Sandra Dee of Gidget fame suffered ‘tremendous heartbreak’ from Bobby Darin divorce… after being sexually abused by her stepfather for years

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Sandra Dee of Gidget fame suffered ‘tremendous heartbreak’ from Bobby Darin divorce… after being sexually abused by her stepfather for years
She was one of the biggest pinups of the 1950s thanks to movies like Gidget
But the beauty – who died in 2005 at the age of 62 – did not have an easy time
The girl-next-door looker had a difficult relationship with her mother
And after becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol she suffered
That ended her marriage to Beyond The Sea singer Darin, who died in 1973

Sandra Dee was one of the biggest pinups of the 1950s thanks to movies like Gidget, Imitation Of Life, A Summer Place and Come September.

But the blonde beauty – who died in 2005 at the age of 62 – did not have an easy time with family and fame, according to Sue Cameron’s book Hollywood Secrets And Scandals.

The all-American girl-next-door looker had a difficult relationship with her mother, got hooked on drugs and alcohol, and had heartbreak over the crumbling of her marriage to crooner Bobby Darin known for the songs Dream Lover and Mack The Knife as well as the megahit Beyond The Sea.

She met Darin on the set of the 1961 movie Come September.

Sandra was already a big star thanks to films like 1959’s A Summer Place with Troy Donahue.

And she fell hard for the lounge singer, rushing their nuptials.

They had wed even before the movie came out but the studio wanted to keep it quiet as she was only a teenager at the time.

On December 16, 1961, she gave birth to a son, Dodd Mitchell Darin (also known as Morgan Mitchell Darin).

But she and Darin divorced in 1967 after she suffered from an addiction to pills and alcohol.

Bobby – who always had the feeling he would die young – passed away at age 37 in 1973. She never remarried.

Her baggage was a big factor in their split,’ Cameron, author of Hollywood Secrets And Scandals, told Closer Weekly.

When Sandra met Bobby they were in Portofino, Italy making Come September, which starred Rock Hudson.

Bobby was 24-years-old and very confident, which reportedly turned off Dee.

‘She hated me and I loved her,’ Bobby said of their first meeting. He also said early on he wanted to marry her.

But Dee was 18 and had not dated before so she brushed him off.

Her ‘domineering stage mother’ Mary Zuck told her to warm up to Bobby. And after being pushed to go on a date with him, she said yes and had a great time.

Soon the princess of Hollywood fell in love.

When they got engaged Dee’s mother got furious and cut her off. This was hard on Sandra as she had never lived alone before and she felt lost.

‘I begged Bobby to marry me,’ Sandra recalled. They wed in December 1960 and she said she was ‘scared to death.’ They welcomed their son, Dodd, in 1961.

Turns out she had a lot of issues because she had been sexually abused by her stepfather, Eugene Douvan.

While my mother was dating him, he began fondling me. After they got married, it got worse,’ said recalled Sandra. ‘Her mother didn’t acknowledge it. Sandy had no support at all,’ added Cameron.

The abuse did not stop and she developed ‘a severe eating disorder at age nine.’

Dee did not tell Darin about the abuse so when she acted strangely he didn’t know why.

Bobby was not that easy as well. He too had his own issues.

‘He had mood swings and was always in a hurry,’ said Cameron.

As a child he had rheumatic fever. He also had a premonition that he would die young. ‘It affected everything he did,’ added Sue.

But he was often the life of the party.

‘He really loved life. When you were around him, it was a buzz,’ the couple’s son, Dodd, 57, recalled.

‘Bobby was very, very funny and when he loved you, you were his total focus.’

After she had her son, Sandra felt tired often and her doctor gave her amphetamines, which she became addicted to.

‘I zipped through the day [and] the only thing that would bring me down was a drink’ said Sandra.

The couple legally parted in 1967.

But they stayed on good terms. ‘We even lived together after the divorce,’ Sandra once said.

He died in 1973 at age 37. ‘The last time I saw Bobby, he said they were going to try a relationship again,’ said Cameron. ‘Sandra was very much still in love with him and he was still in love with her.’

She died in 2005 from complications from kidney disease brought on by a lifelong struggle with anorexia.

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