Gidget

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Frances Lawrence

Sandra Dee in her role as Gidget
First appearance Gidget, The Little Girl With Big Ideas
Last appearance The New Gidget
Cause/reason End of the series
Created by Frederick Kohner
Portrayed by Sandra Dee
Deborah Walley
Cindy Carol
Sally Field
Karen Valentine
Monie Ellis
Kathy Gori (voice)
Caryn Richman
Information
Nickname(s) "Gidget"
Gender Female
Age "Fifteen-and-a-half years old" (late 1950s, 1960s or early 1970s)
Date of birth Late 1940s or 1950s
Occupation Student
Family Professor Russell Lawrence (father)
Anne Cooper (sister)
John Cooper (brother-in-law)
Spouse(s) Jeff "Moondoggie" Griffin (by the 1980s)
Relatives Danielle "Dani" Collins-Griffin (niece)
Address 803 N. Dutton Drive, Santa Monica, California

Gidget is the nickname (a contraction of "girl midget") of a teenage character adapted for film and television from a novel by Frederick Kohner.[1]

The original Gidget was created by Kohner in his 1957 novel Gidget, The Little Girl With Big Ideas (reprinted numerous times under the shortened title Gidget, by which it is more widely known), written in the first person and based on the accounts of his daughter Kathy (now Kathy Kohner-Zuckerman) of the surf culture of Malibu Point. Kohner, a prolific screenwriter with one Academy Award nomination, published seven sequals to this novel, five of them original novels: Cher Papa (1959), The Affairs of Gidget (1963), Gidget in Love (1965), Gidget Goes Parisienne (1966) and Gidget Goes New York (1968), plus two novelizations: Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and Gidget Goes to Rome (1963), adapted by Kohner from films of the same titles based on original stories by Ruth Brooks Flippin. In the original novel, Gidget gives her name as Franzie, short for Franziska, after her Grandmother, but she doesn't give us her last name. In subsequent novels, her name is Franzie Hofer. In the films in which she appears her name is changed to Frances Lawrence, and the names of some other characters are changed as well. Kohner also wrote other novels about the experiences of different teenaged girls, including The Continental Kick and Mister Will You Marry Me?, as well as non-fiction books such as the biographies Kiki of Montparnasse and The Magician of Sunset Boulevard.

Contents

[edit] Films

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the character Gidget (the prototypical beach bunny ) was adapted for three films, all directed by Paul Wendkos and released by Columbia Pictures:

Although the later two were billed as sequels to the first, there was little attempt at continuity other than in the plot. Only James Darren, playing Gidget's boyfriend Moondoggie, has the same major role in all three films. For Gidget Goes Hawaiian, some scenes from the first film were re-shot with the new cast, to be used as flashbacks.

[edit] Television

In 1965, the character was adapted for television in the sitcom series Gidget, starring Sally Field.[2] It ran for only one season, but continues to have a cult following. There is some thinkng that it was written as a sequel to the films. Arguments in favor of this theory include its use (for the most part) of character names from the films that were changed from those in the novels, the casting of Don Porter as Gidget's father in both Gidget Goes to Rome and the ABC sitcom Gidget, and the fact that it (the sitcom) occasionally refers to events in the films. Arguments against this theory include Gidget's age (sixteen through nineteen in the films, but only "fifteen and a half" in the sitcom), the complete absense of Gidget's sister Ann (a principle character of the sitcom) from all three Hollywood films, and the portrayal of Gidget's acquaintence with "Kahuna"--events leading to her close fiendship with him in the 1959 film are repeated as though for the first time in episode three (The Great Kahuna) of the sitcom. Sally Field's brown hair completed the hat trick for Gidget's natural hair colour: Both Sandra Dee and Cindy Carol were blonde, however Deborah Walley was a redhead. For what it's worth, in the novels, Gidget tells us in Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas and The Affairs of Gidget that she is a natural blonde; in Gidget Goes Parisienne she states that she has black hair, but never says that she is a natural brunette. Nowhere in the novels is she ever said to be a redhead.

In 1969, Karen Valentine starred as Gidget in the telemovie Gidget Grows Up, written as a sequel to the 1965 sitcom series, but freely adapted from the 1968 novel Gidget Goes New York.[3]

In 1972, another telemovie was made titled Gidget Gets Married, in which Gidget finally married longtime boyfriend, Moondoggie. Monie Ellis played the title role.[4] This incarnation of Gidget is unique in that it gives Moondoggie's real name as "Jeff Stevens" (in the novels, the other telemovies and The New Gidget he is "Jeff Griffin"; in the Hollywood films and the sitcom Gidget he is "Jeff Mathews". Later that year, Hanna-Barbera produced a 60 minute animated feature for television, Gidget Makes the Wrong Connection, with Kathy Gori as the voice of Gidget.[5]

In 1985, a follow-up of the 1965 sitcom series was launched with the telemovie Gidget's Summer Reunion, starring Caryn Richman as a grown version of the character played by Sally Field.[6] This was followed by a sitcom series The New Gidget, which ran for two seasons 1986-1988.[7]

[edit] In popular culture

  • The names "Gidget" and "Moondoggie" were also used for two characters of the anime series Eureka Seven, among many other nods to surf culture.
  • Ex-Marilyn Manson bassist Bradley Stewart took the first part of his stage name, Gidget Gein, from Gidget, and the second half from serial killer Ed Gein.
  • She is mentioned on the song "Mama I'm a Big Girl Now" from the musical Hairspray on the lines: "But now I'm just like Gidget and I gotta get to Rome!"
  • In 1995 Fred Reiss published a novel titled Gidget Must Die: a Killer Surf Novel, about the darker side of surf culture.[8]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Gidget(2001) by Frederick Kohner, Berkley publishing Group, New York, NY (first edition 1957)
  2. ^ Gidget: The Complete Series [1] (2006). [DVD set]. New York: Sony Pictures.
  3. ^ IMDb credits for Gidget Grows Up
  4. ^ IMDb credits for Gidget Gets Married
  5. ^ Saturday Superstar Movies 2: Hanna-Barbera Productions, Gidget Makes the Wrong Connection
  6. ^ IMDb credits for Gidget's Summer Reunion
  7. ^ IMDb credits for The New Gidget
  8. ^ [2]Fred Reiss: Gidget Must Die: a Killer Surf Novel (1995) Fred Reiss Comedy.

[edit] External links