Trivia of Sandra Dee

 Trivia of Sandra Dee (23 April 1942 - 20 February 2005)

*Her parents divorced when she was a child; she lived with her mother and was brought up in Russian Orthodox faith.Her mother remarried while she was still young. Unfortunately, Sandra was sexually abused by her stepfather in childhood.

*A shy and frail person, Dee had never wanted to be neither a model nor an actress, but was "bullied" into both by her domineering parents and, as a result, spent most of her adolescence and adult life in mental anguish and abject misery.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.

*She landed her first role in Hollywood as a voice actor in the animated film ‘The Snow Queen (1957)’ voicing the character ‘Gerda’ in the English version of the movie.Her onscreen debut was in the 1957 MGM film Until They Sail, along Jean Simmons and Paul Newman.She was just fourteen.

*She cast as supporter role in film Portrait in Black (1960) as Cathy Cabot.This movie also starred Lana Turner, Anthony Quinn, Jason Saxon, and Anna May Wong.It was the last of three screen teamings between Sandra Dee and John Saxon.Previously Dee and Saxon had appeared in film The Restless Years (1958) and The Reluctant Debutante (1958).

*Had appeared with then-husband Bobby Darin in three films: Come September (1961), If a Man Answers (1962) and That Funny Feeling (1965).If a Man Answers (1962) marked their elevation to starring roles.

*Dee and Darin meet on the set Come September (1961).Once on shooting location in Italy, Darin falling in love and immediately began to pursue Dee. He was standing on the shore wearing a yellow suit, and she was in a boat just pulling in to dock. “Will you marry me?’ he called out to her. ’Not today,’ she replied.”Dee was not impressed with her cocky co-star.A frustrated Darin resorted to juvenile tactics, taunting her with chants of “Sandra Dee has a flea.” He also wooed Dee’s attractive young mother.Dee's mother finally convinced Dee to go on a carriage ride with Darin. It turned out to be a fateful relationship.The two were soon an item, giggling and flirting all over Rome. They eloped on Dec. 1, 1960.Dee told to her son, Dodd. “I thought I had never felt so safe in my life as I felt with Bobby.”

*She received renewed attention after the release of the movie Beyond the Sea (2004), the biopic about her late ex-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.