge that death was always looming around the corner inspired Walden to push harder. It is also the reason for his egotistical, arrogant and sometimes angry off stage attitude he would develop later on as he became more successful.

Cassotto outlived the doctor’s prediction and by age sixteen he was performing at the Catskills Resort in New York. It was during his late teenage years that he developed his talents of singing, dancing, playing instruments, and performing comedy routines. In 1955, he met Don Kirshner (who would later discover singer Neil Diamond) and they formed a songwriting partnership. In 1956 Cassotto signed with Decca Records. It was during this time that he began using the name “Bobby Darin”. A name he invented one night while going through a phone book.

Bobby Darin’s first major hit came in 1958 when he released “Splish Splash”, a song he had written in less than an hour on a cocktail napkin. In 1959 Darin released his first album, That’s All, reaching number seven on the Billboard Charts. That same year he released his first and only number one hit, “Mack the Knife”. Sung in the Sinatra big band style, “Mack the Knife” was Darin’s way of showing the world that he was more than the typical “teen idol” singer. As a result, Darin began headlining in Las Vegas and quickly ascended to the top, bringing in large crowds comparable to that of the more seasoned performers like Sinatra and Martin.

Darin began an acting career in 1960. He co starred in several successful pictures, many with the actress Sandra Dee whom he married in 1961. Darin was nominated for two academy awards over his short acting career, neither of which he won. Darin’s popularity flourished through the mid sixties, earning him two grammy awards and nine top ten hits, the last of which came in 1966 with “If I were a carpenter”.

Around this time, Darin became increasingly involved in politics. He was against the war in Vietnam and campaigned actively for RFK in 1968. Darin was standing on the dais near RFK the night he was assassinated, an event that deeply troubled him. Darin found out that same year that the woman he believed to be his mother was actually his grandmother, and that Nina, whom he believed to be his sister, was his real mother. This drove Darin into a seclusive state. For the next year he lived alone in trailer near Big Sur.

Darin returned to Los Angeles, hosting the Bobby Darin show from 1971 to 1973. His comeback was on the rise but his health began failing due to his previous ailments as a child. In 1971 he had two artificial heart valves implanted, greatly reducing his strength and abilities. He began needing oxygen before and during performances, sometimes fainting afterwards. On December 11, 1973 Darin checked himself into the hospital after developing blood poisoning. The infection significantly damaged his heart valves, requiring operation. On December 19th, an eleven man team worked for six hours to repair his heart, however he would never wake up. Darin died the following morning at age 37.

My Picks

1. Beyond the Sea-1960
2. Mack the Knife-1959
3. Simple Song of Freedom-1969
4. Artificial Flowers-1960
5. Jailer Bring Me Water-1962