Leading Ladies Doris Day
Calamity Jane/ Calamity Jane
Pillow Talk/ Jan Morrow
On Moonlight Bay/ Marjorie Winfield
The Man Who Knew Too Much/ Josephine Conway McKenna
That Touch Of Mink/ Cathy Timberlake
Per Quinlan's Film Stars:
Chirpy, blonde American singer with white, white teeth and an engaging smile. The girl next door of Warners' family musicals of the late forties and early fifties, she later became accepted as a competent dramatic actress, and then not only sustained her career but became America's number one box office star, with a series of fluffy sex comedies from 1958 on.At her best she was endearingly vulnerable. But her finest performances remain in musicals.where her characters mixed vivacity with gusto.
She was born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff at Cincinnati, OH in either 1922 or 1924, though the latter date is generally shown as her year of birth,
Ms. Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939 with her popularity rising after her first hit recording of Sentimental Journey.
She left the band of Les Brown & His Band Of Renown and ventured out into a solo career. At this time she began a long lasting partnership with Columbia Records which lasted from 1947 to 1967. This is the only record company that she was associated with.
Her film debut was in 1948 in the film Romance On The High Seas. She was persuaded to audition for the part by her manager Al Levy as well as song writers Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne after which director Michael Curtiz cast her as the female lead.
Over her career Ms. Day appeared in thirty nine films. She was ranked the biggest box office star, the only woman appearing on that list in the era for four years (1960, 1962, 1963 & 1964) as well as ranking in the top ten for ten years (1951-1952, 1959-1966).She became the top ranking female box office star of all time as well as being ranked sixth among the top ten box office stars ( both male and female).
Ms. Day was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actress in Pillow Talk.
She won three Henrietta Awards ( World Film Favorite), received the Los Angeles Film Critics Association's Career Achievement Award as well as the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures in 1989.
Her last film was made in the year 1968.
The film roles of Doris Day were:
Romance On The High Seas (1948) as Georgia Garrett
My Dream Is Yours (1949) as Martha Gibson
It's A Great Feeling (1949) as Judy Adams
Young Man With A Horn (1950) as Jo Jordan
Tea For Two (1950) as Nanette Carter
The West Point Story (1950) as Jan Wilson
Storm Warning (1951) as Lucy Rice
Lullaby Of Broadway (1951) as Melinda Howard
On Moonlight Bay (1951) as Marjorie Winfield
I'll See You In My Dreams (1951) as Grace LeBoy Kahn
Starlift (1951) as Doris Day
The Winning Team (1952) as Aimee Alexander
April In Paris (1952) as Ethel S. Dynamite Jackson
By The Light Of The Silvery Moon (1953) as Marjorie Winfield
Calamity Jane (1953) as Calamity Jane
Lucky Me (1954) as Candy Williams
Young At Heart (1954) as Laurie Tuttle
Love Me Or Leave Me (1955) as Ruth Etting
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1955) as Josephine Conway McKenna
Julie (1956) as Julie Benton
The Pajama Game (1957) as Babe Williams
Teacher's Pet (1958) as Erica Stone
The Tunnel Of Love (1958) as Isolde Poole
It Happened To Jane (1959) as Jane Osgood
Pillow Talk (1959) as Jan Morrow
Please Don't Eat The Daisies (1960) as Kate Robinson MacKay
Midnight Love (1960) as Kit Preston
Lover Come Back (1961) as Carol Templeton
That Touch Of Mink (1962) as Cathy Timberlake
Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962) as Kitty Wonder
The Thrill Of It All (1963) as Beverly Boyer
Move Over, Darling (1963) as Ellen Wagstaff Arden
Send Me No Flowers (1964) as Judy Kimball
Do Not Disturb (1965) as Janet Harper
The Glass Bottom Boat (1966) as Jennifer Nelson
The Ballad Of Josie (1967) as Josie Minick
Caprice (1967) as Patricia Foster
Where Were You When The Lights Went Out? (1968) as Margaret Garrison
With Six You Get Eggroll (1968) as Abby McClure
Ms. Day starred on television in The Doris Day Show as Doris Martin. The series ran on prime time from 1968 to 1973.
The only other television appearance she made was on an episode of The Governor & J J in 1970 in which only her voice was heard.
She largely retired from acting after the end of the television.
Ms. Day found out in 1968 that her third husband and his business partner Jerome Bernard Rosenthal had squandered her earnings leaving her deeply in debt. Rosenthal had been her attorney since 1949. In February 1969 Ms Day filed suit against Rosenthal and won the then largest civil judgment ( over $20 million dollars) in the state of California. She finally settled for about one quarter of the amount originally requested..
After she retired Ms. Day has lived in Carmel by the Sea, California along with her many pets and strays that she adopts.
She has been very active in the area of animal welfare. Founded by her in 1978, the Doris Day Pet Foundation has now been renamed the Doris Day Animal Foundation.
Doris Day has been married and divorced four times. Her husbands were:
Al Jordan (1941-1943)
George Weidler (1946 - 1949)
Martin Melcher (1951-1968)
Barry Comden (1976 - 1981)
I have always liked Ms Day and have enjoyed her in the films The West Point Story, On Moonlight Bay, I'll See You In My Dreams, By The Light Of The Silvery Moon, Calamity Jane, The Man Who Knew Too Much, April In Paris, It Happened To Jane, That Touch Of Mink, The Glass Bottom Boat, Pillow Talk, Caprice and With Six You Get Eggroll. I also enjoyed her on television on The Doris Day Show.
Great actress! Great singer!
Louie The Movie Buff