It was the first of several films in which Dee appeared with Saxon. MGM cast Dee as the female lead in The Reluctant Debutante (1958), with John Saxon as her romantic costar. Dee's performance made her one of that year's winners of the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress. To promote the film, Dee appeared in a December issue of Modern Screen in a column by Louella Parsons, who praised Dee and compared her appearance and talent to those of Shirley Temple. Her onscreen debut was in the 1957 MGM film Until They Sail, directed by Robert Wise. She graduated from University High School in Los Angeles in June 1958 at age 16. Imitation of Life in 1959 1957–1958: Early films and Universal contract Įnding her modeling career, Dee moved from New York to Hollywood in 1957. While modeling in New York, she attended the Professional Children's School. According to sources, Dee's large modeling salary was more than what she would later earn as an actress. According to Dee, she "could have killed " and "had to learn to eat all over again." ĭespite the damaging effects on her health, Dee earned $75,000 in 1956 (equivalent to $810,000 in 2022) working as a child model in New York, which she used to support herself and her mother after the death of her stepfather in 1956. In a 1959 interview, Dee recalled that she "grew up fast," surrounded mostly by older people, and was "never held back in anything wanted to do." ĭuring her modeling career, Dee attempted to lose weight to "be as skinny as the high-fashion models," although an improper diet "ruined skin, hair, nails-everything." Having lost weight, her body was unable to digest any food that she ate, and it took the help of a doctor to regain her health. Producer Ross Hunter claimed to have discovered Dee on Park Avenue in New York City with her mother when she was 12 years old. Dee in Kinema Junpo May 1959 issue 1952–1956: Modeling career ĭee's parents divorced in 1950 and her mother married real estate executive Eugene "Gene" Douvan, who reportedly sexually abused Dee after he married her mother. However, the cryptstone her own family ordered gives 1942 as her year of birth. Īccording to her son's book, Dee was born in 1944, but she and her mother falsely inflated her age by two years to find more work modeling and acting, which she began at a very young age. In a 1967 interview with the Oxnard Press-Courier, she acknowledged being 18 in 1960 when she first met Darin, whom she wed three months later. Legal records, including her California divorce record from Bobby Darin, as well as the Social Security Death Index and her own cryptstone all give her year of birth as 1942. There has been debate as to Dee's actual birth year. She soon adopted the name Sandra Dee, becoming a professional model by the age of four and progressing to television commercials. She was of Carpatho-Rusyn ancestry and raised in the Orthodox faith her son, Dodd Darin, wrote in his biographical book about his parents titled Dream Lovers that Dee's mother Mary and her aunt Olga "were first generation daughters of a working-class Russian Orthodox couple", and Dee recalled, "we belonged to a Russian Orthodox church, and there was dancing at the social events." They married shortly afterward, but divorced before Dee was five years old. Life and career 1942–1951: Early life ĭee was born Alexandra Zuck on April 23, 1942, in Bayonne, New Jersey, the only child of John Zuck and Mary ( née Cimboliak) Zuck, who met as teenagers at a Russian Orthodox Church dance. Dee sought medical and psychological help in the early 1990s and died in 2005 of complications from kidney disease, brought on by lifelong anorexia nervosa. The rest of the decade was marked by alcoholism, mental illness, and reclusiveness, particularly after her mother died in 1988. She attempted a comeback with the 1970 independent horror film The Dunwich Horror, but rarely acted after this time, appearing only occasionally in television productions throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. The year of her divorce, Dee's contract with Universal Pictures was dropped. īy the late 1960s, her career had started to decline and a highly publicized marriage to Bobby Darin ended in divorce. She became a teenage star for her performances in Imitation of Life and Gidget (both 1959), which made her a household name. Best known for her portrayal of ingénues, Dee earned a Golden Globe Award as one of the year's most promising newcomers for her performance in Robert Wise's Until They Sail (1958). Dee began her career as a child model, working first in commercials and then film in her teenage years. Sandra Dee (born Alexandra Zuck April 23, 1942 – February 20, 2005) was an American actress.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |