Sandra Dee

Infobox actor
bgcolour = silver
name = Sandra Dee

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imagesize = 200px
caption = from the "Imitation of Life" trailer (1959)
birthname = Alexandra Cymboliak Zuck
birthdate = birth date|1942|4|23|mf=y
location = Bayonne, New Jersey, United States
deathdate = death date and age|2005|2|20|1942|4|23|mf=y
deathplace = Thousand Oaks, California
occupation = actress, model
yearsactive = 1957-1994
spouse = Bobby Darin (1960-1967)
homepage = http://www.sandradeefans.com
notable role =
emmyawards =
tonyawards =

Sandra Dee (April 23 1942 - February 20 2005) was an American film actress best known for her portrayal of ingenues.

Birth and background

Born Alexandra Cymboliak Zuck to John and Mary (née Cymboliak) Zuck in Bayonne, New Jersey, who later divorced. Her mother was of Ruthenian ancestry. Abbreviated as "Sandra", she became a professional model by the age of four and subsequently progressed to television commercials.

There was some confusion as to her actual birth year, with evidence pointing to both 1942 and 1944, however Intelius indicates 1942 (see [http://www.intelius.com/search-summary-out.php?ReportType=1&searchform=name Intelius search] ). According to her son Dodd Darin in his book Dream Lovers she was born in 1944, she and her mother having lied to everyone about her age so she could work.

Career

Sandra Dee made her first film, "Until They Sail", in 1957. In 1958 she won a Golden Globe Award for "Most Promising Newcomer" (along with Carolyn Jones and Diane Varsi). Her film career flourished, and she became known for her wholesome ingenue roles in such films as "Imitation of Life", "Gidget" and "A Summer Place", all in 1959. She later played the virtuous bayou lass "Tammy" in two Universal sequels to "Tammy and the Bachelor" in the role created by Debbie Reynolds.

During the 1970s she took very few acting roles, but made occasional television appearances. Her 1950s persona was the inspiration for the song "Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee", featured in the 1972 Broadway musical "Grease", and the 1978 film version.

Personal life

Her marriage in 1960, at the age of 18, to Bobby Darin kept her in the public eye for much of the decade. She was under contract to Universal Studios, which tried to develop Dee into a mature actress, and the films she made as an adult - including a few with Darin - were moderately successful. They had one son together, Dodd Mitchell Darin (also known as Morgan Mitchell Darin)but she and Darin divorced in 1967.

Dee's adult years were marked by ill health. She admitted that for most of her life she battled anorexia nervosa, depression and alcoholism. In 2000, it was reported that she had been diagnosed with several ailments, including
throat cancer and kidney disease. The cancer scare was apparently unfounded. Complications of kidney failure, combined with pneumonia, led to her death on February 20 2005, at the Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, California. She was 62 years old, although some reports at the time indicated she was 60.

Sandra Dee is interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Hollywood Hills, not far from her mother, Mary C. Douvan, who died on December 27 1987.

Dee is survived by her son Dodd, her daughter-in-law and two granddaughters, Alexa and Olivia.

Dodd Darin's book

In 1994, Dodd wrote a book about his parents, "Dream Lovers: The Magnificent Shattered Lives of Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee", in which he chronicled his mother's anorexia, drug and alcohol problems and her claim that she had been sexually abused as a child by her stepfather, Eugene Douvan.

Her life with Bobby Darin was dramatized in the 2004 film "Beyond the Sea", in which Kevin Spacey played Bobby Darin and Dee was played by Kate Bosworth.

Filmography

*"The Snow Queen" (1957) (voice in 1959 English-dubbed version)
*"Until They Sail" (1957)
*"The Reluctant Debutante" (1958)
*"The Restless Years" (1958)
*"A Stranger in My Arms" (1959)
*"Gidget" (1959)
*"Imitation of Life" (1959)
*"The Wild and the Innocent" (1959)
*"A Summer Place" (1959)
*"Portrait in Black" (1960)
*"Romanoff and Juliet" (1961)
*"Tammy Tell Me True" (1961)
*"Come September" (1961)
*"If a Man Answers" (1962)
*"Tammy and the Doctor" (1963)
*"Take Her, She's Mine" (1963)
*"I'd Rather Be Rich" (1964)
*"That Funny Feeling" (1965)
*"A Man Could Get Killed" (1966)
*"Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding" (1967)
*"Rosie!" (1967)
*"The Dunwich Horror" (1970)
*"East of Marsa Matruh" (1971)
*"Lost" (1983)

TV Work

*"The Manhunter" (1972)
*"Night Gallery" (1972) - "Spectre in Tap-Shoes" episode
*"The Daughters of Joshua Cabe" (1972)
*"Houston, We Have a Problem" (1974)
*"Fantasy Island" (1977) (pilot for series)
*"Frasier" (1994) - "The Botched Language of Cranes" episode (voice only as caller "Connie")

External links

*imdb name|id=0000364|name=Sandra Dee
*tcmdb name|id=47444|name=Sandra Dee
* [http://www.biography.com/search/article.jsp?aid=9542304 Biography.com biography of Sandra Dee]
*cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/20/movies/20cnd-dee.html?ex=1266728400&en=a2d4c4eedf02d972&ei=5090|title=Sandra Dee, 'Gidget' Star and Teenage Idol, Dies at 62|date=February 20, 2005|publisher="The New York Times"
*cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/25/magazine/25dee.html?ex=1293166800&en=5e51192381477d9e&ei=5090|title=Gidget Doesn't Live Here Anymore|date=December 25, 2005|publisher="The New York Times"
* [http://thegoldenyears.org/dee.html The Golden Years website]