Trivia of Bobby Darin

Trivia of Bobby Darin (14 May 1936 - 20 December 1973)

*Darin's birth mother, Vanina Juliette "Nina" Cassotto became pregnant with him in the summer of 1935 when she was 17. Nina and her mother decided to pass of her baby off as Nina's younger brother.Darin was thus taught to believe his mother Nina was his elder sister and that his grandmother Polly, who had raised him from birth, was his mother. In 1968, when Darin was 32 and considering entering politics, Nina told him the truth, reportedly devastating Darin.She refused to reveal the identity of his biological father and took that secret to her grave when she died in 1983.

*Little Darin was a thin, sickly child. Several bouts of rheumatic fever had permanently damaged his heart, and he was plagued by other health problems as well. Around the age of 6 or 7, Darin overheard a doctor's grim prognosis for him. The doctor said he didn't expect Darin to live past the age of 16.

*He started out as playing in a band in high school. One of his first gigs was a school dance. At 16, he and his band mates landed a job at a Catskills resort for the summer. Darin showed a knack not just for music but comedy as well. After high school, he briefly attended Hunter College. Darin launched his professional music career writing songs for the Aldon Music label and eventually landed his own record contract with Atco.

*Darin took his stage name, Bobby Darin, when he began to record song.One version of how he got the name is that the first three letters on a Mandarin Chinese restaurant were burned out.Another version, he adapted it from the first name of actor Darren McGavin, TV's Mike Hammer. He said, "my legal name will remain Cassotto. Cassotto was my mother's name, and it will be my children's name."

*In 1958, Darin made it big with the lighthearted catchy rock tune "Splish Splash"—a song he wrote that reached the Top 5 of the pop charts. He quickly became one of the teen idols of the era with such songs as "Queen of the Hop".A year later, he scored big with two songs, "Dream Lover" and "Mack the Knife," the latter of which was his first No. 1 hit on the Billboard charts and won him a Grammy Award for record of the year. Darin also won a Grammy for best new artist.

*Darin wrote music and singing for several films in which he appeared, including "Come September (1961)" starring Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida.On set, he met and fell in love with co-star 16 years old Sandra Dee, and the two quickly married before this film release. Their experience on Come September (1961) was depicted in the Bobby Darin biography Beyond the Sea (2004).

*He was seriously campaigned for the role of "Tony" in West Side Story (1961). Ironically, he would wind up winning his only Golden Globe Award in 1962 for "Most Promising Newcomer" (for his role as Tony in Come September 1961) in a virtual tie with with Richard Beymer, who got the role as "Tony", and Warren Beatty, who had also seriously campaigned for the same role.