"I Was Never A Teenager"

This article, written by Arvella Eden appeared in the July 1960 issue of Teen Magazine

Sandra Dee, the blonde beauty who many predict will become one of the finest actresses of the century, has no regrets at going from childhood to adulthood--entirely skipping teenage.
Almost two years ago, and only 16, the "girl in the glass slippers" told her TEEN interviewer that she never missed not getting to do the fun things of the teen years. Now, on the brink of full screen stardom, the "golden girl" still maintains that she has no regrets.
"Absolutely not," says Sandra, who has just passed her eighteenth birthday. "In fact, most of the articles that have been coming out saying I had no youth--to me seem very silly. I didn't start my movie career until I was already 15. I'm still very young.
"I love acting. It's what I want to do. I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't like it," she continues. "I wouldn't have it any other way, I think I'm fortunate. A lot of people don't really know what they want to do."
Nevertheless, her success in motion pictures has definitely created great gaps in the young star's life. She has been thrown constantly with adults, professional people whose one purpose is to create successful motion pictures. This requires tremendous thought and energy and time. Almost every personal activity is sacrificed to the merciless timeclock of film production.
Even though the Universal-International Pictures star may not be working directly on a movie, she may be required to read script for her next film, or asked by her studio to make public appearances, give interviews, get her hair re-styled or be fitted for a new wardrobe.
So goes the time she might otherwise spend dating or dancing, or going shopping, to the beach--any one of a hundred things girls in their teens enjoy doing. Girl Scouting is probably the last typical activity she remembers. From that she went into modeling, and then into the whirl of movie-making.
So she didn't go to high school? Sandra dismisses this gap by pointing out that you can't miss something you haven't had.
"What are teen years anyway?" she asks, and fills in her own answer "Dating? Talking on the telephone, I do that. I can honestly say there's nothing in the world I want... in a material way.
But the chink in the armor of the girl who has been rushed into a sophisticated life beyond her years opens up when Sandra is asked, "Do you have any particular advice you believe from experience would be helpful to teenagers?"
"I'm not able to give advice," she replies. "They could give me better advice. I've had no contact with kids."
Her response reveals a lot about the price of success. And her unexpected comment tells much more. "What I would like most of all is a girl friend . . . out here (Hollywood) . . . my age or older . . . to talk to and share things with."
Sandra's deep brown eyes are very serious, and suggest a personal maturity greater than her 15 years. She professes to be completely happy with her setup. At the same time, gives the impression of reassuring the adults who express concern.
Her close friends in Hollywood are older people, people she works with. They usually have dinner, drive or talk. There are no young people at her studio, but Sandra does date. She has made publicity appearances with such famous celebs as Troy Donahue and Mark Goddard, and non-publicity dates with young men outside the entertainment business. On a strictly social date, the actress enjoys going to Pacific Ocean Park, horseback riding or to the movies.
"I love to talk," she confesses, and reveals that Troy, who is her friend, as well as her leading man in A Summer Place, is a choice conversationalist. She declined, however, to name a favorite leading man, saying only, "I never worked with anyone I didn't like."
While Sandra would like to maintain an apartment in New York, near her hometown in Bayonne, N.J., she also prefers her home to be on the west coast. She has bought a home with a pool in Beverly Hills.
"It wouldn't be home without a pool," she says, and hopes this year to enjoy it. So far, she hasn't had time to do much swimming, one of her favorite recreations, nor has she done much formal entertaining.
Neither does Sandra have much time to drive the new Chrysler Imperial that she got on her eighteenth birthday. Although she took a short holiday at nearby Palm Springs, most of her traveling is done on personal appearance tours and on location for pictures.
She recently did a five-week tour in New York and Canada, a tour on which she got sick. She is now in Rome, shooting the comedy Romanoff and Juliet. This film will keep her outside the United States for three months, and she's delighted at the prospect.
Sandra's eastern tour, which hit Syracuse and Rochester, N.Y., as well as her hometown, was fabulous until she became ill. Her appearances were timed with the Easter release of the Russian-made film, Snow Queen, a full-length color cartoon. The actress, who voices the film, says the characterizations are very different from American cartoons, and it was fun to do for this reason.
While in the east, she was happy to find out that her record, When I Fall in Love, backed with Dear Johnny, was doing okay. A second disc, Do It While You're Young, is scheduled for release. Sandra likes recording and hopes to do more.
On the subject of marriage, she voices some doubt about mixing marriage with her career.
"I've always said I would give up my career for marriage--it would come first. Now, I continue to love acting so, I don't know about giving up my career completely. It's almost like a bug... you can't give it up."
Sandra, a famous model at 12 gained fame as one of America's top ten--earning as much as $78,000 a year. A year later, she appeared on the covers of seven magazines.
It was early in 1957 that U-I producer Ross Hunter brought her to Hollywood for a screen test.
Her career was launched in The Restless Years, in which she co-starred with John Saxon.
Her acting career firmly established, she is destined to become a big star in the true Hollywood tradition. The fact that she is an avid reader of movie magazines, and can trace the rise of every top-ranking star, is proof of her dedication to her chosen profession.
Career is the Dee doll's first concern. She really works at it and is a perfectionist, according to associates. "I can be sick or ill, dizzy, hot, tired," she says, "and after one rehearsal on the set, I feel fine. I wouldn't care to change my life. I love it more every day."
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