Actress Sandra Dee, best known as the irrepressible Gidget of film fame and the wife of singer Bobby Darin, died Sunday in Los Angeles; she was 62. The actress died of complications from kidney disease after spending nearly two weeks in the hospital, and had been on dialysis for the past four years. Born Alexandra Zuck, Dee was groomed for stardom from the beginning by her ambitious mother, who enrolled the young girl in school early and lied about her age in order to give her fresh-faced daughter a head start on the road to fame -- Dee was only four years old when she entered the second grade. Already a model by the age of 12, Dee worked on television commercials before landing her first movie role in 1957's Until They Sail. Two short years later, she would skyrocket to fame with the help of three extremely successful films: the teen comedy Gidget, a role for which she would be forever associated; the romantic drama A Summer Place, where her blonde good looks found their male counterpart in Troy Donahue; and the Douglas Sirk melodrama Imitation of Life, in which she played the daughter of Lana Turner. Her quintessential ingénue beauty, charismatic screen presence and bubbly personality made her an instant favorite of audiences, and she became a screen queen for Universal at the tender young age of 17.
In 1960, at the height of her fame, she married pop star Bobby Darin, whom she met while filming the romantic comedy Come September in Italy. While the marriage created a storm in the press, it did little for her career, and after a few short years . during which she replaced Debbie Reynolds in the Tammy film series . Dee found herself the victim of a failing studio system, the changing cultural tide of the 60s, and an ever-increasingly difficult marriage to Darin. Dee ended both her career and her marriage in the late 60s, and worked only a little bit through the early 70s, most notably in The Dunwich Horror and a handful of TV guest appearances; Darin, who according to many remained the love of her life after their 1967 divorce, died in 1973. Difficulty with alcoholism plagued her later years, along with the after-effects of her sudden push to fame (she also claimed to have been sexually abused by her stepfather), but she credited her son Dodd Darin with help in getting her life turned around. Dee also had a sense of humor regarding her virtuous, virginal screen persona, which was mocked (to her reported pleasure) in the song "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" from the musical Grease. Her marriage to Darin was recently chronicled in Kevin Spacey's Beyond the Sea, in which Dee was played by Kate Bosworth. Dee is survived by her son and two granddaughters. --Prepared by IMDb staff...
In 1960, at the height of her fame, she married pop star Bobby Darin, whom she met while filming the romantic comedy Come September in Italy. While the marriage created a storm in the press, it did little for her career, and after a few short years . during which she replaced Debbie Reynolds in the Tammy film series . Dee found herself the victim of a failing studio system, the changing cultural tide of the 60s, and an ever-increasingly difficult marriage to Darin. Dee ended both her career and her marriage in the late 60s, and worked only a little bit through the early 70s, most notably in The Dunwich Horror and a handful of TV guest appearances; Darin, who according to many remained the love of her life after their 1967 divorce, died in 1973. Difficulty with alcoholism plagued her later years, along with the after-effects of her sudden push to fame (she also claimed to have been sexually abused by her stepfather), but she credited her son Dodd Darin with help in getting her life turned around. Dee also had a sense of humor regarding her virtuous, virginal screen persona, which was mocked (to her reported pleasure) in the song "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" from the musical Grease. Her marriage to Darin was recently chronicled in Kevin Spacey's Beyond the Sea, in which Dee was played by Kate Bosworth. Dee is survived by her son and two granddaughters. --Prepared by IMDb staff...
- 2/21/2005
- IMDb News
Actress Sandra Dee, best known as the irrepressible Gidget of film fame and the wife of singer Bobby Darin, died Sunday in Los Angeles; she was 62. The actress died of complications from kidney disease after spending nearly two weeks in the hospital, and had been on dialysis for the past four years. Born Alexandra Zuck, Dee was groomed for stardom from the beginning by her ambitious mother, who enrolled the young girl in school early and lied about her age in order to give her fresh-faced daughter a head start on the road to fame -- Dee was only four years old when she entered the second grade. Already a model by the age of 12, Dee worked on television commercials before landing her first movie role in 1957's Until They Sail. Two short years later, she would skyrocket to fame with the help of three extremely successful films: the teen comedy Gidget, a role for which she would be forever associated; the romantic drama A Summer Place, where her blonde good looks found their male counterpart in Troy Donahue; and the Douglas Sirk melodrama Imitation of Life, in which she played the daughter of Lana Turner. Her quintessential ingénue beauty, charismatic screen presence and bubbly personality made her an instant favorite of audiences, and she became a screen queen for Universal at the tender young age of 17.
In 1960, at the height of her fame, she married pop star Bobby Darin, whom she met while filming the romantic comedy Come September in Italy. While the marriage created a storm in the press, it did little for her career, and after a few short years - during which she replaced Debbie Reynolds in the Tammy film series - Dee found herself the victim of a failing studio system, the changing cultural tide of the 60s, and an ever-increasingly difficult marriage to Darin. Dee ended both her career and her marriage in the late 60s, and worked only a little bit through the early 70s, most notably in The Dunwich Horror and a handful of TV guest appearances; Darin, who according to many remained the love of her life after their 1967 divorce, died in 1973. Difficulty with alcoholism plagued her later years, along with the after-effects of her sudden push to fame (she also claimed to have been sexually abused by her stepfather), but she credited her son Dodd Darin with help in getting her life turned around. Dee also had a sense of humor regarding her virtuous, virginal screen persona, which was mocked (to her reported pleasure) in the song "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" from the musical Grease. Her marriage to Darin was recently chronicled in Kevin Spacey's Beyond the Sea, in which Dee was played by Kate Bosworth. Dee is survived by her son and two granddaughters. --Prepared by IMDb staff...
In 1960, at the height of her fame, she married pop star Bobby Darin, whom she met while filming the romantic comedy Come September in Italy. While the marriage created a storm in the press, it did little for her career, and after a few short years - during which she replaced Debbie Reynolds in the Tammy film series - Dee found herself the victim of a failing studio system, the changing cultural tide of the 60s, and an ever-increasingly difficult marriage to Darin. Dee ended both her career and her marriage in the late 60s, and worked only a little bit through the early 70s, most notably in The Dunwich Horror and a handful of TV guest appearances; Darin, who according to many remained the love of her life after their 1967 divorce, died in 1973. Difficulty with alcoholism plagued her later years, along with the after-effects of her sudden push to fame (she also claimed to have been sexually abused by her stepfather), but she credited her son Dodd Darin with help in getting her life turned around. Dee also had a sense of humor regarding her virtuous, virginal screen persona, which was mocked (to her reported pleasure) in the song "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" from the musical Grease. Her marriage to Darin was recently chronicled in Kevin Spacey's Beyond the Sea, in which Dee was played by Kate Bosworth. Dee is survived by her son and two granddaughters. --Prepared by IMDb staff...
- 2/20/2005
- IMDb News
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