31 Facts About Doris Willens

Doris Willens was an American singer-songwriter, journalist, advertising executive and author.

Doris Willens was a member of the Baby Sitters children's folk music group along with Alan Arkin and Lee Hays, and she wrote Lonesome Traveler: The Life of Lee Hays, describing his career with the Almanac Singers and the Weavers.

Doris Willens wrote a handful of musicals and plays including Piano Bar in 1978.

Doris Willens's mother was born Badana Heskin in 1895, and she married Samuel Wilensky.

The family reunited in The Bronx, where Doris Willens was born in 1924.

Doris Willens's mother, known as "Bobbie", was a garment worker, and her father was a business agent for the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.

Doris Willens attended Manual Arts High School, then entered the University of California, Los Angeles to get a bachelor's degree in English.

Doris Willens returned to New York to enroll in the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, earning a scholarship in 1946 from the Woman's Press Club of New York City.

Doris Willens was a newspaper reporter in Minnesota, hired in 1947 by the Minneapolis Tribune as the first woman to cover the police beat.

Doris Willens competed for scoops against 24-year-old Harry Reasoner who worked for rival newspaper The Minneapolis Times.

When Doris Willens appeared at the police station to cover the law enforcement news, the police detectives complained that they would have to clean up their language in front of a woman, but Captain Gene Bernath was supportive, accommodating Doris Willens' schedule by holding news briefs in the afternoon.

Doris Willens was employed by the New York Journal-American and became the first woman columnist covering the advertising agency industry.

Doris Willens published the DDB News internally, conducting interviews and reporting on events.

In 1955, Kaplan and Doris Willens took a flat in Brooklyn.

Doris Willens discovered that folk singer Lee Hays lived one floor below them.

Yaffe and Doris Willens both bore sons in 1956: Adam Arkin in August and Andrew "Pete" Kaplan in October.

Doris Willens wrote lyrics for 21 songs, teaming with her friend Rob Fremont who wrote the music.

Doris Willens herself was invited to attend the 1982 Pittsburgh production.

Doris Willens wrote song lyrics in 1990 for Aristophanes' play Lysistrata, collaborating with composer Laurence Dresner.

Doris Willens partnered with Lois Stein to found Primrose Productions to produce plays around Long Island, New York, near Doris Willens' home in Northport.

Doris Willens name came from Disraeli's favorite flower, the primrose.

Hays asked Doris Willens to transcribe the tapes and write a book.

Doris Willens eventually realized that it was indeed her responsibility, and she researched Hays' life further, talking with friends, family and musicians to flesh out Hays' own words.

Ad Age editor Fred Danzig said that Doris Willens' text was "more than accurate" in its portrayal.

Ad Age noted that Doris Willens gave credit to Bernbach for being a dedicated family man rather than a womanizer, and for his professional skill at combining art and ad copy.

Doris Willens married Milton L Kaplan in May 1949, and the couple had three children: Jeffrey, Andrew, and Dan.

Doris Willens' older brother Harold was a captain in the marines, translating Japanese during the Occupation of Japan.

Doris Willens became a millionaire from real estate holdings on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, and he supported many progressive and liberal issues, especially focused on stopping the nuclear arms race.

Doris Willens' son Andrew changed his name to Pete Kaplan; he is a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Doris Willens married Mary Shaw in 1983, divorcing in 1992.

Doris Willens died in East Windsor Township, New Jersey, in July 2021 at the age of 96.