Sandra Dee was born Alexandra Zuck on April 23, 1942, in Bayonne, New Jersey, per Biography. Her mother, Mary, after divorcing her husband when Dee was an infant, spent an inordinate amount of time and energy on her daughter, including pushing her into a modeling career when Dee was 8, according to Vanity Fair. Mary spoon-fed the child until she was 6, planting the seeds for Dee's lifelong anorexia. Mary's second husband, Eugene Douvan, began raping Dee when she was 8. After his death in 1958, Dee made the jump to Hollywood and by 17 had two hit films under her belt — "Gidget" and "A Summer Place," according to Biography.
Bobby Darrin, born Walden Robert Cassotto, on May 14, 1936, in New York City, per Britannica, also had a traumatic childhood. He had four bouts of rheumatic fever that damaged his heart. He would later learn as an adult that the woman he believed was his mother was actually his grandmother. His actual mother, who he grew up believing was his older sister, had given birth to him out of wedlock and the family hid the truth from Darrin for years, per Vanity Fair.
