Sandra Dee – Take two

This is a 1959 Lydia Lane article. Enjoy!

“This girl is going places, and I want you to meet her,” a studio executive told me about Sandra Dee. She was 15 and had just come to Hollywood from New York, where she’d been a successful junior-model. Now she is 17 and is starred in Warner Bros.’ ‘A Summer Place. “Your career has certainly been a happy one,” I told her. “I enjoyed your performance in ‘A Reluctant Debutante’ so much.” “I like the role I play in ‘A Summer Place,’ too,” she replied. “I get into serious trouble in it. It’s a very dramatic role.” As she sat at her dressing table I felt she had the poise and assurance of someone much older. When I mentioned this she said: “I’ve never teen around many young people. And I’ve never been held back in anything I wanted to do. Who can say if I’ll regret growing up fast. But I wouldn’t change places with anyone. “An actress portrays many people. She explores their emotions, and because of this she naturally matures faster. I think a girl’s attitude and not her age should determine what privileges she should have. When a teen-age girl feels she is ready to get acquainted with boys and is held back, it often causes friction in her home.”

Sandra has become a champagne blond since the last time I saw her. I told her that her blond hair and dark brown eyes make an interesting contrast. “It photographs well. That’s my excuse for doing it,” she laughed. “I have it bleached at the studio where they take good care of it. I couldn’t afford to have it done myself. I’ve been told it’s too dangerous to dye your own hair unless you’re trained. Actually, a teen-ager shouldn’t change the color of hers. There’s plenty of time for it later if it has to be done.” We talked about teen-age problems and she said: “I learned the hard way what what improper diet can do. “It ruins your skin, hair, nails everything. I had a nice figure when I started modeling, but I wanted to be as skinny as the high-fashion models so I decided to reduce. I was the real smart kid who would do it all on her own. I had it all figured out. I just wouldn’t eat. Sometimes I went without breakfast and lunch. In the beginning it took discipline, but I soon lost my appetite. When I was as thin as I wanted to be, I decided to celebrate with borsch soup, sour cream and a big dinner, but my stomach had shrunk so I got sick from the first few sips. It’s horrible feeling hungry, wanting to eat and not being able to digest it.

“We were so lucky to find a good doctor. He said that I could have killed myself and that I had to learn to eat all over again. He had my mother prepare beef broth and give me just a few spoons at a time. I had to eat six times a day mostly meat and in two weeks 1 felt much better. But I was so anemic that it took a whole year before I got my energy back. “Teen-agers need balanced meals. A diet suitable for an adult can do serious harm to anyone still growing and trying to build a body.” As we were “chatting in Sandra’s dressing room, she slipped her feet out of her shoes, which had extremely pointed toes and heels. “Don’t those pumps kill your feet?” I asked. “Yes.” she admitted, “but I love the way they look.” Then she added. “But they give me ingrown toenails. On hot days my feet swell so that I don’t dare take my shoes off. I wouldn’t be able to get my feet back into them.

I never realized how much feet have to do with the way I feel. When my feet hurt, I feel terrible all over.” “And we talk about the ancient Chinese binding feet,” I commented. I asked Sandra if it was difficult for a teen-ager to handle stardom. “I thought success would never change me, but I told Bud Westmore (the studio make-up man) to take me over his knee and spank me if he ever saw me acting up. Then one day I lost my temper I have a terrible one and he called me into his office. Without saying a word he spanked me. I was more embarrassed than hurt, because I realized I’d been temperamental and inconsiderate. Now I’m controlling my temper much better. When I find I’m getting angry, I don’t say or do anything. If 1 take the time to find why I’m upset, it no longer seems important.”