Doris Day, the renowned Hollywood actress and singer, has died at her California home aged 97. Known for her singing and many film roles in the 1950s and '60s, Day is also remembered for her animal welfare work.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Reisfeld
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American actress and singer Doris Day died Monday at age 97, her charity foundation said in a statement.
The Doris Day Animal Foundation said Day, who had suffered a bout of pneumonia, died in the early hours of the morning at her California home, surrounded by close friends.
Day's film dramas and musicals made her one of the most successful actresses of the 1950s and '60s and cemented her place as one of the most popular screen actresses in history.
Known for her films such as Pillow Talk and Love Me Or Leave Me, she's arguably most associated with the song "Que Sera Sera" ("Whatever will be, will be"), which was introduced in the 1956 Alfred Hitchcock film The Man Who Knew Too Much, starring Day and James Stewart in the lead roles.
From dancing to singing
Born Doris von Kappelhoff on April 3, 1922, in Cincinnati, Day headed to California at age 14 to be a dancer, but abandoned that dream after breaking her right leg in a car accident.
She then focused on singing and at 16 found a job with Les Brown, one of the top orchestra leaders of the day, and recorded her first hit, "Sentimental Journey," with him.
She changed her surname at the suggestion of a band leader who heard her sing "Day by Day."
Day's movie debut, Romance on the High Seas in 1948, was a hit, at least in part because of Day and the Oscar-nominated song she sang in it, "It's Magic."
A number of musicals followed with Day often playing a singer trying to break into the entertainment world. Some of the most memorable include My Dream Is Yours in 1949, It's a Great Feeling in 1949 and Tea for Two in 1950.
In 1953, she landed the title role in Calamity Jane, and her success continued in 1955 when she worked with Frank Sinatra for the musical Young at Heart and with James Cagney for the drama Love Me or Leave Me.
Day returned to light comedy in 1957 with The Pajama Game and two years later starred with Rock Hudson in Pillow Talk, her most popular movie, for which she got an Oscar nomination.
In the 1970s she turned her attention to animal welfare work, which would occupy the rest of her life.
Doris Day's most iconic roles
The legendary Hollywood actor and singer, who essayed roles with the likes of Ronald Reagan and Frank Sinatra, would have turned 100 this year. Here's a look back at her career.
Image: imago/ZUMA/Keystone
Simply ageless
In 2017, the US star thought she was celebrating her 93rd birthday, but a birth certificate revealed that the actress was born on April 3, 1922, as Doris Mary Kappelhoff, and was 95 years old. "I've always said that age is just a number and I've never paid much attention to birthdays, but it's great to finally know how old I really am!" was Doris Day's reaction to the news.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/State of Ohio Office of Vital Statistics
Big-band singer
After a car accident in 1937, the young Doris gave up her dreams of becoming a professional dancer and turned to singing instead. As a big-band singer, she took on the stage surname "Day" to replace the name given by her German ancestors, Kappelhoff. Her first hit recording, "Sentimental Journey," came out in early 1945 and became an anthem of the World War II troops hoping to return home.
Image: Gemeinfrei
Film debut
Extremely successful in Les Brown's band, Day was the world's best paid female band vocalist by 1946. Her film debut came in 1948, with the role of a singer in "Romance on the High Seas." Her song "It's Magic" was nominated for an Oscar. She then starred in "I'll See You in My Dreams" (1951), which broke box-office records at the time.
Image: imago/ZUMA/Keystone
'The Winning Team'
In 1952, she co-starred in the biographical movie "The Winning Team" with an actor who'd later famously win something much bigger, becoming the 40th US President - Ronald Reagan. The film depicted the life of major league baseball pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander (Reagan); Doris Day played the role of his wife, Aimee.
Image: AP
'Calamity Jane'
In the 1953 western musical "Calamity Jane," Doris Day starred as the title character (left in picture). The film was based on the life of the legendary Wild West heroine and her alleged love affair with Wild Bill Hickok (Howard Keel). It obtained an Academy Award for best original song, with the hit "Secret Love."
After demonstrating her talent in musical comedies, Day's breakthrough in more demanding, dramatic roles came with the biographical movie "Love Me or Leave Me" (1955), in which she co-starred with James Cagney. The film was based on the life of Ruth Etting, a Chicago nightclub singer who became a movie star. This was "her best film performance," Day later claimed in her autobiography.
Image: picture-alliance/United Archives
'The Man Who Knew Too Much'
A year later, she starred in Alfred Hitchcock's suspense thriller "The Man Who Knew Too Much" with James Stewart. In the film noir, Day also plays a popular singer, introducing her song "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)." It became a hit, obtained an Oscar for best original song and was used as her signature theme in her sitcom, "The Doris Day Show," at the end of the 1960s.
Her performance in the 1959 romantic comedy "Pillow Talk" earned Day an Oscar nomination for best actress, but she never won the coveted award. In the movie, she was an interior decorator who, despite initial feuds, falls in love with a womanizing bachelor, embodied by one of Hollywood's Golden Age heartthrobs, Rock Hudson. The actors co-starred in two more romantic comedies in the 1960s.
Image: picture-alliance/United Archives
'Move Over, Darling'
This picture is from one of Day's most iconic roles, as the mother of two young girls in the 1963 comedy "Move Over, Darling," co-starring James Gardner. The picture was originally planned to serve as Marilyn Monroe's comeback movie, under the title "Something's Got to Give," but the shoot was disrupted by her personal troubles and death in 1962.
Image: picture-alliance/United Archives/IFTN
Television career
When her third husband, Martin Melcher, died in 1968, Day was shocked to discover that he and his business partner had been wasting all of her money, leaving her bankrupt. He had also signed her without her knowledge to a television series, which she felt obliged to do. It became known as "The Doris Day Show," which ran from 1968-1973.
Image: AP
Animal rights activist
Another TV series, called "Doris Day's Best Friends" (1985-1986), focused on animals and their welfare. A life-long animal lover, Day founded the non-profit Doris Day Animal Foundation in 1978, which aims to rescue and protect animals. She also takes on lost animals in her home.
Image: DW/D.Pundy
Lifetime achievement
Now retired from acting and performing, Doris Day remains committed to promoting animal rights. She is pictured here at the Golden Globes in 1989, where she was given the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement. Her rich career would also justify her receiving the equivalent Academy Award, but that one hasn't come yet.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
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Life off the screen
Day's life was not always as bright as it appeared on screen. She married four times, was divorced three times and widowed once, suffered a nervous breakdown and had severe financial trouble after one husband squandered her money.
"My public image is unshakably that of America's wholesome virgin, the girl next door, carefree and brimming with happiness," she said in a memoir, "an image, I can assure you, more make-believe than any film part I ever played. But I am Miss Chastity Belt and that's all there is to it."
