What was Bobby Darin's Net Worth?
Bobby Darin was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actor who had a net worth of $700 thousand at the time of his death in 1973. That's the same as around $5 million in today's dollars. Bobby Darin began his career writing songs for Connie Francis. He rose to global fame in 1959 with his self-penned song "Dream Lover" and his covers of the songs "Mack the Knife" and "Beyond the Sea." As an actor, Darin appeared in such films as "Come September," "Too Late Blues," "Pressure Point," "Captain Newman, M.D.," and "Gunfight in Abilene."
Early Life and Education
Bobby Darin was born as Walden Robert Cassotto on May 14, 1936 in New York City to mother Nina and an unknown biological father. However, he was told his mother was his sister, and that his grandmother Polly was his mother. Darin was educated at the prestigious Bronx High School of Science. He went on to attend Hunter College, but dropped out after two semesters to pursue an acting career.
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Music Career
Darin began his music career as a songwriter. With Don Kirshner, he wrote a number of jingles and songs in the mid-1950s. After that, Darin wrote songs for Connie Francis, whom he dated. In 1958, he had his first big hit with the novelty rock song "Splish Splash," which he co-wrote with DJ Murray Kaufman and sang himself. Also that year, Darin had a solid success with the song "Early in the Morning," which was co-written by Woody Harris. In 1959, he rose to global fame with the releases of three major songs: the self-penned "Dream Lover" and his covers of "Mack the Knife" and "Beyond the Sea." All were major commercial hits, with "Mack the Knife" reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and going on to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. Darin also won the inaugural Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
In 1960, Darin released the albums "This is Darin," "For Teenagers Only," and "The 25th Day of December." The first of those peaked at number six on the Billboard 200, becoming Darin's highest-charting album. He went on to release the albums "Two of a Kind," "Love Swings," and "Twist with Bobby Darin." In 1962, Darin began writing and singing country music, with hit songs including "Things," "You're the Reason I'm Living," and "18 Yellow Roses." He had one of his final hits with his 1966 cover of Tim Hardin's folk song "If I Were a Carpenter." Darin continued exploring folk music with his 1967 album "Inside Out." A couple of years after that, he launched his own record label, Direction Records, through which he released folk and protest music. However, the label was unsuccessful, causing Darin to sell the label, his songs, and his publishing company TM Music in order to stay afloat. He released his eponymous final album on Motown in 1972.
Bobby Darin (1970) Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Acting Career
Darin had his first major acting role in the 1961 romantic comedy film "Come September," co-starring his then-wife Sandra Dee. He would later star alongside Dee in the romantic comedies "If a Man Answers" (1962) and "That Funny Feeling" (1965). Meanwhile, Darin starred in such films as John Cassavetes's "Too Late Blues," the 1962 remake of "State Fair," the Steve McQueen war film "Hell is for Heroes," and the psychological drama "Pressure Point." In 1963, he appeared in "Captain Newman, M.D.," for which he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Later in the decade, Darin starred in the Western "Gunfight in Abilene" and appeared in the crime film "Stranger in the House" and the drama "The Happy Ending." He had his final film role in the 1973 mystery film "Happy Mother's Day, Love George."
Personal Life and Death
In 1956, Darin dated singer and actress Connie Francis, for whom he wrote songs. However, Francis's parents did not approve, and her father even threatened Darin with a gun when he learned that Darin had proposed to her. Darin went on to marry actress Sandra Dee in late 1960. A year later, that had a son named Dodd. Despite being seen as a Hollywood golden couple, Darin and Dee had a tumultuous marriage and divorced in 1967. Darin married his second wife, legal secretary Andrea Yeager, in 1973. However, amid Darin's declining health, the pair divorced after just four months.
Darin was in poor health throughout his life, beginning as an infant. He had a weak heart, and had a number of surgeries; during his later years, he was often administered oxygen both during and after his performances. In 1973, Darin developed sepsis, which further weakened his immune system. Toward the end of the year, he had another round of open-heart surgery to repair two artificial heart valves he had received in 1971. On December 20, 1973, shortly after his surgery, Darin passed away in the recovery room of Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles at the age of 37.
