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KUKA industrial robots being used at a bakery for food production

Automation is the use of machines, control systems and information technologies to optimize productivity in the production of goods and delivery services. The correct incentive for applying automation is to increase productivity, and/or quality beyond that possible with current human labor levels so as to realize economies of scale, and/or realize predictable quality levels. The incorrect application of automation, which oocurs most often, is an effort to eliminate or replace human labor. Simply put, whereas correct application of automation can net as much as 3 to 4 times original output with no increase in current human labor costs. Incorrect application of automation can only save a fraction of current labor level costs. In the scope of industrialisation, automation is a step beyond mechanisation. Whereas mechanisation provides human operators with machinery to assist them with the muscular requirements of work. Automation greatly decreases the need for human sensory and mental requirements while increasing load capacity, speed, and repeatability. Automation plays an increasingly important role in the world economy and in daily experience.

Automation has had a notable impact in a wide range of industries beyond manufacturing (where it began). Once-ubiquitous telephone operators have been replaced largely by automated telephone switchboards and answering machines. Medical processes such as primary screening in electrocardiography or radiography and laboratory analysis of human genes, sera, cells, and tissues are carried out at much greater speed and accuracy by automated systems. Automated teller machines have reduced the need for bank visits to obtain cash and carry out transactions. In general, automation has been responsible for the shift in the world economy from industrial jobs to service jobs in the 20th and 21st centuries.^[1]

The term automation, inspired by the earlier word automatic (coming from automaton), was not widely used before 1947, when General Motors established the automation department. At that time automation technologies were electrical, mechanical, hydraulic and pneumatic. Between 1957 and 1964 factory output nearly doubled while the number of blue collar workers started to decline.^[2]

Advantages and disadvantages[link]

The main advantages of automation are:

• Increased throughput or productivity.
• Improved quality or increased predictability of quality.
• Improved robustness (consistency), of processes or product.

The following methods are often employed to improve productivity,quality,or robustness.

• Install automation in operations to reduce cycle time.
• Install automation where a high degree of accuracy is required.
• Replacing human operators in tasks that involve hard physical or monotonous work.^[3]
• Replacing humans in tasks done in dangerous environments (i.e. fire, space, volcanoes, nuclear facilities, underwater, etc.)
• Performing tasks that are beyond human capabilities of size, weight, speed, endurance, etc.
• Economy improvement: Automation may improve in economy of enterprises, society or most of humanity. For example, when an enterprise invests in automation, technology recovers its investment; or when a state or country increases its income due to automation like Germany or Japan in the 20th Century.
• Reduces operation time and work handling time significantly.
• Frees up workers to take on other roles.
• Provides higher level jobs in the development, deployment, maintenance and running of the automated processes.

The main disadvantages of automation are:

• Security Threats/Vulnerability: An automated system may have a limited level of intelligence, and is therefore more susceptible to committing an error.
• Unpredictable development costs: The research and development cost of automating a process may exceed the cost saved by the automation itself.
• High initial cost: The automation of a new product or plant requires a huge initial investment in comparison with the unit cost of the product, although the cost of automation is spread among many products.

In manufacturing, the purpose of automation has shifted to issues broader than productivity, cost, and time.

Reliability and precision[link]

The old focus on using automation simply to increase productivity and reduce costs was seen to be short-sighted, because it is also necessary to provide a skilled workforce who can make repairs and manage the machinery. Moreover, the initial costs of automation were high and often could not be recovered by the time entirely new manufacturing processes replaced the old. (Japan's "robot junkyards" were once world famous in the manufacturing industry.)

Automation is now often applied primarily to increase quality in the manufacturing process, where automation can increase quality substantially. For example, internal combustion engine pistons used to be installed manually. This is rapidly being transitioned to automated machine installation, because the error rate for manual installment was around 1-1.5%, but has been reduced to 0.00001% with automation.^{[citation needed]}

Health and environment[link]

The costs of automation to the environment are different depending on the technology, product or engine automated. There are automated engines that consume more energy resources from the Earth in comparison with previous engines and those that do the opposite too. Hazardous operations, such as oil refining, the manufacturing of industrial chemicals, and all forms of metal working, were always early contenders for automation.

Convertibility and turnaround time[link]

Another major shift in automation is the increased demand for flexibility and convertibility in manufacturing processes. Manufacturers are increasingly demanding the ability to easily switch from manufacturing Product A to manufacturing Product B without having to completely rebuild the production lines. Flexibility and distributed processes have led to the introduction of Automated Guided Vehicles with Natural Features Navigation.

Digital electronics helped too. Former analogue-based instrumentation was replaced by digital equivalents which can be more accurate and flexible, and offer greater scope for more sophisticated configuration, parametrization and operation. This was accompanied by the fieldbus revolution which provided a networked (i.e. a single cable) means of communicating between control systems and field level instrumentation, eliminating hard-wiring.

Discrete manufacturing plants adopted these technologies fast. The more conservative process industries with their longer plant life cycles have been slower to adopt and analogue-based measurement and control still dominates. The growing use of Industrial Ethernet on the factory floor is pushing these trends still further, enabling manufacturing plants to be integrated more tightly within the enterprise, via the internet if necessary. Global competition has also increased demand for Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems.

Automation tools[link]

Engineers now can have numerical control over automated devices. The result has been a rapidly expanding range of applications and human activities. Computer-aided technologies (or CAx) now serve the basis for mathematical and organizational tools used to create complex systems. Notable examples of CAx include Computer-aided design (CAD software) and Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM software). The improved design, analysis, and manufacture of products enabled by CAx has been beneficial for industry.^[4]

Information technology, together with industrial machinery and processes, can assist in the design, implementation, and monitoring of control systems. One example of an industrial control system is a programmable logic controller (PLC). PLCs are specialized hardened computers which are frequently used to synchronize the flow of inputs from (physical) sensors and events with the flow of outputs to actuators and events.^[5]

An automated online assistant on a website, with an avatar for enhanced human–computer interaction.

Human-machine interfaces (HMI) or computer human interfaces (CHI), formerly known as man-machine interfaces, are usually employed to communicate with PLCs and other computers. Service personnel who monitor and control through HMIs can be called by different names. In industrial process and manufacturing environments, they are called operators or something similar. In boiler houses and central utilities departments they are called stationary engineers.^[6]

Different types of automation tools exist:

• ANN - Artificial neural network
• BPM - Bonita Open Solution
• DCS - Distributed Control System
• HMI - Human Machine Interface
• SCADA - Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
• PLC - Programmable Logic Controller
• PAC - Programmable automation controller
• Instrumentation
• Motion control
• Robotics

Limitations to automation[link]

• Current technology is unable to automate all the desired tasks.
• As a process becomes increasingly automated, there is less and less labor to be saved or quality improvement to be gained. This is an example of both diminishing returns and the logistic function.
• Similar to the above, as more and more processes become automated, there are fewer remaining non-automated processes. This is an example of exhaustion of opportunities.

Current limitations[link]

Many roles for humans in industrial processes presently lie beyond the scope of automation. Human-level pattern recognition, language comprehension, and language production ability are well beyond the capabilities of modern mechanical and computer systems. Tasks requiring subjective assessment or synthesis of complex sensory data, such as scents and sounds, as well as high-level tasks such as strategic planning, currently require human expertise. In many cases, the use of humans is more cost-effective than mechanical approaches even where automation of industrial tasks is possible. Overcoming these obstacles is a theorized path to post-scarcity economics.

Applications[link]

This section requires expansion.

Automated video surveillance

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) started the research and development of automated visual surveillance and monitoring (VSAM) program, between 1997 and 1999, and airborne video surveillance (AVS) programs, from 1998 to 2002. Currently, there is a major effort underway in the vision community to develop a fully automated tracking surveillance system. Automated video surveillance monitors people and vehicle in real time within a busy environment. Existing automated surveillance systems are based on the environment they are primarily designed to observe, i.e., indoor, outdoor or airborne, the amount of sensors that the automated system can handle and the mobility of sensor, i.e., stationary camera vs. mobile camera. The purpose of a surveillance system is to record properties and trajectories of objects in a given area, generate warnings or notify designated authority in case of occurrence of particular events.^[7]

Automated highway systems

As demands for safety and mobility have grown and technological possibilities have multiplied, interest in automation have grown. Seeking to accelerate the development and introduction of fully automated vehicles and highways, the United States Congress authorized more than $650 million over six years for intelligent transport systems (ITS) and demonstration projects in the 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA). Congress legislated in ISTEA that “the Secretary of Transportation shall develop an automated highway and vehicle prototype from which future fully automated intelligent vehicle-highway systems can be developed. Such development shall include research in human factors to ensure the success of the man-machine relationship. The goal of this program is to have the first fully automated highway roadway or an automated test track in operation by 1997. This system shall accommodate installation of equipment in new and existing motor vehicles." [ISTEA 1991, part B, Section 6054(b)].

Full automation commonly defined as requiring no control or very limited control by the driver; such automation would be accomplished through a combination of sensor, computer, and communications systems in vehicles and along the roadway. Fully automated driving would, in theory, allow closer vehicle spacing and higher speeds, which could enhance traffic capacity in places where additional road building is physically impossible, politically unacceptable, or prohibitively expensive. Automated controls also might enhance road safety by reducing the opportunity for driver error, which causes a large share of motor vehicle crashes. Other potential benefits include improved air quality (as a result of more-efficient traffic flows), increased fuel economy, and spin-off technologies generated during research and development related to automated highway systems.^[8]

Automated manufacturing

Automated manufacturing refers to the application of automation to produce things in the factory way. Most of the advantages of the automation technology has its influence in the manufacture processes.

The main advantages of automated manufacturing are higher consistency and quality, reduced lead times, simplified production, reduced handling, improved work flow, and increased worker morale when a good implementation of the automation is made.

Home automation

Home automation (also called domotics) designates an emerging practice of increased automation of household appliances and features in residential dwellings, particularly through electronic means that allow for things impracticable, overly expensive or simply not possible in recent past decades.

Industrial automation

Industrial automation deals with the optimization of energy-efficient drive systems by precise measurement and control technologies. Nowadays energy efficiency in industrial processes are becoming more and more relevant. Semiconductor companies like Infineon Technologies are offering 8-bit microcontroller applications for example found in motor controls, general purpose pumps, fans, and ebikes to reduce energy consumption and thus increase efficiency. One of Infineon`s 8-bit product line found in industrial automation is the XC800 family.

Agriculture: Now that we’re moving towards automated orange-sorting[1] and autonomous tractors[2], the next step in automated agriculture is robotic strawberry pickers[3].

Agent-assisted Automation

Agent-assisted Automation refers to automation used by call center agents to handle customer inquiries. There are two basic types: desktop automation and automated voice solutions. Desktop automation refers to software programming that makes it easier for the call center agent to work across multiple desktop tools. The automation would take the information entered into one tool and populate it across the others so it did not have to be entered more than once, for example. Automated voice solutions allow the agents to remain on the line while disclosures and other important information is provided to customers in the form of pre-recorded audio files. Specialized applications of these automated voice solutions enable the agents to process credit cards without ever seeing or hearing the credit card numbers or CVV codes^[9]

The key benefit of agent-assisted automation is compliance and error-proofing. Agents are sometimes not fully trained or they forget or ignore key steps in the process. The use of automation ensures that what is supposed to happen on the call actually does, every time.

Relationship to unemployment[link]

See also[link]

	Robotics portal
	Electronics portal

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Dunlop, John T. (ed.) (1962), Automation and Technological Change: Report of the Twenty-first American Assembly, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA: Prentice-Hall. 
• Ouellette, Robert (1983), Automation Impacts on Industry, Ann Arbor, MI, USA: Ann Arbor Science Publishers, ISBN 978-0-250-40609-8. 
• Trevathan, Vernon L. (ed.) (2006), A Guide to the Automation Body of Knowledge (2nd ed.), Research Triangle Park, NC, USA: International Society of Automation, ISBN 978-1-55617-984-6, http://www.isa.org/autobok/. 

External links[link]

Find more about Automation on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
	Images and media from Commons
	Learning resources from Wikiversity
	Quotations from Wikiquote

• IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering
• Jobs in Automation, Robotics and Process Control
• ISA (International Society of Automation)
• ISO 14000, multi-national joint venture Industrial Automation production line
• Intel's Automation Process and Its Role in Process Development and High Volume Manufacturing

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Daniel H. Pink in London

Daniel H. Pink is an American author and journalist. From 1995 to 1997, he worked for Vice President Al Gore in the capacity of chief speechwriter, and before that as an aide to Secretary of Labor Robert Reich.^[1]

Personal history[link]

Pink graduated from Bexley High School in Bexley, OH. He received a Bachelor's degree Phi Beta Kappa from Northwestern University, where he was a Truman Scholar.^[2] He later received a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of The Yale Law & Policy Review. ^[3] He has never practiced law.^[4]

Pink is the author of four books that focus on the changing workplace and that have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list: A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future and Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us as well as Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself and The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need. His articles on business and technology have also appeared in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Wired.

In 2011, he was named one of the 50 most influential management thinkers in the world by Thinkers50.^[5]

Published works[link]

Books[link]

• 2009: Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, ISBN 978-1-59448-884-9
• 2008: The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need, ISBN 978-1-59448-291-5
• 2006: A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, ISBN 978-1-59448-171-0
• 2001: Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself, ISBN 978-0-446-67879-7

Articles[link]

• Japan, Ink: Inside the Manga-Industrial Complex (Wired, November 2007)
• What Kind of Genius Are You? (Wired, July 2006)
• Pomp and Circumspect (New York Times, June 4, 2005)
• The Book Stops Here (Wired, May 2005)

References[link]

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2011)

External links[link]

• Podcast featuring Daniel Pink, 2010
• Podcast featuring Daniel Pink, 2007
• AOL Coaches interview
• Profile and interview on 33voices (Learn From My Life): Daniel Pink
• Oprah Soul Series interview, 2008
• O, The Oprah Magazine interview, 2008)
• Brian Lehrer Show interview, 2008
• Interview with Cory Doctorow at Book Expo America, 2008
• Johnny Bunko Website
• Public School Insights interview with Daniel Pink, 2008
• TED Global: Dan Pink
• Public School Insights interview with Daniel Pink, 2001
• Daniel Pink IMNO Interview
• Booknotes interview with Pink on Free Agent Nation, November 18, 2001.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2012)

Bobby Darin
Darin in 1959
Background information
Birth name	Walden Robert Cassotto
Born	(1936-05-14)May 14, 1936 The Bronx, New York, United States
Died	December 20, 1973(1973-12-20) (aged 37) Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres	Jazz, blues, Rock N' Roll
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter, actor
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, drums, harmonica, xylophone
Years active	1956–1973
Labels	Decca, Atco, Capitol, Brunswick, Atlantic, Motown

Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American singer who performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk, and country.

He started as a songwriter for Connie Francis, and recorded his own first million-seller "Splish Splash" in 1958. This was followed by "Dream Lover", "Mack the Knife" and "Beyond the Sea", which brought him world fame. In 1962, he won a Golden Globe for his first film Come September, co-starring his wife Sandra Dee.

Through the 1960s he became more political, and worked on Bobby Kennedy's presidential campaign, being present on the night of his assassination. This affected him and sent him into a period of seclusion.

Although he made a successful television comeback, his health was starting to fail, as he had always expected, following bouts of rheumatic fever in childhood. This knowledge had always spurred him on to exploit his musical talent while still young. He died at 37, following a heart operation in Los Angeles.

Early years[link]

Darin was born in The Bronx. His maternal grandfather, Saverio Antonio Cassotto, was of Italian descent. His maternal grandmother, Vivian Fern (Walden), was of English ("Old Yankee") and Danish ancestry.^[1][2][3] He was raised by his maternal grandmother, a vaudeville singer.^[4] It was not until he was 32, that he learned that Giovannina Cassotto, the woman he believed to be his elder sister, was his birth mother.^[5]

By the time he was a teenager he could play several instruments, including piano, drums and guitar. He later added harmonica and xylophone.

Graduating from the prestigious Bronx High School of Science Darin won a scholarship to attend Hunter College, which he dropped out of in order to play small nightclubs around the city with a musical combo.

Music career[link]

Darin's career took off with a songwriting partnership, formed in 1955 with fellow Bronx High School of Science student Don Kirshner and in 1956 his agent negotiated a contract with Decca Records. The songs recorded at Decca did very little business.

A member of the Brill Building gang of struggling songwriters, Darin was introduced to singer Connie Francis, for whom he helped write several songs. They developed a romantic interest of which her father did not approve and the couple soon split up. Francis has said that not marrying Darin was the biggest mistake of her life.^[6]

Darin left Decca to sign with Atlantic Records (ATCO), where he wrote and arranged music for himself and others. Songs he recorded, like Harry Warren's I Found a Million Dollar Baby, were sung in an Elvis style, which did not suit his personality.

Under the guidance of Atlantic's Turkish-American co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, Darin's career finally took off in 1958 when he recorded "Splish Splash", selling more than a million copies,^[7] which he co-wrote with radio DJ Murray Kaufman after a bet that he could not write a song that started out with the words, "Splish Splash, I was takin' a bath".^{[citation needed]}

In 1959, Darin recorded the self-penned "Dream Lover", a ballad that became a multi-million seller. With it came financial success and the ability to demand more creative control. His next single, "Mack the Knife", the standard from Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera, was given a vamping jazz-pop interpretation. Although initially opposed to releasing it as a single,^[8] the song went to No. 1 on the charts for nine weeks, sold two million copies, and won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1960. Darin was also voted the Grammy Award for Best New Artist that year, and "Mack The Knife" has since been honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award.

Darin followed "Mack" with "Beyond the Sea", a jazzy English-language version of Charles Trenet's French hit song "La Mer". Both tracks were produced by Atlantic founders Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegün with staff producer Jerry Wexler and featured arrangements by Richard Wess.

This success saw Darin set the all-time attendance record at the Copacabana nightclub in New York City. He also headlined at the major casinos in Las Vegas.

In the 1960s, Darin owned and operated a music publishing and production company (TM Music/Trio) and signed Wayne Newton to TM, giving him a song that was originally sent to Darin to record. That record went on to become Newton's breakout hit, "Danke Schoen". He also was a mentor to Roger McGuinn, who worked for Darin at TM Music and played the 12-string guitar in Darin's nightclub band before forming The Byrds. Darin also produced Rosey Grier's 1964 LP, Soul City, and Made in the Shade for Jimmy Boyd.^{[citation needed]}

In 1962, Darin began to write and sing country music, with hit songs including "Things" (US #3/UK #2) (1962), "You're the Reason I'm Living" (US #3), and "18 Yellow Roses" (US #10). The latter two were recorded by Capitol Records, which he joined in 1962, before returning to Atlantic four years later. In 1966 he had his final UK hit single, with a version of Tim Hardin's "If I Were A Carpenter", which peaked at #9. He performed the opening and closing songs on the soundtrack of the 1965 Walt Disney film That Darn Cat! "Things" was sung by Dean Martin in the 1967 TV special Movin' With Nancy, starring Nancy Sinatra, which was released to home video in 2000.^[9]

Acting career[link]

Darin and "Deadeye" in a 1965 Red Skelton Show skit.

In 1960, Darin appeared twice as himself in NBC's short-lived crime drama Dan Raven, starring Skip Homeier and set on the Sunset Strip of West Hollywood. In the same year, he was the only actor ever to have been signed to five major Hollywood film studios. He wrote music for several films which he appeared in.

His first major film, Come September, was a romantic comedy designed to capitalize on his popularity with the teenage and young adult audience, in which he co-starred with 18-year-old actress Sandra Dee. They couple were married in 1960, and had one son, Dodd Mitchell Darin (born 1961), but divorced in 1967.

In 1962, Darin won the Golden Globe Award for "New Star Of The Year - Actor" for his role in Come September.^[10] The following year he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama" (Best actor) in Pressure Point.

In 1963, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a shell-shocked soldier in Captain Newman, M.D.. At the Cannes Film Festival he won the French Film Critics Award for best actor.

In October 1964, he appeared as a wounded ex-convict who is befriended by an orphan girl in the episode "The John Gillman Story" of NBC's Wagon Train western television series.^[11]

Later years[link]

Darin's musical output became more "folky" as the 1960s progressed, and he became more politically active. In 1966, he had a hit with folksinger Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter", securing a return to the Top 10 after a two-year absence.

Darin traveled with Robert Kennedy and worked on the politician's 1968 presidential campaign. He was with Kennedy the day he traveled to Los Angeles on June 4, 1968, for the California primary, and was at the Ambassador Hotel later that night when Kennedy was assassinated.

Dick and Tom Smothers play Chico and Harpo to Darin's Groucho, 1972.

This event drove Darin into seclusion, living in a trailer near Big Sur for almost a year. Returning to Los Angeles in 1969, Darin started Direction Records, putting out folk and protest music. He wrote "Simple Song of Freedom" in 1969, which was recorded by Tim Hardin, singing only three of the four verses of the song.

Of his first Direction album, Darin said that "The purpose of Direction Records is to seek out statement-makers. The album is solely [composed] of compositions designed to reflect my thoughts on the turbulent aspects of modern society."^[12]

In 1972, he starred in his own television variety show on NBC, The Bobby Darin Amusement Company, which ran until his death in 1973. Darin married Andrea Yeager in June 1973. He made TV guest appearances and remained a top draw in Las Vegas.^{[citation needed]}

Other interests[link]

Darin was an enthusiastic chess player.^[13] His television show included an occasional segment in which he would explain a chess move.^[14] He arranged with the United States Chess Federation to sponsor a grandmaster tournament, with the largest prize fund in history,^[15] but the event was canceled after his death.^[16]

Health[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Darin was frail as an infant and, from the age of 8, was stricken with recurring bouts of rheumatic fever which left him with a seriously weakened heart. In January 1971, he underwent his first heart surgery in an attempt to correct some of the heart damage he had lived with since childhood. He spent most of that year recovering from the surgery.

At the end of his career, he was often administered oxygen after his performances.

Death[link]

In 1973, after failing to take medication to protect his heart before a dental visit, Darin developed an overwhelming systemic infection (sepsis). This further weakened his body and affected one of his heart valves. On December 11, he entered Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for surgery to repair two artificial heart valves he had received in January 1971. On the evening of December 19, a surgical team worked for over six hours to repair his damaged heart. Darin died in the recovery room on December 20, 1973, at the age of 37 without regaining consciousness.

There were no funeral arrangements, Darin's last wish in his will being that his body be donated to science for medical research, and his remains were transferred to UCLA Medical Center shortly after his death.

Legacy[link]

In 1990, singer Paul Anka made the speech inducting Darin into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1999, he was voted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Righteous Brothers refer to Darin in their song, "Rock and Roll Heaven", a tribute to dead musicians released months after Darin's death.

In 1998 PBS aired the documentary, Bobby Darin: Beyond the Song, produced by Henry Astor and Jason Cilo.

In a 2003 episode of the NBC television series American Dreams, Duncan Sheik portrays Darin and performs "Beyond the Sea" on American Bandstand. Brittany Snow's character, Meg Pryor, is assigned as Darin's liaison during the show.

On Monday, May 14, 2007, Darin was awarded a star on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars to honor his contribution to making Las Vegas the "Entertainment Capital of the World", and to acknowledge his reputation as one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th century. The sponsorship fee for his star was raised entirely by fan donations.

In December 2007, Darin was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

Darin had a custom car built called the "Dream Car", designed by Andy DiDia;^[17] which is on display at the St. Louis Museum of Transportation.^[18]

On December 13, 2009, the Recording Academy announced that Darin would receive a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2010 Grammy Awards ceremony.

Biopic[link]

In 1986, director Barry Levinson intended to direct a film based on Darin's life, and had begun preproduction on the project by early 1997. He abandoned the project, the rights to which were subsequently bought by actor Kevin Spacey, along with Darin's son, Dodd. The resultant biopic, Beyond the Sea, starred Spacey as Darin, with the actor using his own singing voice for the musical numbers. The film covers much of Darin's life and career, including his marriage to Sandra Dee, portrayed by Kate Bosworth.

With the consent of the Darin estate, former Darin manager Steve Blauner, and archivist Jimmy Scalia, Beyond the Sea opened at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival. Though Dodd Darin, Sandra Dee, and Blauner responded enthusiastically to Spacey's work and the film was strongly promoted by the studio, Beyond the Sea received mixed-to-poor reviews upon wide release, and box office results were disappointing. Some critics praised Spacey's performance, largely owing to his decision to use his own singing voice. Spacey was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor—Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, but the award went to Jamie Foxx.^[19]

The film resulted in the issue of previously unreleased Darin music.

Discography[link]

Singles[link]

"Early In The Morning"

Darin approached Brunswick Records with "Early In the Morning." Brunswick was impressed, but as Darin was still under contract to Atlantic Records' subsidiary, Atco, the song was released by 'The Ding Dongs'. New York deejays liked the record and Atco soon discovered the deception. Brunswick was forced to turn over the masters to Atco which released the record under the name, 'The Rinky Dinks'. In the UK where it had to compete with a version by Buddy Holly, rush released by Brunswick, the single was released under Darin's own name.^[24]

Albums[link]

Note: There were separate Cashbox charts for mono and stereo albums until 1965

Filmography[link]

• Shadows (1959)
• Pepe (1960)
• Come September (1961)
• Too Late Blues (1962)
• State Fair (1962)
• Hell Is for Heroes (1962)
• If a Man Answers (1962)
• Pressure Point (1962)
• Captain Newman, M.D. (1963)
• That Funny Feeling (1965)
• Gunfight in Abilene (1967)
• Stranger in the House (1967)
• The Happy Ending (1969)
• Happy Mother's Day, Love George (1973)

Books[link]

• Dodd Darin & Maxine Paetro: Dream Lovers: the Magnificent Shattered Lives of Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee. New York: Warner Books 1994. ISBN 0-446-51768-2

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bobby Darin

• Official website
• Bobby Darin at the Internet Movie Database
• International Jose Guillermo Carrillo Foundation
• Hall of Rock
• Jimmy Scalia: The Official Bobby Darin Archivist
• Bobby Darin Discography: Complete Details on all Darin LPs

Watch[link]

• "Beyond the Sea" (2004) Hollywood movie on the life of Bobby Darin

Listen[link]

• Bobby Darin interview recorded 11.5.1967 [2] on the Pop Chronicles