Saturdays with the Stars: Sandra Dee

Each month of 2024 we are taking a look at an actress who bore the title "America's Sweetheart" during the peak of her film fame, and what she did with the title (including when it was passed on to the next Hollywood princess).  Last month, we talked about Annette Funicello, who became one of the rare child actors to translate into more success as an adult, becoming a teen icon in the 1960's.  This month, we're going to look at one of the more tragic cases of what can befall America's Sweetheart.  Our actress this month was the last major star to be under a studio contract, and gained a lot of success in the same way that Funicello did, helping to spawn the "beach party" craze of the early 1960's.  But when her career waned, so did her mental health, and she spent much of the latter half of her life as a recluse dealing with mental health issues.  This month's star is Sandra Dee.

Born Alexandra Zuck, she quickly started to use the moniker Sandra Dee when she became a child model, earning a fortune that supported both she and her mother, who was frequently between marriages at the time.  While still a teenager (Dee's age is of some dispute, as she was likely born in 1942 but her son claims that she was actually born in 1944), she started to work in movies, making her film debut in MGM's Until They Sail with Paul Newman & Jean Simmons, and thanks in part to a well-timed article by Louella Parsons, she gained a Golden Globe for Best Newcomer.  Two years later, Dee was a household name, starring in the massively-successful Imitation of Life (made in the wake of Lana Turner's Johnny Stompanato trial) and then in the role she would become most well-known for, Gidget.

If I asked you today to name something about Sandra Dee, I suspect that you would not mention anything about the actress or her many hit films in the early-1960's, but instead would reference her most lasting pop culture touchstone: "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee."  The song, sung by Stockard Channing in the 1978 musical Grease, makes fun of Dee (it also name-checks two other actresses, Doris Day & Annette Funicello, we've discussed this year), and honestly, I wonder how many people today even know that Dee was a real person and not just a caricature in the film (I know I didn't when I first heard it as a preteen).  But Dee is a fascinating figure, the last major star to come out of the Hollywood studio system, and one who wrestled with a number of real-life demons, including being sexually abused as a child, struggles with eating disorders & depression, and spending much of the latter half of her life outside of the spotlight.  This month, we're going to take a look at her career, and try to understand the actress beyond the song that would unfortunately be her snarky epitaph.