Remembering James Darren And What Made Vic Fontaine -- and DS9 -- So Special
Late in his career, this multi-talented entertainer made indelible mark on Star Trek
I really hate how, too often lately, I have to turn Subspace Chatter over to an obituary or appreciation for a beloved member of our Star Trek family.
And sadly, this is one of those times, to yes mourn the passing of the great James Darren — but at least as importantly, pay tribute to his unique contribution to the franchise and that of his remarkable character on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Jimmy Darren, who joined DS9 as Vic Fontaine in what was the second (third?!?) act of his career in entertainment, died due to the need for an aortic valve replacement this week due to complications from the need for an aortic valve replacement. He was 88.
It’s amazing, really, that Darren was able make Vic Fontaine such an important — and memorable — part of the Deep Space Nine family in really such a short period of time.
Darren appeared as the hologram patterned after popular mid-20th century Las Vegas-style entertainers over just eight episodes in just about a year’s time from close to the end of DS9’s sixth season in “His Way,” through its series finale at the end of the seventh.
As Dr Bashir (Alexander Siddig) explained, “Trust me, he's no ordinary hologram.”
The origins of Vic Fontaine actually go back to DS9’s fourth season, when showrunner Ira Steven Behr wanted to create a character for Frank Sinatra Jr, who was known to be a Star Trek fan.
The character was supposed to be an occasional, “Yoda-like” figure who would give advice to members of the station crew when called upon.
Sinatra, however, wasn’t interested in playing an entertainer; he had had his sights set on a role as an alien. So nothing came of it at the time.
Until Behr was driving to the studio in the midst of making Season 6, and in the car it came to him, “Time's running out!”
“And I said to myself, ‘I want to do everything that I ever wanted to do on this show! We’re doing Vegas baby, and we're not doing one lousy freakin’ scene of it, we're doing the whole show about it. And we're going to have music! And we're going to have song! And we are going to consummate the relationship between Odo and Kira! That's what the show going to be about.”
So Vic Fontaine finally came to life, but casting Darren in the role was almost happenstance.
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Behr and a friend ran into Darren at a memorabilia show, and one thing led to another and he came in for an audition.
Today, of course, it would be impossible to imagine Vic Fontaine played by anyone else.
By the time Darren joined Deep Space Nine, he had already had had a long career as an actor and singer. He had even co-starred at one point with William Shatner in Shatner’s ’80 cop series, TJ Hooker. And had prior sci-fi experience co-starring in the short-lived Irwin Allen series from the 1960s, Time Tunnel.
And as a singer, he had been charting hits since the early ’60’s.
Darren undoubtedly was such smash with Vic because he could use that entire background with the character, who had his own repertoire of standards like, “Come Fly with Me,” “The Best Is Yet to Come,” and “I've Got You Under My Skin.”
It was so much more than him, alone however, as Darren himself acknowledged.
“When I talked to Ira Behr and [producer] Hans Beimler, and they said, ‘You know you did a really wonderful job in the show,’ I said, ‘Without those terrific words to say, I could never have done it’, because they write this character so beautifully.”
(See Darren talk more about his life and run on Deep Space Nine in today’s feature in “Moment for Trek” below.)
All that talent really reached its zenith in the seventh season episode, “It’s Only A Paper Moon.”
Indeed, that one episode was a masterclass in not only the storytelling Star Trek is capable of, but what’s possible if you give supporting characters enough space and time to develop.
The main cast largely sit this one out, and the episode is carried by two of DS9’s supporting players.
In it, Vic helps Nog (Aron Eisenberg) overcome the trauma of losing a leg in combat during “The Siege of AR-558.”
It remains a crime about a quarter-century later that neither Darren nor Eisenberg got Emmy recognition for this work.
Now both actors have left us, but if we want to remember both of them this is the episode to do it with.
Other than that, as Vic himself might say, “See you ’round, pallie.”
Hailing Frequencies Open…
Here’s the latest that we've been keeping up with…
MOMENT FOR TREK
“Fontaine of Wisdom” with James Darren
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