Doris Day (born Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress and singer. Her career spanned nearly 50 years, during which she became one of the most popular female singers of the 1940s and 1950s and later one of Hollywood’s most successful box-office stars in the 1950s and 1960s. She was known for her “girl next door” screen image and her distinctive singing voice. Day began her career as a big band singer in 1937.
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Doris Day (born Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress and singer. Her career spanned nearly 50 years, during which she became one of the most popular female singers of the 1940s and 1950s and later one of Hollywood’s most successful box-office stars in the 1950s and 1960s. She was known for her “girl next door” screen image and her distinctive singing voice. Day began her career as a big band singer in 1937. She achieved commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, “Sentimental Journey” and “My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time” with Les Brown and His Band of Renown. She later left the band to pursue a solo career and recorded more than 650 songs between 1947 and 1967. Her recording of “Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)” became her signature song and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2011. Day made her film debut in the musical “Romance on the High Seas” (1948). She later played the title role in “Calamity Jane” (1953) and appeared in “The Man Who Knew Too Much” (1956). She co-starred with Rock Hudson in three comedies, “Pillow Talk” (1959), for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress, “Lover Come Back” (1961), and “Send Me No Flowers” (1964). She also appeared with James Garner in “Move Over, Darling” (1963) and “The Thrill of It All” (1963). After ending her film career in 1968, she starred in the television sitcom “The Doris Day Show” (1968–1973). In 1989, Day received the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures. In 2004, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2008, she received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Legend Award from the Society of Singers. In 2011, she received the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Career Achievement Award. She was one of eight recording artists to be the top box-office earner in the United States four times. She was also a prominent animal welfare advocate and founded the Doris Day Animal League and the Doris Day Animal Foundation. Day was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on April 3, 1922, to German-American parents Alma Sophia (née Welz) and William Joseph Kappelhoff. She was named after actress Doris Kenyon. Her father was a music teacher and choirmaster. She had two older brothers, Richard and Paul. In 1937, she was injured in a car accident that ended her early ambitions to become a professional dancer. During her recovery, she developed an interest in singing and began performing on local radio. She took singing lessons and soon began working professionally with radio programs and big bands. In 1939, bandleader Barney Rapp gave her the stage name Doris Day. She later worked with bands led by Jimmy James, Bob Crosby, and Les Brown. With Les Brown, she recorded “Sentimental Journey”, which became a major hit in 1945 and was associated with returning World War II servicemen. She also had further hit recordings in the mid-1940s, including “My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time” and “Till the End of Time”. Day transitioned to film in 1948 after being recommended by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn. Her early film career included musical roles such as “Romance on the High Seas”, “Tea for Two” (1950), “On Moonlight Bay” (1951), and “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” (1953). She starred in “I'll See You in My Dreams” (1951), which was a major box-office success, and “Calamity Jane” (1953), from which the song “Secret Love” became a No. 1 hit and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Between 1955 and 1958, Day expanded into more dramatic roles, including “Love Me or Leave Me” (1955), in which she portrayed singer Ruth Etting. She also starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much” (1956), performing “Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)”, which became one of her most famous songs. She continued with both musicals and comedies, including “The Pajama Game” (1957) and “Teacher’s Pet” (1958). From 1959 onward, Day became especially associated with romantic comedy films. “Pillow Talk” (1959) marked a major breakthrough and led to further successful films with Rock Hudson, including “Lover Come Back” (1961) and “Send Me No Flowers” (1964). She also starred in films such as “Please Don't Eat the Daisies” (1960), “That Touch of Mink” (1962), and “Midnight Lace” (1960). During the early 1960s, she was among the highest-paid and most popular film actresses in the United States. By the mid-1960s, her film popularity began to decline. She continued acting in films such as “The Glass Bottom Boat” (1966) and “The Ballad of Josie” (1967), and her final film appearance was in “With Six You Get Eggroll” (1968). She also recorded “The Love Album” in 1967, although it was not released until 1994. After the death of her third husband in 1968, Day discovered that she was left in financial debt due to mismanagement of her finances by her husband and his business partner. She subsequently became involved in legal proceedings that eventually resulted in a settlement years later. Despite her reluctance to work in television, she starred in “The Doris Day Show” (1968–1973), which ran for five seasons. She also appeared in television specials including “The Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff Special” (1971) and “Doris Day Today” (1975). In later years, Day received numerous honors, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1989 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004. She continued to receive recognition for her recordings, including Grammy Hall of Fame inductions for “Sentimental Journey”, “Secret Love”, and “Que Sera, Sera”. In 2011, she released the album “My Heart”, which included previously unreleased recordings produced by her son. She remained active in animal welfare work throughout her life. Day died on May 13, 2019, at the age of 97. Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Day Studio albums You're My Thrill (1949) Young Man with a Horn (1950) Tea for Two (1950) Lullaby of Broadway (1951) On Moonlight Bay (1951) I'll See You in My Dreams (1951) By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953) Calamity Jane (1953) Young at Heart (1954) Love Me or Leave Me (1955) Day Dreams (1955) Day by Day (1956) The Pajama Game (1957) Day by Night (1957) Hooray for Hollywood (1958) Cuttin' Capers (1959) What Every Girl Should Know (1960) Show Time (1960) Listen to Day (1960) Bright and Shiny (1961) I Have Dreamed (1961) Duet (1962) You'll Never Walk Alone (1962) Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962) Annie Get Your Gun (1963) Love Him (1963) The Doris Day Christmas Album (1964) With a Smile and a Song (1964) Latin for Lovers (1965) Doris Day's Sentimental Journey (1965) The Love Album (1967; released 1994) My Heart (1985 recordings; released 2011; includes eight previously unissued tracks)
