Helen Chandler

Her remains were cremated in accordance with her wishes but remained unclaimed at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory. Her life with Bobby Darin has been told in the 2004 film, Beyond The Sea. She died April 30, 1965 from cardiac arrest during surgery for a stomach ulcer in Hollywood, California. In 2000 she reported that she had been diagnosed with throat cancer and kidney failure. Her alcoholism continued unabated. She has admitted that for most of her life she has battled anorexia nervosa, depression and alcoholism. She survived but her face was badly scarred, and ruled out any chance of a comeback. Dee's adult years have been marked by ill health.

In 1950, Chandler was severely burned in an apartment fire, caused by her falling asleep while smoking. Her 1950s persona was the inspiration for the song "Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee", featured in the film Grease (1978). She was hospitalised several times but was unable to gain control over her life. During the 1970s she took very few acting roles, but made occasional television appearances. By this time she was battling alcoholism and her acting career declined. They had one son together, but in 1967 she and Darin were divorced. Among her stage successes of the 1930s were Pride and Prejudice in 1935, and a reprise of her role in Outward Bound in 1938. She was contracted to Universal Studios who tried to develop Dee as a mature actress, and the films she made as an adult, including a few with Darin, were moderately successful.

She achieved more successes in A House Divided (1931) and Christopher Strong (1932) and began dividing her time between Hollywood and Broadway. Her marriage in 1960 to singer and actor Bobby Darin, kept her in the public eye for much of the decade. Once again, Chandler received plaudits for her performance. Her film career flourished, and she became known for her wholesome ingenue roles in such films as Imitation of Life, Gidget and A Summer Place (all 1959). Chandler did not want to play the role for which she is probably best remembered, as Mina Harker in Dracula as she wanted to play Alice in Alice in Wonderland, but this part was given to Charlotte Henry, and Chandler, disappointed, joined David Manners and Bela Lugosi in "Dracula". In 1958 she won a Golden Globe Award for "Most Promising Newcomer" (along with Carolyn Jones and Diane Varsi). Chandler, with her blonde hair and ethereal quality was considered to be perfectly cast, and she received critical praise for her performance. She progressed to television commercials and then made her first film in 1957.

The unusual story told of a group of passengers on an ocean liner who gradually realise that they are all dead. Born Alexandria Zuck in Bayonne, New Jersey, Dee was a professional model by the age of four. She made her film debut in 1927 in The Music Master and in 1930 joined Leslie Howard, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Beryl Mercer for the film version of the stage success Outward Bound. Sandra Dee (born April 23, 1944) is an American film actress. Within a few years she was playing Shakespearean roles opposite such highly regarded performers as John Barrymore. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Chandler began her acting career on Broadway in 1917.

Helen Chandler (February 1, 1906 – April 30, 1965) was an American film and theater actress.