Sandra Dee (April 23, 1942 – February 20, 2005) was an American actress. Dee began her career as a model and progressed to film. Best known for her portrayal of ingenues, Dee won a Golden Globe Award in 1959 as one of the year's most promising newcomers, and over several years her films were popular. By the late 1960s her career had started to decline, and a highly publicized marriage to Bobby Darin (m. 1960–1967) ended in divorce.She rarely acted after this time, and her final years were marred by illness. She died of complications from kidney disease in 2005 at the age of 62.
April 23, 1942, Bayonne, New Jersey, United States
Died
February 20, 2005, Thousand Oaks, California, United States
Place Of Birth
Bayonne, New Jersey, USA
Height
5' 4" (1.63 m)
Profession
Actress, Soundtrack
Education
University High School
Nationality
American
Spouse
Bobby Darin (m. 1960–1967)
Children
Dodd Mitchell Darin
Parents
Mary Cymboliak, John Zuck
Awards
Golden Globe Award for Best New Star of the Year – Actress
Movies
Gidget, A Summer Place, Come September, Tammy Tell Me True, If a Man Answers, Imitation of Life, The Reluctant Debutante, That Funny Feeling, Tammy and the Doctor, Until They Sail, A Man Could Get Killed, Portrait in Black, The Restless Years, Take Her, She's Mine, The Dunwich Horror, I'd Rather Be ...
[1967, on her ingenue image]: Look at this - [a] cigarette. I like to smoke. I'm 25 years old, and it so happens that I like to smoke. So out in Hollywood the studio press agents are still pulling cigarettes out of my hand and covering my drink with a napkin whenever my picture is taken. Little Sandra Dee isn't supposed to smoke, you know. Or drink. Or breathe.
2
There are constant cycles in history. There is loss, but it is always followed by regeneration. The tales of our elders who remember such cycles are very important to us now.
3
Listen to great storytellers; slowly, you will learn about voice, timing, tension, structure, climax - all the things you need to tell stories that will capture the imagination of your audience.
4
I don't know anything about making a passionate love story, even if it's appealing for an audience to see a husband and wife make love on the screen.
5
Me, I'm good at nothing but walking on the set with a pretty dress.
6
I began telling stories as a volunteer in my daughters' school. But I grew up hearing stories from Cuban and Southern storytellers, and I learned a great deal by just being quiet and listening.
7
I think male nudity is wonderful.
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Fact
1
Following her death, she was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) in Los Angeles, California.
2
Sandra Dee passed away on February 20, 2005, two months away from what would have been her 63rd birthday on April 23.
Universal Studios concocted the name 'Sandra Dee' for her by shortening her first name and by using her stepfather's surname initial "D" to sign vouchers.
9
She received renewed attention after the release of the movie Beyond the Sea (2004), the biopic about her late husband Bobby Darin that recalled and detailed their stormy, headline marriage. Despite its painful aspects, she reportedly approved of the project and gave it her blessing.
10
Is immortalized in the popular song "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" from the movie Grease (1978). The song mocked her squeaky-clean image but Dee reportedly said in a statement that she did not mind, and always had a big laugh about it.
11
One of the most successful teenage movie stars of the 20th century, Dee was listed on the Quigley Publications Top Ten Money-Making Stars poll four years in a row, from 1960 through 1963, achieving her highest ranking of #6 in 1961.
12
Had two granddaughters: Alexa and Olivia Darin (daughters of Sandra's son Dodd Darin and his wife Audrey Tannenbaum).
13
Was diagnosed with throat cancer and kidney failure in 2000.
14
Her son, Dodd Mitchell, penned a book about his parents, Dream Lovers: The Magnificent Shattered Lives of Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee, in 1994. In the book, he chronicled his mother's anorexia, and her drug and alcohol problems.
15
After her once-hot career fell apart in the 1970s, she fell victim to anorexia, alcoholism and depression. To the delight of her fans, she resurfaced briefly after two decades of seclusion and was warmly embraced at Beverly Hills Canon Theatre in a stage production of "Love Letters" with her The Restless Years (1958) co-star John Saxon.
16
Made her modeling debut in Girl Scouts magazine.
17
By 1965, she was the last major star still under an exclusive contract. Was Universal Studios last actress under contract.
18
Gave birth to her only child at age 19, a son Dodd Mitchell Cossotto (aka Dodd Darin) on December 16, 1961. Child's father was her ex-husband, Bobby Darin.
$15 Million
