Birth Name: Walden Robert Cassotto
Place of Birth: East Harlem, New York, United States
Date of Birth: May 14, 1936
Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, United States
Date of Death: December 20, 1973
Ethnicity:
*Italian, possibly English and/or Danish (mother)
*publicly unknown (father)
Bobby Darin was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He was married to actress Sandra Dee.
Bobby’s mother was Vanina Juliette “Nina” Cassotto. He was raised believing that his maternal grandmother was his mother and his mother was his sister. Bobby’s mother became pregnant with him at the age of eighteen during a summer, and even after the true circumstances of his birth was revealed to him at age 32, she refused to tell Bobby who his real father was.
Bobby’s maternal grandfather was Saverio Antonio “Sam” Cassotto (the son of Paulo Cassotto and Giovannina Sacchitelli). Bobby’s grandfather Saverio was an Italian immigrant.
The background of Bobby’s maternal grandmother, nicknamed Polly, is not quite clear. Various genealogies lists her full name as “Vivian Fern Walden”, and as the daughter of Frank S. Walden and Julia Hanson. Frank had English ancestry and Julia was the daughter of Danish parents. However, on most censuses she is named “Paula” or “Pauline”, and the marriage record of her and Bobby’s maternal grandfather lists her name as “Pauline Vivian Walden”, and as the daughter of Frank Walden and Juliet Borrelli. Additionally, the 1920 U.S. census lists her as the daughter of Italian parents, while the 1930 U.S. census lists her as the daughter of a Rhode Island-born father and a Wisconsin-born mother.
Source: Genealogies of Bobby Darin (focusing on his mother’s side) – http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/