Rhino Factoids: Bobby Darin’s Last Show

43 years ago today, Bobby Darin took his final bow on the concert stage, and even though he wasn’t aware at the time that he’d never do another show, it’s evident from the reminiscences of those who knew and worked with him that he suspected he was in the home stretch of both his career and his life.

The location of the show in question was the Las Vegas Hilton, and it was an ending for Darin in more than one way, as it wrapped up the residency he’d held at the hotel since the previous month. Never gifted with robust health, Darin’s resilience was drooping pretty low even for him, and as T.K. Kellman told TVParty.com, the multi-faceted performer knew where things stood in terms of his long-term future.

“I remember we were all sitting in the living room one night at Tommy Amato's house,” said Kellman. “Bobby, Tommy, myself, (bassist) Bill McCubbin, and - interestingly enough - Telma Hopkins (of Tony Orlando and Dawn fame), who was living with Tommy at the time. Bobby said, 'Guys, I think this is it. It feels like I'm gonna die this year.' Although we all poo-poohed him, it was painfully obvious from his weakened condition and gray color that he was seriously ill.”

Indeed, as Kellman also recalled to TV Party, Darin had begun to incorporate false exits into his shows “so that he could duck briefly backstage and suck on an oxygen mask for a few seconds before returning to the stage.”

In case you don't know your Darin history, no, he didn't step offstage 42 years ago and drop dead. Thankfully, we still had him for a few months yet. But on December 11, he entered Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles to repair two artificial heart valves he'd received in an earlier operation, and he died following surgery on December 20, only 37 years old. Given how much he accomplished in his short time on earth, it's pretty depressing to think how much more he could've accomplished if only he'd had the chance.