On April 3, 1922, Doris Day was born in Cincinnati, OH. The singer and actress is best known for her affable girl next door persona, her song “Que Será, Será (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)” and as the queen of the romantic comedy. In 1975, after spending decades yearning for quietude, she retreated from the spotlight to devote her life to animal rights activism, creating the Doris Day Animal Foundation. Turning 96 today, Day recently celebrated her birthday with a fundraiser for her foundation. The weekend-long event included a 50th-anniversary screening of her film “With Six You Get Eggroll,” as well as a 50th-anniversary tribute to her television series, “The Doris Day Show.”
Inspired by her musically-inclined parents, a young Day started taking voice lessons after a severe leg injury from a 1937 car accident. Her natural talent immediately impressed her vocal coach. At age 15, she began performing locally and soon emerged as a beloved big band singer during the World War II era. She rose to fame with “Sentimental Journey,” a song that appealed to a generation of weary World War II soldiers returning home. As Les Brown, one of her bandleaders, recalled, “She was every bandleader’s dream, a vocalist who had natural talent, a keen regard for the lyrics and an attractive appearance.” In 1947, Day scored a solo record contract with Columbia Records.
Photo: John Springer Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
Then, after an emotionally-wrought performance of “Embraceable You” at a 1947 Hollywood party, Day landed her first film role in “Romance on the High Seas” (1948). Throughout the 1950s, she had a string of hit musical films, including “Tea for Two” (1950), “Calamity Jane” (1953) and “The Pajama Game” (1957). She also starred opposite James Stewart in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1956 classic, “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” for which she recorded “Que Será, Será (Whatever Will Be, Will Be).” Her performance in “Pillow Talk” (1959) with Rock Hudson, earned her a Best Actress Oscar nomination, a Golden Globe Award and a series of starring roles in Hollywood rom-coms. Eventually, she moved to the small screen with her Golden Globe-winning series, “The Doris Day Show” (1968-1973).
During her Hollywood heyday, Day was the embodiment of the perfect all-American woman. However, she spent most of her life off-screen unable to live up to her fairytale public image. She endured four rocky marriages, three resulting in divorce and the other
ending when her husband passed away. In 1975, she left Hollywood and moved to Carmel Valley, CA, to establish a more peaceful life for herself. A lifelong animal lover, she established the Doris Day Animal Foundation with “the mission of helping animals and the people who love them.”