Doris Day, the sunny blond actress and singer whose frothy roles in comedies and musicals made her one of HollywoodB次元官网网址檚 biggest stars in the 1950s and B次元官网网址�60s and a symbol of wholesome American womanhood, has died. She was 97.
In recent years, Day had been an animal rights advocate and her Doris Day Animal Foundation confirmed her death early Monday at her Carmel Valley, California, home. The foundation said she was surrounded by close friends.
B次元官网网址淒ay had been in excellent physical health for her age, until recently contracting a serious case of pneumonia, resulting in her death,B次元官网网址� the foundation said in an emailed statement.
The foundation also said she requested B次元官网网址渘o funeral or memorial service and no grave marker.B次元官网网址�
With her lilting contralto, wholesome blonde beauty and glowing smile, Day was a top box office draw and recording artist known for such films as B次元官网网址淧illow TalkB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淭hat Touch of MinkB次元官网网址� and for such songs as B次元官网网址淲hatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)B次元官网网址� from the Alfred Hitchcock film B次元官网网址淭he Man Who Knew Too Much.B次元官网网址�
Over time, she became more than a name above the title: Right down to her cheerful, alliterative stage name, she stood for a time of innocence and G-rated love, a parallel world to her contemporary Marilyn Monroe. The running joke, attributed to both Groucho Marx and actor-composer Oscar Levant, was that they had known Day B次元官网网址渂efore she was a virgin.B次元官网网址�
Day herself was no Doris Day, by choice and by hard luck.
In her Oscar-nominated role in 1959B次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淧illow Talk,B次元官网网址� the first of her three films with Rock Hudson, she proudly caught up with what she called B次元官网网址渢he contemporary in me.B次元官网网址� Her 1976 tell-all book, B次元官网网址淒oris Day: Her Own Story,B次元官网网址� chronicled her money troubles and three failed marriages, contrasting with the happy publicity of her Hollywood career.
B次元官网网址淚 have the unfortunate reputation of being Miss Goody Two-Shoes, AmericaB次元官网网址檚 Virgin, and all that, so IB次元官网网址檓 afraid itB次元官网网址檚 going to shock some people for me to say this, but I staunchly believe no two people should get married until they have lived together,B次元官网网址� she wrote.
Day was given a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004, as George W. Bush declared it B次元官网网址渁 good day for America when Doris Marianne von Kappelhoff of Evanston, Ohio decided to become an entertainer.B次元官网网址�
Although mostly retired from show business since the 1980s, she still had enough of a following that a 2011 collection of previously unreleased songs, B次元官网网址淢y Heart,B次元官网网址� hit the top 10 in the United Kingdom. The same year, she received a lifetime achievement honour from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Friends and supporters lobbied for years to get her an honorary Oscar.
Designer Stella McCartney, an animal rights advocate, responded to DayB次元官网网址檚 death Monday by tweeting: B次元官网网址淭he one, the only, the woman who inspired so much of what I doB次元官网网址� Doris Day I love you, my calamity Jane. An iconic woman who I was hugely honoured to meet and share precious moments with. Rest in peace.B次元官网网址�
Born to a music teacher and a housewife in Cincinnati, she had dreamed of a dance career, but at age 12 suffered a crippling accident: A car she was in was hit by a train and her leg was badly broken. Listening to the radio while recuperating, she began singing along with Ella Fitzgerald, B次元官网网址渢rying to catch the subtle ways she shaded her voice, the casual yet clean way she sang the words.B次元官网网址�
Day began singing in a Cincinnati radio station, then a local nightclub, then in New York. A bandleader changed her name to Day after the song B次元官网网址淒ay after DayB次元官网网址� to fit it on a marquee.
A marriage at 17 to trombonist Al Jorden ended when, she said, he beat her when she was eight months pregnant. She gave birth to her son, Terry, in early 1942. Her second marriage also was short-lived. She returned to Les BrownB次元官网网址檚 band after the first marriage broke up.
Her Hollywood career began after she sang at a Hollywood party in 1947. After early stardom as a band singer and a stint at Warner Bros., Day won the best notices of her career with B次元官网网址淟ove Me or Leave Me,B次元官网网址� the story of songstress Ruth Etting and her gangster husband-manager. She initially balked at it, but the 1955 film became a box-office and critical success.
She followed with HitchcockB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淭he Man Who Knew Too Much,B次元官网网址� starring with James Stewart as an innocent couple ensnared in an international assassination plot. She sang B次元官网网址淨ue Sera, SeraB次元官网网址� just as the story reached its climax. The 1958 comedy B次元官网网址淭eacherB次元官网网址檚 PetB次元官网网址� paired her with an aging Clark Gable.
But she found her greatest success in slick, stylish sex comedies, beginning with B次元官网网址淧illow Talk.B次元官网网址� She and Hudson played two New Yorkers who shared a telephone party line. She followed with B次元官网网址淭he Thrill of It All,B次元官网网址� playing a housewife who gains fame as a TV pitchwoman to the chagrin of obstetrician husband James Garner.
The nationB次元官网网址檚 theatre owners voted her the top moneymaking star in 1960, 1962, 1963 and 1964.
Her first musical hit was the 1945 smash B次元官网网址淪entimental Journey,B次元官网网址� when she was barely in her 20s. Among the other songs she made famous were B次元官网网址淓verybody Loves a Lover,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址漇ecret Love,B次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 Magic,B次元官网网址� a song from her first film, B次元官网网址淩omance on the High Seas,B次元官网网址� her first film.
Critic Gary Giddins called her B次元官网网址渢he coolest and sexiest female singer of slow-ballads in movie history.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淩omance on the High SeasB次元官网网址� had been designed for Judy Garland, then Betty Hutton. Both bowed out, and Day, recommended by songwriters Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne, won the role. Warner Bros. cashed in on its new star with a series of musicals, including B次元官网网址淢y Dream Is Yours,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址漈ea for TwoB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淟ullaby of Broadway.B次元官网网址� Her dramas included B次元官网网址淵oung Man with a Horn,B次元官网网址� with Kirk Douglas and Lauren Bacall, and B次元官网网址淪torm Warning,B次元官网网址� with Ronald Reagan and Ginger Rogers.
Her last film was B次元官网网址淲ith Six You Get Eggroll,B次元官网网址� a 1968 comedy about a widow and a widower who blend families.
B次元官网网址淔or those of us in my generation, Doris Day was synonymous with Hollywood icon,B次元官网网址� actor George Takei said on Twitter Monday. B次元官网网址淪he would no doubt remind us, upon this day of her passing, B次元官网网址楺ue sera sera,B次元官网网址� but we will miss her dearly anyway.B次元官网网址�
In the 1960s, Day discovered that failed investments by her third husband, Martin Melcher, left her deeply in debt. She eventually won a multimillion-dollar judgment against their lawyer.
With movies trending for more explicit sex, she turned to television to recoup her finances. B次元官网网址淭he Doris Day ShowB次元官网网址� was a moderate success in its 1966-1973 run on CBS.
Day had married Melcher, who worked in her agentB次元官网网址檚 office, in 1951. He became her manager, and her son took his name. In most of the films following B次元官网网址淧illow Talk,B次元官网网址� Melcher was listed as co-producer. Melcher died in 1969.
In her autobiography, Day recalled her son, Terry Melcher, telling her the $20 million she had earned had vanished and she owed around $450,000, mostly for taxes. Terry Melcher, who died in 2004, became a songwriter and record producer, working with such stars as the Beach Boys. He was also famous for an aspiring musician he turned down, Charles Manson. When Manson and his followers embarked on their murderous rampage in 1969, they headed for a house once owned by Melcher, and instead came upon actress Sharon Tate and some visitors, all of whom were killed.
Day married a fourth time at age 52, to businessman Barry Comden in 1976.
Her wholesome image was referenced in the song B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 Sandra DeeB次元官网网址� in the 1971 musical B次元官网网址淕rease,B次元官网网址� which included the lyrics: B次元官网网址淲atch it, hey, IB次元官网网址檓 Doris Day/ I was not brought up that way/ WonB次元官网网址檛 come across/ Even Rock Hudson lost/ His heart to Doris Day.B次元官网网址�
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The late AP writer Bob Thomas in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
The Associated Press
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