Doris Day
April 3, 1922 — May 13, 2019
Doris Day was an American actress, singer, and animal rights activist who became one of the most popular entertainers of the 1950s and 1960s — a major recording artist with dozens of hit songs, a top box office star for a decade running, and a woman whose fresh, warm screen presence made her a beloved symbol of mid-century American optimism.
From Cincinnati to Hollywood
Born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff on April 3, 1922, in Cincinnati, Ohio, she dreamed of becoming a dancer but a serious car accident at 15 shattered that ambition. During her recovery she listened to recordings of Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday and decided to pursue singing instead. She sang on Cincinnati radio, joined several big bands as a vocalist, and was discovered on a radio broadcast by bandleader Bob Crosby, leading to a stint with the Les Brown Band and a string of hit recordings in the mid-1940s. "Sentimental Journey" (1945) became her first number-one record and an anthem of the returning World War II generation.
Hollywood's Wholesome Queen
Day's film debut came in Romance on the High Seas (1948). Her star rose quickly: the western musical comedy Calamity Jane (1953) gave her the Academy Award-nominated song "Secret Love," and Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) produced "Que Sera, Sera," which won the Oscar for Best Original Song and became her signature tune. She was the top box office draw in the United States from 1959 to 1963, starring in a string of popular romantic comedies often opposite Rock Hudson — including Pillow Talk (1959), Lover Come Back (1961), and Send Me No Flowers (1964). Her films presented a cheerful, witty, independent woman who held her own against male co-stars.
Did You Know?
Doris Day never won a competitive Academy Award, despite being the top box office star in America for five years straight and receiving one Oscar nomination (for Pillow Talk). She was, however, given the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2011, her enormous back catalog led to the discovery of royalties she had never received — a settlement reportedly yielded millions. She consistently said her biggest regret was not receiving enough education when she was young.
A Second Life as an Activist
Largely retired from entertainment by the mid-1970s, Day dedicated herself to animal welfare. She co-founded the Doris Day Animal Foundation and the Doris Day Animal League, which lobbied for spay/neuter legislation and animal protection laws. She rarely gave interviews and shunned Hollywood nostalgia events, preferring to live quietly in Carmel, California, surrounded by dogs. She died on May 13, 2019, at age 97, having outlived most of her era's Hollywood aristocracy. Her combination of warmth, wit, vocal ability, and screen presence makes her among the most beloved entertainers of the twentieth century.