In the 1950s, no one symbolized purity and innocence more than starlet Sandra Dee. If we only knew.

Dee seemed to be an angel of the silver screen. Starting as a child model before moving to film, the blonde beauty captivated 1950s audiences with her all-American charms, and we still see her as the ultimate “good girl” today. But the truth was something else entirely.

Sandra Dee’s mother taught her how to starve herself from a young age—but that was only the tip of the iceberg. You see, Mary didn’t want her daughter to grow up. In addition to counting calories, she insisted that Sandra flatten her chest well into puberty.

From her horrific childhood to her biggest secrets, Sandra Dee’s life is so much darker than people know.