Mary Badaracco grew up in Connecticut with 11 siblings. At 16, she dropped out of high school and married her first husband, with whom she had two daughters; Beth Profeta and Sherri Passaro.
A few years into her marriage, Mary got divorced. After that, she moved around a bit pursuing various jobs as a housekeeper and bartender.
In 1970, she got married to Dominic Badaracco after meeting him at a bar he owned. Dominic had four kids from a previous marriage, so it was kind of a bootleg version of the Brady Bunch.
Things between Mary and Dominic were far from perfect. Dominic was reportedly abusive towards Mary. She was known to leave the house on occasion when things became too unbearable but she would always return to reconcile with him.
Mary’s daughters hated their stepfather and moved out of the house as soon as they were old enough to do so.
Dominic was known for hitting the kids with a paddle that had their names on it and would add a checkmark every time they were spanked.
He was also known for being controlling. When the young girls and their mother would leave and stay with friends, Dominic would find them and force them back.
