55 Facts About Doris Day

Doris Day left Brown to embark on a solo career and recorded more than 650 songs from 1947 to 1967.

Doris Day starred in films of many genres, including musicals, comedies, dramas, and thrillers.

Doris Day played the title role in Calamity Jane and starred in Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much with James Stewart.

Doris Day worked with James Garner on both Move Over, Darling and The Thrill of It All, and starred alongside Clark Gable, Cary Grant, James Cagney, David Niven, Ginger Rogers, Jack Lemmon, Frank Sinatra, Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, James Garner, and Rod Taylor in various movies.

Doris Day's mother was a homemaker, and her father was a music teacher and choirmaster.

Doris Day developed an early interest in dance, and in the mid-1930s formed a dance duo with Jerry Doherty that performed in competitions throughout the United States.

On October 13,1937, while riding with friends, the car Doris Day was in collided with a freight train, breaking her right leg and curtailing her prospects as a professional dancer.

Years later, Doris Day said that Raine had the biggest effect on her singing style and career.

In 1941, Doris Day appeared as a singer in three Soundies with the Les Brown band.

Doris Day was cast for the role after auditioning for director Michael Curtiz.

Doris Day was shocked at being offered the role in the film, and admitted to Curtiz that she was a singer without acting experience.

Doris Day was the discovery of which Curtiz was proudest during his career.

Doris Day recorded "Someone Like You", before the film My Dream Is Yours, which featured the song.

Doris Day continued to make minor and frequently nostalgic period musicals such as On Moonlight Bay, By the Light of the Silvery Moon, and Tea For Two for Warner Brothers.

Doris Day appeared as the title character in the comedic western-themed musical, Calamity Jane.

Doris Day sang two songs in the film, "Que Sera, Sera " which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and "We'll Love Again".

Doris Day worked with Paramount Pictures for the comedy Teacher's Pet, alongside Clark Gable and Gig Young.

Doris Day co-starred with Richard Widmark and Gig Young in the romantic comedy film The Tunnel of Love, but found scant success opposite Jack Lemmon in It Happened to Jane.

In 1959, Doris Day entered her most successful phase as a film actress with a series of romantic comedies.

Doris Day received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Doris Day set a record that has yet to be equaled, receiving seven consecutive Laurel Awards as the top female box office star.

Doris Day teamed up with James Garner starting with The Thrill of It All, followed by Move Over, Darling.

In between these comedic roles, Doris Day co-starred with Rex Harrison in the movie thriller Midnight Lace, an updating of the stage thriller Gaslight.

Doris Day starred in the western film The Ballad of Josie.

That same year, Doris Day recorded The Love Album, although it was not released until 1994.

From 1959 to 1970, Doris Day received nine Laurel Award nominations for best female performance in eight comedies and one drama.

Doris Day filed suit against Rosenthal in February 1969, won a successful decision in 1974, but did not receive compensation until a settlement in 1979.

Doris Day hated the idea of performing on television, but felt obligated to do it.

The first episode of The Doris Day Show aired on September 24,1968, and, from 1968 to 1973, employed a rerecorded version of "Que Sera, Sera" as its theme song.

Doris Day persevered, but only after CBS ceded creative control to her and her son.

Doris Day named Day as a co-defendant, describing her as an "unwilling, involuntary plaintiff whose consent cannot be obtained".

Rosenthal claimed that millions of dollars Doris Day lost were in real estate sold after Melcher died in 1968, in which Rosenthal asserted that the attorneys gave Doris Day bad advice, telling her to sell, at a loss, three hotels, in Palo Alto, California, Dallas, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia, plus some oil leases in Kentucky and Ohio.

Doris Day claimed he had made the investments under a long-term plan, and did not intend to sell them until they appreciated in value.

Doris Day stated publicly that she believed her husband innocent of any deliberate wrongdoing, stating that he "simply trusted the wrong person".

Doris Day was scheduled to present, along with Patrick Swayze and Marvin Hamlisch, the Best Original Score Oscar at the 61st Academy Awards in March 1989 but she suffered a deep leg cut and was unable to attend.

Doris Day had been walking through the gardens of her hotel when she cut her leg on a sprinkler.

Doris Day's cover of "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" was included in the soundtrack of the Australian film Strictly Ballroom.

Doris Day turned down a tribute offer from the American Film Institute and from the Kennedy Center Honors because they require attendance in person.

Doris Day starred on screen with leading men from Jimmy Stewart to Ronald Reagan, from Rock Hudson to James Garner.

Doris Day is one of the greats, and America will always love its sweetheart.

Doris Day received a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement in Music in 2008, albeit again in absentia.

Doris Day was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame in 2007, and in 2010 received the first Legend Award ever presented by the Society of Singers.

Doris Day became the oldest artist to score a UK Top 10 with an album featuring new material.

Doris Day granted ABC a telephone interview on her birthday in 2016, which was accompanied by photos of her life and career.

Doris Day was so appalled at the conditions the animals used in filming were kept in that she refused to work unless they were properly fed and cared for.

Doris Day actively lobbied the United States Congress in support of legislation designed to safeguard animal welfare on a number of occasions, and in 1995 she originated the annual World Spay Doris Day.

Since the 1980s Doris Day owned a hotel in Carmel-by-the-Sea called the Cypress Inn which she originally co-owned with her son.

When Doris Day became pregnant and refused to have an abortion, he beat her in an attempt to force a miscarriage.

Weidler and Doris Day met again several years later during a brief reconciliation, and he introduced her to Christian Science.

Doris Day married American film producer Martin Melcher on April 3,1951, her 29th birthday, and this marriage lasted until he died in April 1968.

Doris Day was the maitre d'hotel at one of Day's favorite restaurants.

Doris Day knew of her great love of dogs and endeared himself to her by giving her a bag of meat scraps and bones on her way out of the restaurant.

Doris Day later complained that she cared more for her "animal friends" than she did for him.

Doris Day died at her home in Carmel Valley, California, on May 13,2019, at the age of 97, after having contracted pneumonia.

Doris Day's death was announced by her charity, the Doris Day Animal Foundation.