Evy Norlund: Inside the Life of James Darren’s Wife

Evy Norlund is an American actress and the wife of James Darren. Evy Norlund’s husband is an American television and film actor, television director, and singer. The actor with 6 decades of career span had notable starring and supporting roles in films including Gidget (1959) and its sequels, The Gene Krupa Story (1959), All the Young Men (1960), The Guns of Navarone (1961), and Diamond Head (1962). He also had a recurring role as Vic Fontaine in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1998–1999). As a singer, he achieved hit singles including “Goodbye Cruel World” in 1961.

Evy Norlund: Bio Summary

How old is James Darren’s wife?

Evy Norlund was born on April 3, 1938, in  Copenhagen, Denmark. As of 2023, she is 85 years old. In 1958, James Darren’s wife Evy won the Miss Denmark beauty pageant which was then known as Miss Universe Denmark. Evy went on to represent her country at Miss Universe where she made it to the Top 15.

Evy Norlund is the second woman actor James Darren took to the altar. Before Ev, Darren married Gloria Terlitsky. Her father opposed their marriage because Terlitsky was Jewish while Darren was Catholic. Darren and Terlitsky had a son James Jr. (“Jimmy”) before they divorced in 1958. 

ALSO, READ; Christian Darren: Who is James Darren’s son?

Soon after his separation from Gloria in 1958, the actor met the model-Evy Norlund at a studio acting class. Norlund had come to Los Angeles as Miss Denmark 1958, a finalist for the Miss Universe Pageant, and although she’d lost the contest, she was signed to a contract by Columbia Pictures per 50plusworld. An attraction when they met in class was soon followed by a drive in Darren’s Porsche.

Two years after their divorce, Darren and Norlund tied the knot in a beautiful wedding ceremony in the presence of their friends, families, and loved ones at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York. They walked down the aisle on the 6th of February in the year 1960. He was 23 years old while she was 21 years old.

ALSO, READ; Anthony Darren: Inside the Life of  James Darren’s Son

Darren’s father William Ercolani walked the bride down the aisle, as Evy’s parents couldn’t make it for the wedding, which was fit in between acting jobs for James 50plusworld reported. The couple’s marriage was blessed with two children-  Christian Darren and Tony Darren. Their son Christain was born in 1960 while Tony 1964.

The two love birds purchased a house on Kimridge Road in the Beverly Hills canyon of Los Angeles, California, in 1966; as of 2016, they were still living there. James Darren and his current wife Evy celebrated their 63rd wedding in February 2023.

ALSO, READ; Gloria Terlitsky: What happened to James Darren’s ex-wife?

Evy Norlund is an actress

Though Evy is not as popular as her husband in the film industry, she has also contributed to the growth of the industry in her own way. Later in Darren’s career, he became more active in television, starring as Dr. Anthony Newman in the science fiction series The Time Tunnel (1966–1967). He appeared in the regular role of Officer III James Corrigan in the police drama T. J. Hooker (1983–1986) and in the recurring role of Vic Fontaine in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1998–1999).

Evy on the other hand is an actress, known for The Flying Fontaines (1959), Behind Closed Doors (1958) and It Takes Two (1968) per her IMDB profile. Evy Norlund co-starred in The Flying Fontaines (1959) with Michael Callan and Joan Evans. The film features Evy as one of the Flying Fontaine‘s, trapeze artists; others in the cast are Joe De Santis, Roger Perry, and John Van Dreelen.