Darby Hinton

About

Edgar Raymond Darby Hinton (born August 19, 1957) is an American actor. His parents were actor Ed Hinton (1919–1958) and Marilyn Mau Hinton (1922–1982). Both of his sisters, Darcy and Daryn Hinton, were actresses from childhood. Hinton is best known for playing Israel Boone on Daniel Boone.

Hinton’s acting debut was as an infant in a 1958 Playhouse 90 episode with his father. In 1962 he played a four-year-old boy in Hero’s Island and a reviewer stated he and six-year-old Morgan Mason were natural child actors. His other early roles were on Mister Ed, Route 66, Wagon Train, and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
When Hinton was six years old, his mother dropped him off at 20th-Century Fox to audition for a part in The Sound of Music, and then she went to park the car. Hinton made a mistake, stood in line for Daniel Boone auditions, and so impressed the casting department that he was signed for the role of Israel Boone, though they had been looking for an older boy for the part. He was on the series from 1964 to 1970, and became especially close to Fess Parker, who played his father. Hinton had been only a year old when his own father died, and Parker became a father…