Moondoggie is a fictional character created by Frederick Kohner in his novel Gidget, The Little Girl with Big Ideas. He appears as a principal character in five of the eight Gidget novels, but is a minor character or is only mentioned in passing in Cher Papa, The Affairs of Gidget and Gidget Goes Parisienne. He is portrayed as a surfer who saves Gidget from drowning and later becomes romantically involved with her. In the novels, two of the television movies and The New Gidget

The New Gidget

The New Gidget is an American television sitcom that aired in syndication from 1986 to 1988. The series was produced by original Gidget series producer Harry Ackerman and was launched after the television movie Gidget's Summer Reunion starring Caryn Richman as Gidget aired in 1985...

, his real name is Geoffrey H. Griffin (the middle initial is mentioned only in the first novel), but in the three Gidget motion pictures and the 1960s sitcom Gidget

Gidget (TV series)

Gidget is an American sitcom about a surfing, boy-crazy teenager called "Gidget" and her widowed father Russ Lawrence, a UCLA professor. Sally Field stars as Gidget with Don Porter as her father. The series was first broadcast on ABC from September 15, 1965 through April 21, 1966...

his name is changed to Jeffrey Matthews, and in Gidget Gets Married

Gidget Gets Married

Gidget Gets Married is a 1972 television film produced by Screen Gems for ABC. It was written by John McGreevey and directed by E.W. Swackhamer and starred Monie Ellis as Gidget.-Plot:...

his name is Jeff Stevens. In the novelization

Novelization

A novelization is a novel that is written based on some other media story form rather than as an original work.Novelizations of films usually add background material not found in the original work to flesh out the story, because novels are generally longer than screenplays...

 Gidget Goes Hawaiian we learn that his nickname refers to his fondness for surfing by moonlight.

In the three motion pictures Gidget

Gidget (film)

Gidget is a 1959 Columbia Pictures CinemaScope feature film. It stars Sandra Dee, Cliff Robertson, and James Darren in a story about a teenager's initiation into the California surf culture and her affiliated romance with a young surfer. The screenplay was written by Gabrielle Upton, a nom de plume...

, Gidget Goes Hawaiian

Gidget Goes Hawaiian

Gidget Goes Hawaiian is a 1961 musical romantic comedy film starring Deborah Walley and James Darren. Released by Columbia Pictures, the film is a sequel to the 1959 Sandra Dee "beach movie" vehicle Gidget....

and Gidget Goes to Rome

Gidget Goes to Rome

Gidget Goes to Rome is a 1963 Columbia Pictures feature film starring Cindy Carol as the archetypal high school teen surfer girl originally created by Sandra Dee in the 1959 film Gidget. The film is the third of three Gidget films directed by Paul Wendkos and expands upon Gidget's romance with...

, Moondoggie is portrayed by James Darren

James Darren

James William Ercolani , known by his stage name James Darren, is an American television and film actor, television director, and singer.-Career:...

, the only character to be played by the same actor in all three films. In the sitcom Gidget

Gidget (TV series)

Gidget is an American sitcom about a surfing, boy-crazy teenager called "Gidget" and her widowed father Russ Lawrence, a UCLA professor. Sally Field stars as Gidget with Don Porter as her father. The series was first broadcast on ABC from September 15, 1965 through April 21, 1966...

, he is portrayed by Stephen Mines; in Gidget Grows Up

Gidget Grows Up

Gidget Grows Up is a 1969 television film directed by James Sheldon and starring Karen Valentine, Paul Lynde and Edward Mulhare, freely adapted from the novel Gidget Goes New York by Frederick Kohner...

by Paul Petersen

Paul Petersen

William Paul Petersen is an American movie actor, singer, novelist, and activist. Primarily known for his character-type roles in the 1960s and 1970s, as an adult Petersen established the organization A Minor Consideration to support child stars and other child laborers through legislation,...

, in Gidget Gets Married

Gidget Gets Married

Gidget Gets Married is a 1972 television film produced by Screen Gems for ABC. It was written by John McGreevey and directed by E.W. Swackhamer and starred Monie Ellis as Gidget.-Plot:...

by Michael Burns, and in Gidget's Summer Reunion

Gidget's Summer Reunion

Gidget's Summer Reunion is a 1985 television film produced by Columbia Pictures Television for television syndication. It was written by Robert Blees and George Zateslo and directed by Bruce Bilson and starred Caryn Richman as Gidget.-Plot:...

and The New Gidget

The New Gidget

The New Gidget is an American television sitcom that aired in syndication from 1986 to 1988. The series was produced by original Gidget series producer Harry Ackerman and was launched after the television movie Gidget's Summer Reunion starring Caryn Richman as Gidget aired in 1985...

by Dean Butler

Dean Butler (actor)

Dean Butler was born May 20, 1956, in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, is an American movie and television actor and producer of documentaries....

.

At the end of the last Gidget novel, Gidget Goes New York, Moondoggie and Gidget are married. They are also portrayed as married in Gidget Gets Married

Gidget Gets Married

Gidget Gets Married is a 1972 television film produced by Screen Gems for ABC. It was written by John McGreevey and directed by E.W. Swackhamer and starred Monie Ellis as Gidget.-Plot:...

, Gidget's Summer Reunion

Gidget's Summer Reunion

Gidget's Summer Reunion is a 1985 television film produced by Columbia Pictures Television for television syndication. It was written by Robert Blees and George Zateslo and directed by Bruce Bilson and starred Caryn Richman as Gidget.-Plot:...

and The New Gidget

The New Gidget

The New Gidget is an American television sitcom that aired in syndication from 1986 to 1988. The series was produced by original Gidget series producer Harry Ackerman and was launched after the television movie Gidget's Summer Reunion starring Caryn Richman as Gidget aired in 1985...

.