Actress Sandra Dee died yesterday morning at Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, California from complications of kidney disease. Dee, who is most famous for her roles in teen movies in the 60s, was 63. Among her film credits were Tammy, Gidget, The Reluctant Debutante, The Restless Years, Tammy Tell Me True, Take Her She's Mine, Imitation of Life, A Portrait In Black,and Romanoff and Juliet.

Dee was born Alexandra Zuck in Bayonne, NJ on April 23, 1944 (some sources report her birthdate as being 1942, and it is thought that her mother lied about her age so that she could work before she would legally be able). Her parents, John and Mary Zuck divorced when she was very young, and her mother remarried in 1950. Her stepfather, Eugene Douvan, whose name she took, is said to have abused her and she was also anorexic.

In 1952, the family moved to Manhattan, and Dee was enrolled in the Professional Children’s School. She began modeling, her first professional job being in the Girl Scouts magazine. At the age of 12, she signed a seven year contract with Universal Studios and changed her name to Dee.

After her stepfather died, she and her mother moved to L.A. and Dee began her movie career. In 1959, at 17, she became the original Gidget, and from there went on to do a series of films in a variety of genres. She met Bobby Darin in 1960 when she was 18, and the two were appearing in Come September. They were married shortly after.

Despite a promising start, Dee's career took a nosedive due to weak scripts. In 1967, she and Darin were divorced, ending her image as a teen idol. 'He just woke up one morning and didn't want to be married any more,' she said in an interview.

Sadly, she did very little work after the 1970s, appearing in a few made for television movies and a stage play. In 2000, she was diagnosed with throat cancer and kidney failure, and her condition has continued to deteriorate since.

There was a revival of interest in Dee after last year's feature film about her ex-husband. In an interview during the film's publicity push, she claimed that although the two divorced, she always loved him and the two remained good friends until his death following complications of heart surgery in 1970.

Sandra Dee is survived by her son Dodd Darin and two grandchildren, Alexa and Olivia Darin.