I concur with the last line of this article. RIP Doris Day,
3
Simply put, Some people have “IT” and most don’t, Doris Day had it.
5
Thank you dear lady for sharing with the world your wonderful talent. I thought she did a really good job in "Midnight Lace" a pretty good thriller. It was something about her voice, that 'crack' when she spoke that I always liked.
5
In the CYPRESS INN, an historic hotel in Carmel, California, which Doris Day partially owns, there are sometimes as many dogs as people in its small and pleasant cocktail lounge.
9
Her movies may have been light fare, but reading these comments she touched so many peoples lives. What a tribute for any actor. Cant think of any performers today that would have that impact. Different time, different generation. I'm glad she turned down "The Graduate". She aged better.
7
It makes me sad to hear that she felt dogs were his best friends. Dogs are wonderful, but it shouldn’t be that way. I admire her endurance and resilience, but it still makes me sad. Life shouldn’t be that way, and her's might have been better. I am so grateful for my family and close friends.
3
My first movie star “crush” growing up in the 1960’s! She was the whole package! Keep singing in the afterlife!
3
Not one for her acting or singing but she was Certainly a beautiful woman.....rip.
2
Today was the last day for Doris Day, but she will live on forever in celluloid, vinyl, and digital bytes. Que sara sara...
4
I will never forget her singing " Lulaby of Broadway".
3
She had the most beautiful smile.
4
Her girlish beauty and sweet speaking voice threw you off. Darned if you didn’t underestimate her as that strong, sassy, completely unbreakable woman gradually made her appearance in every one of her movies.
My favorite is “Teacher’s Pet” with Clark Gable. Gable kind of reprises his early role in “It Happened One Night” as a crude but smart newspaper man. She’s a refined and smart professor who seems ready for her comeuppance from the worldly realist. Who gets comeupped turns out to be a complicated question.
I can’t imagine anyone matching Doris Day in that role. But then, Doris Day had no match. She and her era interacted impeccably. They were made for each other.
10
Fondest memories of staying at the Cypress Inn which is the soul of Ms. Day. Condolences to all her family and friends.
6
Pitch perfect singing, great articulation of lyrics and a terrific smile - what's not to like? She exemplified the high artifice of the American films in the 50s. And then the suffering behind all the smiling, how very American, too - think Mariiyn Monroe.
7
Was nothing but sweetness and light - an uplifting persona. RIP
4
Farewell to the First Lady of the Screen.
5
I remember watching Johnny Carson interview Doris from the 1980,s. The hostility was fairly palpable. Evidently Doris did not think much of mr Carson. And I myself did not think much of Doris Day. Her movies were almost unwatchable. I predict that they will become watchable again someday and Doris Day will be recognized as the great talent that she was. RIP Doris Mary Anne kapplehoff. Ps now I know why they allow dogs in restaurants in Carmel.
1
My fave Doris Day movie is "Young at Heart" with Gig Young and Frank Sinatra. It's a tear-jerker for sure and doesn't get very good reviews, but I saw it for the first time as a teenager, late at night, on my tiny portable B/W tv and fell in love with her voice and just the way she had about her in that film.
4
"Pillow Talk" was my straitlaced mother's favorite movie, and I recently watched it for the first time in 50 years. It was hilarious. I think one of the things my mother liked about the film (aside from Rock Hudson) was that Day played a real career woman.
It wasn't until later that I learned that Day's first husband had been an abuser (her story served as a plot line in "New York, New York") and her third husband had impoverished her. I admired how she went back to work, basically starting over.
Mostly, I remember going to her movies with my hardworking, divorced mother who raised three kids completely alone and never remarried. Doris Day's lighthearted movies allowed her a respite from her worries. There's nothing wrong with that.
12
In the 1970s my grandparents lived on Ms. Day's street in Beverly Hills. Through the gate in front of her home were always a collection of dogs of all descriptions, and she used to ride her bicycle to and from the Mayfair market that was on the corner of Crescent and Wilshire, carrying groceries in a basket on the bike. She always gave a cheery wave and that megawatt smile when we would excitedly call out "hello!" as she passed by on her bicycle. Doris Day was a "natural" in a profession marked by artifice.
23
The scene in “The Man Who Knew Too Much” when she's so desperately singing her heart out in order to save her son brings chills to anyone, especially a parent. It's even more poignant, in retrospect, given that her only child, her son, died before her. Doris Day truly delivered her best performance in that scene. She was a lovely woman in so many ways.
9
I only knew Doris Day for her lovely voice- I love Sentimental Journey and Que Sera. After reading this article and do many effusive comments, I’ll have to explore her no doubt amazing film work.
6
Knew nothing about her personal life. Anything but the girl next door, which makes her natural acting ability so much more admirable. Great singer; favorite of my Mom.
4
The idea of Doris Day as Mrs. Robinson makes the mind reel. But she could have done it (and sung a Simon & Garfunkel song for the credits). Anne Bancroft must be very glad she turned it down!
2
It’s as though I lost my mother again. She loved, loved, loved Doris Day and her movies, creating an avid fan in me.
6
Her early career blossomed in my elementary school days. Her beauty and confidence came through in her demeanor and voice. This was before aspirations were firmly tied to personal freedom. Her two classic songs spoke of love, and of 'what will be will be'; rather than the determination to bring everything under control.
2
Midnight Lace was one of my favorites with Rex Harrison and Roddy McDowall. Ms. Day rarely did thrillers but she handled the suspenseful script set in foggy London superbly.
I also have a soft spot for Love Me Or Leave Me because the character Doris played was Ruth Etting who was from a small town in Nebraska where I was raised.
Her great legacy includes the LP Duet with Andre Previn. Here is one of a handful of personally treasured recordings accumulated in a life span of 75 years.
4
She had the most beautiful voice of the female singers I listened to in the 40s, 50s and 60s. Her voice was as instantly recognizable as was Frank Sinatra's. No female singer since has captured the glory of her voice. I loved her and I will always love her. She sang like an angel and I hope she now is one.
4
Que sera, sera.
2
She had not much choice over her material and she hated constantly having to play "the chastity belt."
If you watch THAT TOUCH OF MINK today it is like an annotated reference book to retrograde #metoo situations that women found themselves in back in the early 60s and, sadly, still find ourselves in today.
And yet she somehow rose above such incredibly demeaning & sexist films with grace, style and an often slightly meta sense of humor.
In real life, her husband swindled her and mistreated her.
Is it any surprise that Doris Day found animals to be better than humans as emotional companions?
Is it any surprise that Day was a best friend to Rock Hudson, and a champion of rights and medical advancements for AIDS patients - way before that became a "fashionable" Hollywood thing?
We lost a great icon today. But Doris Day lives on - in her music and her film work.
22
Her dogs knew the truth about Ms. Day. R.I.P.
9
Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be...What a long life, one that brought so much happiness to a lot of people. A Doris Day movie is unforgettable. She's an American icon. One of my favorite scenes was from "Teacher's Pet," when she first meets Clark Gable fall onto her knees as if she's just seen a god. Which he was. She was hilarious and fresh and cute and pure of heart. Who didn't love her?
17
I get the lyrics to "Que Sera" stuck in my head all the time. They are never unwelcome. I've known them as long as I can remember and they reflect a timeless philosophy.
1
No matter the age talent is talent. Doris Day was old Hollywood talent.
She gave us joy . There is no one yo replace her and we will treasure her memory like fine wine.
Thank you for being in our lives and accepting the love from your fans. You did do much for your audience eighout even knowing it.
God speed and give our best to your family and terrific co stars.
Thank you for your infectious joy.
10
I've enjoyed reading all the comments today. When, I thought, she was about to turn 80 I took singing lessons so I could sing "Teacher's Pet" at our town's talent show. (She was actually about to turn 82 as we found out a few years ago.) I just want to say that I love "Calamity Jane" and "I'll See You in My Dreams" the bio pic about Gus Kahn. But "Send Me No Flowers" is my favorite. So underrated. Thank you to all 499 of you who wrote such nice sentiments about this great lady. RIP Doris and thanks for your groundbreaking work for the animals.
10
Can’t wait to rewatch the DD movies I saw in my youth.
1
What a wonderful tribute to a woman with a velvet voice and a smile that could light up the world. She also had an enchanting giggle. Oscar Levant's quote of knowing Doris "before she was a virgin" belittled her. She was so much more than anyone gave her credit for. My favorite movie with Doris would be "The Man Who Knew Too Much" co-starring Jimmy Stewart. Doris displayed all of her talents in this movie. I wish she had found a good and decent man in her life, since she was good and decent - I know she adored her son Terry. She and Debbie Reynolds were both cursed with choosing creeps for husbands. Rest in peace, Doris.
12
Everyone baby boomer knew who Doris Day was. I think it was James Garner that said he loved working with her in the movies more than any other actress. And what a voice. Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Bing and Doris Day on the record player at my house growing up.
What great memories.
12
God Bless Doris Day!!
3
"I never wanted to be Ann Miller... I wanted to be - Doris Day."
Kristine - A Chorus Line
5
Love Doris’ three films with Rock and Tony. Funny, charming and endearing. “So, that’s the other end of my party line!”
4
A friend of the animals. RIP Doris.
5
When I was a child in the early '60's, the other kids in the neighborhood nicknamed my mom "Doris"-- because she was the prettiest, sweetest, mommy on the block.
7
she was wonderful enough said. filled my life with laughter
4
Like so many other people who have left comments, Ms Day put a smile on my face and my mother’s s. She helped us get through some very hard times, by making us laugh and for a hour be carefree.
When my father had a massive heart attack and he was going to die we always had a happy Doris Day and Lena Horne record playing .
I hope despite all of her own tragedies she realized how much joy she gave to others and that she was loved by her fans
She will have a great time in heaven with all of her family and wonderful co stars who helped us get through the insanity and hate of daily living.
Doris Day was a wonderful talented actress and we were blessed to watch her on the big screen .
95
Move Over, Darling,
with James Garner. 1963.
screwball smart and funny ... hilarious in parts. great sets, locations and cars
Watch it!
also in the cast:
Polly Bergen
Thelma Ritter
Fred Clark
Don Knotts
Chuck Connors
Edgar Buchanan
John Astin
Thanks Doris it's a beautiful Day
7
"People are dying nowadays that never used to" or thereabouts, according to the great Yogi Berra. The older I get, the truer it is.
9
I'm no longer a Christian Scientist, so don't have a a dog in this fight, but Christian Science was a big part of her life. I was a student at the Christian Science college Principia, when Terry Melcher was there, and saw her there several times.
5
I do believe when God created both heaven and earth that Doris Day was the template of humanity that was envisioned. Her inherent goodness and love for all creatures great and small are qualities we should all aspire to. If the moon tonight could shed a tear in her passing, it would. I know I will.
7
There is a Doris Day film no one ever mentions: “Julie,” released in 1956. While it’s a flawed production, it deals with the subject of domestic violence. There are not many films that deal with this most important subject, especially not as far back as 1956. The film itself seems like a cry for laws that didn’t exist at the time. There are even moments in the film where the Los Angeles Police Detectives expound on the lack of legislative safeguards as Day flees from her on-screen threatening husband, played by Louis Jordan. For those interested in Day’s dramatic turns, it’s a very interesting film. There is another Day drama, “Storm Warning,” that deals with the Ku Klux Klan, which is the only one of her films I have never seen. Maybe her passing will prompt TCM to consider a Doris Day month and we can catch up on some of her more obscure movies.
10
She was more than a movie star. She was an angel for every unwanted animal in Monterey, Carmel, and Pacific Grove. May her memory always be a blessing. I hope her legacy as an animal carer lives on.
8
RIP, Doris, you were a ray of sunshine, laugh it up with James, Rock, and your son. You made a lot of us happy, what a tribute.
5
Back in the late 70s and early 80s in Chicago one of the local tv stations played “Young at Heart” on late each Christmas evening. Every year it was on I watched it with my mom and siblings. We cracked up at the melodramatic story and campy lines, and also loved watching Doris Day and hearing her sing (along with Frank Sinatra). She was just wonderful. Rest in Peace.
5
I grew up watching her on TV from the 70s on. What an amazing talent whose beauty and charm will be sorely missed.
1
She was simply "gorgeous" with great looks any American girl coveted. Her song of Kay Sera was loved and many of our aunts and mothers sang that song in the 1950's. She was a great legend, actress, mom, and animal lover. She lived a long life well lived; good for her.
3
A wonderful lady and congratulations to Dudley Winkinson for one of his magnificent "finds". God Bless to you both and thanks for many happy memories!
2
I remember her most as a great singer, a band singer from the old days. Just the way Sinatra started out. I look at her as a singer more than a movie star. I hope she would have appreciated that.
2
I must have been channeling Ms. Day yesterday because I watched Pillow Talk last night. She was a wonderful entertainer and human being. She made the world a better place to live in. My sister used to copy her hair styles and buy all of the clothes she wore in her movies - I'm talking dresses, coats, hats and even her silk pajamas. My sister bought those silk pajamas in every color of the rainbow. She was older than me so I got her hand me downs, so we both wore Doris' clothes. I think I copied one of her hair styles too.
Day's voice was like honey, beautiful, lilting, and perfect. She was truly one of a kind in so many ways and one of her most endearing qualities was her modest, unassuming manner.
She lived a long time and that was owing to her diet and exercise together with her clean living in all areas of her life. She was a role model for so many of us who grew up watching her movies and copying her wardrobe and hair styles.
I am so glad that we had her in our lives to enjoy. She made the world a much better place back then.
6
Doris Day is my mom's favorite actress and singer. I grew up listening to my mom playing "Que Sera Sera" over and over to the point I felt nauseated by it. But, then was when I was cranky teen. Now, I listen to it and I feel it is therapeutic. She's right; you have to just live and pointless worrying about the future is useless. Thanks Doris for the reminder to always live for each day as we never get each day back. I will miss her sunny disposition even if that was just her movie persona. No one radiates sunniness like she does. No one back then and no one now. I was surprised that her personal life was far from sunny, though, but I am thankful that she found great happiness and love from her animals. I can really understand how she felt about her fur children as I have three cats of my own whom I consider my kids. Most of the time no one is happier to see me when I get home than my cats..not even my husband (he is great, though ;) haha Animals are truly 100% love.
7
I have seen almost all movies with Doris Day in them. I just crazy about her. If I remember correctly I saw her on stage in the musical Pajama Game in the National Theater in Washington, DC in 1957, I just love her. But after I read this obituary about her I change my mind. What a messy life. Destroyed all the beautiful images of her. She is no different than all other so-called Hollywood stars. She was no better than Rock Hudson. But rest in peace. Sorry I have to pay all the movie tickets. Audrey Hepburn was a much better actress. I love the Roman Holiday.
1
My mother boasted that strangers often said she looked like Doris Day...now I know why she admired her so much.
2
My mother who was often compared to Ms. Day in the looks department passed away recently and as a result I inherited her two-year old fur-baby. The unconditional love of this little dog has helped me grieve and given me so much strength that I’m at a loss to explain the magic. I hope Ms. Day’s babies are well looked after today and always.
8
I was a nine-year old kid living in Georgetown, British Guiana, where my parents took me to see "Romance on the High Seas." Needless to say, I was immediately smitten by Doris' beauty, her natural sweetness and of course, her velvety voice. She was my secret love for five years before she introduced that eponymous song in "Calamity Jane." Rest in peace, Miss Day.
2
She was in her 40s when I first noticed her. I was less than 10 years old but I could appreciate her beauty and talent.
1
I was not even in my teens in the mid-50s and I remember sitting by the radio in Manila enthralled by Doris Day's Secret Love and It's Magic. Yes, she is up there with Sinatra.
4
In the late 1980’s I was looking for a second dog to adopt as a friend for my border collie. I came across a photo of a very cute dog that was advertised by Doris Day’s rescue organization. I called and was informed that my house had to be approved before they would consider adoption. A few days later a van pulled up in front of my house in Pacific Grove, and a very nice lady, with the dog I had asked about, knocked at my door. Sure enough, it was Doris Day. She checked out my backyard, then opened the gate to the back alley, and began to sing! She was singing the dog’s name, Rosalie, and she was great. I could not believe the moment, standing in a back alley, alone with Doris Day, listening to her sing as though she had not a care in the world. I did not take the dog, although I did find another dog that I loved for 18 years, but that is another story.
13
Loyalty from an animal greater than her own son?
4
@Gerald Marantz - She did not say that. What she basically said was that animals are consistently more loyal than most humans, a statement that I’ve come to conclude is correct, and I’m old enough to be Ms. Day’s grandchild which means I’ve been on the planet for far less a time than she was here. Have I met and do I know loyal, loving people? Yes, absolutely. Is every person on the planet this way? No, absolutely not. No one can say everyone is loyal, but everyone can say this about animals. They give only love, and expect nothing in return.
You have no idea what her relationship with her son was like, but I’ll go out on a limb here and assume it was good. Nevertheless, he died in 2004, a loss which must have been devastating for her. Her four marriages were epic disasters, the first to a violent guy who beat her while she was pregnant, the second to a man who couldn’t deal with her career, and the third to a guy who stole all her money. The fourth, to a waiter more than ten years her junior, went nowhere. The BBC obituary also mentioned that, when she was 12 years old, her father left her mother for another woman. Life, and some of the people in it, hurt her. Animals never did. I’m tired of people getting all holier-than-thou every time tireless advocates like Ms. Day suggest that animals can be more compassionate and loving than people. Newsflash: sometimes they are, and sometimes they can be. Stop acting like that’s all offensive.
15
@Gerald Marantz
Yes, as a physician I frequently listen to women who tell me the same thing, and even more than I will not write here because it seems you are not open to know about it.
3
@Gerald Marantz, If that was true, how sad.
This song from "The Glass Bottom Boat" must have been mostly an improvisation, considering the rapport between Ms Day and Mr. Godfrey. It's delightful. [Google/videos; YouTube]:
'Doris Day & Arthur Godfrey - "The Glass Bottom Boat" from The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)'
1
She was great. I don't know if anybody else has put this in here, but of course she was the subject of a great piece of Oscar Levant wit: 'I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin.' What a talent.
12
It has been many decades since Ms. Day's hey-day. But the proof of just what a mega-star she actually was is the photo showing her autographing a baseball for Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle.
She deserved the happily-ever-after she always wished for the heroes and heroines.
RIP to a wonderful woman.
18
Why no photos of her after the age of 30?
She accomplished much for animal rights in her long and productive later years.
14
My favorite DD song: "Close Your Eyes". I grew up aware of her movies (but too young to go see them) but didn't become aware of her hits from the 40's and 50's until years later. When her career ended, she got to live her life they way she wanted. And fortunately she had many years to do that.
5
I remember seeing Doris Day movies at the drive-in theater with my parents and four siblings. As a teen, I remember thinking she was pretty corny. Decades later, I ordered a bunch of her old movies, watched them and marveled at the gifted comedienne and actress she was. My favorite is "Send Me No Flowers," also starring Rock Hudson and Tony Randall. It's a classic.
12
I can sing every song in “Pajama Game” because of Doris Day — a skill not appreciated by my partner, but the songs give me a lot of pleasure.
Eddie Foy was awfully good too. Got to watch that again. Thank you, Doris Day and Eddie Foy and all the others.
8
My wife and I agree completely with her that dogs, and many other pets, are much better companions than persons, and with them you live a much happier and healthier life.
15
Thanks for the memories Ms. Day. I remember as a child and young adult watching your movies. My mother played your songs and Dad used to sing several of your songs. And thanks for all you did to promote animal welfare, and also to show the world, at a time people were so fearful of those with AIDS, that you would not turn your back on your friend Rock Hudson when he was so ill. A class act, a classy woman to the end. RIP
19
After Hurricaine Katrina, Doris Day funded an airlift of lost and abandoned pets out of New Orleans. Animal shelter staffs from all around the Monterey Bay area met the planes and took their share of animals to provide food, water, medical care and--if their families could not be found--new homes. Some animals were restored to health and flown back to be reunited with their humans. Many others found new homes in California. It was a remarkable program that came together very quickly in the emergency with the
financial support of Ms. Day.
36
For what I know, and just learned about her she was an admirable person, and a very capable and adorable woman.
8
Though she was born 22 years earlier than I, she was the smart, funny, talented, and sympathetic sister I never had.
10
A marathon of Doris Day movies got me through recovery from surgery many years ago. Made me laugh, although it hurt to do so! I have watched “With Six “you Get Eggroll” and “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies” so many times I’ve lost count. Stayed at the Cypress Inn in Carmel and was delighted by dogs in the elevators and sitting at their owner’s feet in the dining room, and there were dog beds and treats in the rooms. Just loved Doris Day.
127
Doris Day and James Garner were so relaxed and comfortable in the roles they played opposite each other. He subtle and charming humor brought out his comedic talents and his mere presence brought out her natural beauty, elegance and style. They blended together like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
I concur with Ms. Day's sentiment that she never liked unhappy endings. I wish Doris Day could have lived happily ever after. At least her compassion and love for animals, in particular, dogs, gave her much comfort, love, and happiness.
Thank you Ms. Day for saving many unwanted, abandoned and abused animals. And thank you for making so many smile by simply wearing that beautiful trademark of a smile of your own. You will be greatly missed.
Somehow, merely stating, “Que Sera, Sera” feels hollow, empty and tremendously sad.
26
@Marge Keller
To quote the film critic Stephen Dalton, "James Garner was a grand master of invisible acting, one of the last of a dying breed of old-school American performers who made everything look laid-back, laconic and natural. "
18
@KR
Could not agree more. He has always been my all time favorite. I miss him dearly. Thanks for that beautiful quote.
1
While most of her body of work occurred before I was of movie age I saw a number of her more popular movies on TV growing up. My wife and stayed at Cypress Inn in the late 90's and passed Ms. Day as she left her Inn. She exhibited the same grace in person as in her films.
7
Doris day was a wonderful actress, and even better singer. I loved her movies in the sixties, she was beautiful, and had a great shape and was wonderful to look at. Her work with animals says a lot about who she was.
RIP
12
@daytona4 Doris Day indeed had a fabulous figure and could rock 50s and early 60s fashion like no one else!!
1
She is a vastly underrated singer, probably due to her success in movies and that persona becoming so well-known. Everyone should ask their Alexa or Google or Apple device to play some Doris Day music - especially from the early days - to hear just how great she was. She put her heart and soul into everything she did.
12
She was right about pets.
8
Doris Day was a timeless star...from my father seeing her perform at the "Hollywood Bowl" (following WWII), to my mother hearing her sing on a Cincinnati Radio station, to hearing her recordings on the radio, watching her movies and television shows, my family thoroughly enjoyed Miss Day's great talent. So, she didn't win an "Oscar;" I bet she made a lot of money for her employers! RIP, Miss Day! You gave us some very happy moments!
10
Go in peace. Thanks for the memories.
10
Will get some my favorites to watch again, Teacher's Pet with Clark Gable, Midnight Lace with Rex Harrison & Please don't eat the daisies. I remember so many & still have some 45 records from the 1950's. I used to play the records & sing along in front the mirror & pretend I could be her. Peace.
8
For several summers in the mid-1960s I worked summer jobs in State College, PA. On Friday afternoons they would erect a large movie screen on the huge grass lawn that stretched from the student union building down to College Avenue. Once the sun had gone down, they’d show a free movie, open to townspeople and students alike, who’d sprawl on the ground with blankets and pillows.
Doris Day was a perennial favorite. I can’t see her face or the title of movies like “Pillow Talk“, “That Touch of Mink“, “Twinkle and shine“, etc., without thinking back nostalgically to warm days, cool nights and a simpler time.
94
If you loved Doris Day and want to honor her memory, consider donating to you favorite Animal Charity. Better yet...adopt a Shelter Pet. If it's a girl you can name her Doris!
Thanks Doris, don't forget to stop and see all of your friends at the Rainbow Bridge on your way to Heaven.
33
Just read all the accolades Doris Day is getting here and in the news, an outstanding person, unmatched by today's personalities. A fine lady, a good person, she is an icon, and deserves it. We miss people like her. Also a very nice voice unlike today's screechers, she made pop music pop and listenable. Farewell Doris, you will be missed.
21
She was my father's favorite actress. Dad grew up in Burbank during the golden age of cinema, meeting John Wayne and Walt Disney through his mother's friends in the movie business. He caddied for Doris Day when she played golf in Los Angeles in the 1950s, when he was in his early teens. He died in December...I was sad that he didn't get to outlive her, but I suppose he would have been glad not to read her obituary.
81
Ms. Day, through her foundation, was kind enough to make a grant to our animal sanctuary here on Hawaii just this past year.
23
I'll always remember my mother's face blushing when a young man told her she looked just like Doris Day. That was circa 1968. Farewell, Doris. You were a kind soul, just like my mom.
21
I was a kid in the 60's so my fave films of Doris were the comedy romances, however, as I think back, the one scene that I would say is my all time fave Doris Day scene is from "Teachers Pet" one of Clark Gable's last films. The scene where he "really" gives her a kiss, she tried to play it off, but as she walked away you notice that she does a stumble and you just know that stumble wasn't because her heel got caught in the carpet, it was because of just being kissed by Clark Gable (or whatever his characters name was in the film)!
10
As a young boy growing up in England , I too loved Doris Day.
She was not only a great singer, fine actress , she was a good person. She was my Secret love
To me she represented the best of America .
Sadly we were also unaware of another America at that time, one of racial discrimination and gender inequality.
But none of this diminishes Doris Day who remained a caring person until the end.
RIP the World will always treasure you
11
So England had no racial discrimination or gender inequality?
5
@David Johnny
For sure it did but you are missing the point ,
for us the America we saw on screen had no such discrimination. We idolized that America we saw .
Although of course our Monarch was a woman, the UK also has had two female Prime Ministers since then.
Then to America’s credit it has had an excellent Black President
9
She was born in the same year as Judy Garland. We lost dear Judy 50 years ago. It is nice that Doris was able to enjoy a long life, though it was so tragic when she lost her son.
12
The book My Secret Love Affair with Doris Day by Michael Davita was my favorite beach read this past summer. Makes me feel like I truely knew her, through her communications with Mr. Davita . So glad to celebrate Ms. Day's life with a donation to my local Animal Adoption Center in Jackson Hole.
10
The obituary is woefully inadequate when it comes to describing (much less assessing) her importance as a singer. She was, as Les Brown suggested, in the absolute top tier of American interpreters of popular song, along side Ella, Frank, and Bing.
26
I recall that my late brother once told me that when he was in high school, he and some friends were at a roadhouse in suburban NY (Peekskill?) called the Log Cabin, and Les Brown's band was there.
Doris Day was the singer, but not well known, and after her performances, she wandered through the tables greeting everyone. She even sat down at my brother's table. She was about 18 and related to the teenage crowd with my brother.
He told me about this many years later and thought she was just the best!
26
It’s striking how clear Doris’ lyrics are, without any loss of musicality. Today, most lyrics are submerged in a morass of band noise and vocal slurring.
Also, why has it become standard practice to cover singers' mouths with large microphones? Imagine the loss if we were not able to see Lena Horne elegantly shape her words.
15
Doris Day was a wonderful singer and a charming comic actress. My favorite film of hers is “Lover Come Back,” a smart, sophisticated satire of advertising, released decades before “Mad Men.” As noted elsewhere in these comments, “The Thrill of It All” is another great satire of advertising, but Ms. Day’s portrayal of a tough advertising executive in “Lover Come Back” was ahead of its time.
8
Good evening from Madrid.
I was borned in the late forties. Let me tell you what Miss Day meant for me and I believe for many european people.
Doris Day, all of her, represented a new era, a new hope for life. Her songs, her wonderful work, her impolute presence, her smile brought to us happiness.
We were living in desolated places after War, full of sorrow, grief and misery.
¡Great actress and wonderful lady!
46
What very sad news...I adore Doris Day....she gave us all so much, what a shining light and wonderful talent....sigh...thank you Miss Day for a life well lived and such incredible work with animals....she had such a big heart with so much love. Pillow Talk was a revelation for me as a little kid...that was the light & frothy image I had of being a grown up....I still cherish that feeling....and all of her films and music. Thank you Miss Doris Day!!!!! Love you forever!
10
When I was a young boy,I had a crush on Ms Day. I thought she was utterly gorgeous.
And of course,a voice to die for.
12
In scanning the comments loaded with everyone's favorite scenes from Day's movies I'm surprised no one has mentioned how naturally funny she was in "Please Don't Eat The Daisies" as the mother racing around in a black slip trying to get dressed for a formal night out on the town with her husband as their four young sons question, then finally zip her into a tight dress as she holds her stomach in remarking that she "... should have lost another five pounds." Her best on screen hubby-hubba husband partnering was definitely actor James Garner in "The Thrill of It All."
18
I grew up watching Doris Day and Rock Hudson movies. I so badly wanted to be Doris married to Rock with Tony Randal as our neurotic next door neighbor. The two story home, 3 cute kids and the station wagon with wood panels parked in the driveway. How wonderful life would be! Doris Day filled a young girl's heart with hope and joy and I will always be grateful for that.
Loved, loved, loved Doris Day. She shall be greatly missed.
16
One little gem omitted from the article’s list of Doris Day’s movies was the badly titled “It Happened To Jane” of 1959. She is at her comedic best with a terrific cast including Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs and an epic stint in the cab of a steam engine. RIP Miss Kappelhoff from a fellow Cincinnatian.
11
Maybe if Miss Day never had that accident she would have developed into a great dancer. But It turned out that she possessed one of the great voices of the 20th century, which would have otherwise been lost to the world. And then like another great vocalist, Frank Sinatra, it turned how she had great acting chops, too. Funny how things work out. Que sera, sera!
22
Would be nice to think she’s now rejoined in heaven by every dog she ever owned...and none of the husbands.
56
The perfect symbol of the current state of amerika, "Doris Day is dead."
16
As a teenager I was in love with Doris Day and now 60 years later I still am. Her talent as a singer, dancer, actor or comedienne plus she was beautiful too I don't believe has been equalled. I can recall buying her 78's to the exclusion of all others and I still listen to her constantly via iTunes, I am very saddened today. R.I.P.
14
I remember seeing the movie That Jane from Maine, but it seems it had another name. Great personality and human being.
3
Consider donating any amount to Doris Day's beloved animals, through her foundation, which also supports (as well as dogs) horses, cats and other animals.
https://www.dorisdayanimalfoundation.org/
22
"That first dog, Tiny, was killed by a car when Ms. Day, still on crutches, took him for a walk without a leash. Nearly 40 years later she spoke of how she had betrayed him. During the last decades of her life, through her foundation. . . "
Feeling such guilt and betrayal after the death of Tiny says a great deal about a person.
Throughout her fame and career, she never lost sight of those animals that needed a home, safe shelter, food and love.
I feel sad that her personal life endured so many hardships, pain and betrayal. It's no wonder that she never "found in a human being loyalty comparable to that of any pet."
I truly understand and can empathize the sentiment that her "animal family has been a source of joy and strength . . . that when you are deeply troubled, there are things you get from the silent, devoted companionship of your pets that you can get from no other source.”
I sincerely hope and wish Ms. Day found eternal peace.
Deepest condolences to her family, friends and millions of sad fans.
20
Grew up with Doris Day fond memories listening with my grandma. Very much respect her work with animals.
8
I forget what station in NY used do a weekly show on 40's jazz but one night I was listening and a female singer came one and she was incredible. Turned out it was Doris Day. It was a far cry from the pop music she did. I managed to catch her a few other times on the radio. I'm no expert on jazz vocalist but to me she really stood out.
13
"Que Sera Sera...." Oh what a beautiful song ... and who didn't cheer in the theater when she sang it loud for her kidnapped son in Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much" where she played opposite James Stewart? I know I did! I'm an old lefty black dude, and I know Doris Day was the pure white female embodiment of WASP superiority and anti-feminism. So what. She was MY pure white embodiment of WASP superiority and anti-feminism, and I loved her on screen and I loved all of her songs. So there! Now excuse me...I have to go cry now.
30
Mr. Issac, I know just what you mean. "Que Sera, Sera" was the first song my Mother ever taught me! I was all of three years old & walked around singing it all the time! I lost my Mom on March 26th, and now, Doris. It truly is a sad day.
8
Odd that the obituary omits her film connection to the New York Times--"Please don't eat the daisies"--the film of the fictionalized story of Walter Kerr and their family life by his wife, the writer and playwright Jean Kerr. It received mixed notices, but, as a child, because of her charm, all the children in the cast, and its humorous depiction of life in the theater, I loved it.
8
Doris Day is a good role model to follow for the current generation(s). May her good deeds, fabulous voice and seemingly effortless acting style live on in the years to come.
14
Would have been something to see her as Mrs. Robinson. RIP.
11
This is a sad day for America, even despite the fact that most Americans have no idea who she was. Cary Grant, Rock Hudson, James Garner, Debbie Reynolds, Doris Day: the "light romantic comedy" genre of American filmmaking is now officially extinct.
12
I don't remember whether I was 8, 9, or 10 in the 1950s when I heard Doris Day's Secret Love. I wanted the 45 record, so I took jobs around the neighborhood and save the $1 it would cost. I had to order it from the record store.
I still remember when I brought the record home. My mother, father, sister and I gathered around the record player to listen to me play my new record. It was a family event. I played it twice.
What a memory. Today, I played the song once more.
199
@Dan
I loved the song 'Secret Love' when I heard Doris Day sing it; I was probably 10 years old. She was an icon of my childhood and so many others.
22
@Dan
beautiful tribute. Just beautiful!
17
The assessments of her singing voice in this piece as ‘golden’ and ‘magic.’ You could add a couple dozen more. But golden and magic sums it up pretty well. Her version of ‘Hooray For Hollywood’ is the one you hear in your head even if you haven’t heard the song in years.
In ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’ her acting in the scene where her husband (Jimmy Stewart) tells her that their son has been kidnapped is raw emotion and the rest of the film rides on the palpability of her desperation.
Her ‘performance’ in the 1970s on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson where she coyly and sexily protests her innocent image melted my television set and left I’m sure many young men like myself shaken and confused. ;-) Doris Day? Wow. I did not know that, sir.
She was solid and she will be missed and fondly remembered but somehow she seems to deserve so much more.
19
I made the same comment earlier today about the scene with Jimmy Stewart — just superb. Wish she had more chances to show that side of her acting chops.
4
Doris Day was immensely talented. Being both a Hollywood Star for decades and a caring person can’t have been easy. She lived in a beautiful part of the world too. Her love of animals is a good legacy. Thanks.
9
A wonderful woman. That, I feel sure, is the view of many others here in Hove.
11
I cant help but compare Ms. Days compassionate response to Rock Hudson when he was dying of AIDS to the Reagans who turned their backs on him. RIP to a beautiful soul.
39
I first saw her movies when I was about 12 years old, in the mid 90s; as a tween girl back then, I wanted to be just like her, whatever the role! Whether it was as a stay at home mom and wife who stumbled into stardom in "The Thrill of it All," or as a career woman in "Pillow Talk." She was beautiful, earnest and kind in her movies. As a mom, and a career girl I still aspire to live up to that wonderful model she portrayed.
8
She knew Rock Hudson well and did not care about his personal life.
So, it's a shame to see another good person leave this earth.
14
Often, during our marriage, I’ve said that Doris Day was my favorite singer, my favorite girl. Of course my wife was never jealous, but she should have been.
12
I recall people in the business saying she was Calamity Jane in real life, tough, abrasive and outspoken. I was disappointed but saw her only as a singer and movie star.
1
@R. Anderson I loved her as Calam and if that's like she was in real life, I say OK.
9
It is so interesting to read about a woman like Ms Day because she is the antithesis of today's woman and a dying breed. Yet, her dreams did not come true for marriage and family which is kind of sad. I can understand why she turned away from humans and found solace in animals. She was someone I admired when I was a young girl and I loved she and Rock Hudson together spinning those romantic fantasies.
5
I loved Doris Day. Full stop.
13
As do I!
8
The great professional actresses found little or no work as they got older. Hollywood's mid-life crisis paired silver haired leading men with young actresses, driving convertibles, no wives or children in the story. Ms. Day was, by all accounts, happier at home in Carmel with her puppies. I have learned how she dedicated her life to protect animals from human cruelty and torture and her work to shelter as many as she could. Ms. Day worked to save lives (even imperfect ones) while the two national canine "protection" organizations continue to support lethal injection for population control. I've come to believe that dogs are more loyal, reliable, and empathetic than humans, free of artifice and generous with unconditional love. Doris Day is their hero and mine, her puppies will miss her the most.
15
There are those movie stars you admire, scream over, lust after . . . And then there are those like Doris Day you just love, with a genuine affection. You wanted to be in her company, talk to her on the phone, have dinner with her, laugh with her, listen to her sing. She brought something very rare to the screen. You either have that or you don't. It can't be learned at the Actor's Studio. I don't ever recall not enjoying one of her films. That seems an impossibility. What a legacy that is.
I always look forward to my time with Doris Day when any of her films is on TV. I'm very thankful we have them.
9
Divine voice, charming smile. An angel died.
8
What was not mentioned here, is that the world found out that Rock Hudson had AIDS at a press conference he had with her. I think it was about Animals, he was late, and then he joined her and was clearly suffering from dementia, and more. It was both ironic and sad.
3
I’m not at all surprised to see the outpouring of affection for Doris Day.
Her popularity not only never waned, but she kept on acquiring legions of fans through every decade. This is an *extremely* rare phenomenon: most stars just sort of quietly fade into oblivion, and are remembered by only their most diehard fans, until they too, fade away.
Doris, though? She retired decades ago, and even though she kept out of the celebrity limelight, her adoring public refused to let her recede into the mists of Hollywood legend. But *she* stayed a legend: I believe no other star had such a universally accessible *appeal* as she has. She’s gone now, having lived until the outrageously old age of 97, but she’ll always remain in the present tense of those of us who adore her.
Doris Day is ultra-cool. Always was, always will be.
35
I knew Doris many eons ago. A very talented lady who never will be equaled. She does have a grandson, Ryan Melcher, but I believe it is unknown how that relationship stands at this time.
9
@byliner1 - I hope she and her grandson had a good relationship. Considering the fact that her son, her only child, died in 2004 and all of her marriages were disasters, it would be somewhat sad if, at 97, she died without any family around her or to whom she was close.
That being said, Ms. Day left an incredible artistic legacy and was a wonderful champion for animals. She truly believed in advocating for their welfare and best interests. She leaves behind many animal friends, no doubt, and I’m sure human ones too - people as kind as she seemed to be tend to have lots of them - and many fans. Hers seemed to be a life well-lived, even if she was perhaps not well-loved in the course of parts of it.
Rest well, Ms. Day. May Heaven be filled with the many pets you saved, all waiting to greet you.
9
Sure reminds us all that life is hard. As my late mother used to say, "Nobody said it wold be easy." Ms. Day's multiple marital problems including being fleeced by one husband and beaten by another speak to the difference between her upbeat on screen presence, and, what her life was really like. I don't think just animals will dig most us out of our loneliness, At least, thank God, the right spouse for almost 42 years has done it for me, .
6
Bless her heart for the joy and comfort she gave to the country, to the world. Oh my how nostalgic I am for the olden days. Yeah, it wasn’t ideal but heaven knows it was in no way close to the horror we’re in right now. Rest In Peace “Mary Ann”. And thank you.
10
A great loss. Doris Day will go down as an American original— a woman who triumphed over personal loss and betrayal to sing another day.
14
I appreciate her animal rights efforts. She lived a long life.
I bet Doris had plenty of #meetoo stories in her career.
Unfortunately most of these movies with an all white cast back in those years and certainly now is something Hollywood should be ashamed of. The Leave it to Beaver world never existed.
3
Watched PILLOW TALK as a teenager and it's still in my memory bank. RIP Doris Day
1
I was nursed by her voice in my early cradle-days, I mean 1947-48. That's when I got acquainted with "You go to my head", "That old feeling" and "I only have eyes for you", among many others. It's a shame that she's most remembered by kid-stuffs like "A guy is a guy", "Pillow Talk" or even "Que será, será" (although now and then she had some recoveries - try "Secret Love", "Love me or leave me" or "My inspiration").Nobody will ever sing "You go to my head" as Ms.Day did in her early years.Compliments also to George Siravo who does a wonderful job at the arrangement.
5
@Tamandooah Sentimental Journey
4
Rest in peace. I've seen every move, multiple times, heard every song, and loved, loved, loved Doris Day. She could do it all...and she was an animal lover. A huge welcome in Heaven surely awaits her.
15
Doris Day,...@ 97! Que sera, sera....RIP.
3
Her songs were part of my childhood and teen years. I loved her movies and wished she was the girl next door. My younger sister and I loved her song Que Sera Sera. We're going to miss her as will all America.
7
"Ups, downs, ins, outs, highs, lows, anywhere the wind blows, anywhere the wind blows, goes loves." Wonderful movies with wonderful songs. Thanks a bunch.
6
Growing up in 60's in the Middle East, Ms. Day was the epitome of both American wholesomeness as well as sophisticated glamour (only she could pull this complete dichotomy off) and her movies were just mobbed by fans who couldn't get enough of "Doh-reess!" I agree with many that her incredible singing was overlooked by her impressive films and I honestly don't think we'll ever see another deeply caring, compassionate and loving person like Ms. Day ever again. Many thanks for all of the joy you brought so many regardless of whatever turmoil was going on with your life!
9
Long ago, I watched on a B&W TV, "The Thrill Of It All" and immediately fell in love with Doris Day.
Perhaps I will watch that movie again. James Garner was amazing as well. Nothing like driving home and steering your car into your garage port that in just one day, was converted into a swimming pool. Que Sera Sera.
A long life well lived. Thank you Doris.
11
That voice. Nothing like it. Two of my faves, "Please Don't Eat the Daisy's" and "Love Me or Leave Me" she more than held her own against the late great Cagney.
Thank you Ms. Day for the work you did on behalf of our four legged friends.
9
Doris Day will always be special to my mom and dad. They saw Pillow Talk on their first date-it was a simpler time. They’ve been married for fifty-six years so I’d say the first date was successful!
11
Boo to Hollywood for not giving Doris Day an honorary Oscar for her contributions to the movie industry. Now it's too late.
27
Her rendition of Silver Bells is my all-time favorite Christmas song.
9
From the firs time I heard her sing in a movie when I was about 10 years old, I wanted to be able to sing as well as Doris Day. I remember the sunny quality of her films and of her voice, though now they can seem a bit fantastical. She was always wonderful!
6
Ms. Day turned down the part of Mrs. Robinson, the middle-aged temptress who seduces Dustin Hoffman, in the groundbreaking 1967 film “The Graduate,” because, she said, the notion of an older woman seducing a young man “offended my sense of values.” The part went to Anne Bancroft, who was nominated for an Academy Award.
Oh Lord, you broke the mold when you made her. RIP Ms. Day.
8
I will miss her. She was underrated as an actress and singer. I am still shocked the Academy never honored her in any way the way the Golden Globes did.
14
As a young girl I looked up to Doris Day--a lovely woman with class and simple elegance. I still love to hear her songs. And, she spoke up for herself-- quite important for the 50's
14
For a long time I wrote her off because of her anodyne "perky image." Eventually I came to realize she was quite talented.
4
That story about her turning down "The Graduate" says a lot. She built a career and an image being a certain way and was smart not to cap it off with unnecessary controversy. She really did remain true to herself when those around her wanted her to be something else. Much respect for that.
14
Growing up on the Upper West Side in the 1960's, one of the greatest experiences was going to the children's matinees at the Riverside, Riviera, Symphony and Lowe's 83, always double features. No parents were needed or allowed. I would go almost every weekend. From my bedroom window I could see the marquee of the Symphony. Every Wednesday the movies of the double feature would change. I would watch the changing of the letters with great excitement. Seeing the letters reading Doris Day was a thrill of it all. My favorite was "With Six You Get Eggroll." To this day Doris Day and eggrolls are synonymous, I can't think of one without the other. I grew up with both on the Upper West Side. I remember each fondly, never to be forgotten.
139
@Hedy Sloane Yes! We went to the movies -double features (?!) - alone! No parents! No helmets! We didn't know that those were going to be the good old days.
30
@Anonymous 2 They certainly were. Saturday and Sunday morning I'd go downstairs, other kids from the building would be there. We would go to Riverside Park, then to the movies. I always had to be home before dark, if I couldn't my father would just pick me up.
22
@Hedy Sloane
Fabulous memories Hedy. I was there before the sixties, but you brought back memories. Remember Schraffts and the Tip Toe Inn. How about PS 9 and the Thalia. We thought it would never end.
4
''You take the grey skies out of my way
You make the sun shine brighter than Doris Day''.
Even an 80's pop icon such as George Michael knew how special she was.
163
Loved this. Thanks.
14
My spouse was a latchkey kid and dreamed Doris Day was his mother. He's very sad today.
On her birthday on the 3rd of April every years her fans walk to her house to sing Happy Birthday to her and she comes out on the balcony to smile and wave. I am so glad she got to hear it this year. There is a clip on YouTube of it.
142
@JR
Thank you for this charming remembrance. I just love it.
11
@JR
Wow! Thank you for including the date that Doris Day was born--the third of April. The third of April was also the birthday of my first dog, a little white Spitz named Judy. How weird, you say, to remember the birthday of a dog? Even weirder is the fact that Judy has been dead for fifty years. My vivid memory of the little dog's life is proof of Ms. Day's line about the value of a pet: "I have never found in any human being loyalty comparable to that of any pet."
I still miss the sweet yet feisty animal. To this day, I can picture how her ears lay flat and how she pointed her nose at the sky whenever my brother put her paws on the handlebars of his bike and took her for a ride.
13
@Summer Your welcome. For fans to do that every year since she retreated to her home is awesome.
3
Check out this clip from her first film, 'Romance on the High Seas'. It's magic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nuq8X4mn8P4
2
"I have found that when you are deeply troubled, there are things you get from the silent, devoted companionship of your pets that you can get from no other source.”
Amen to that. And Day's life with a lousy husband sounds like that of Debby Reynolds, who had a spouse who secretly took her for millions as well. Both were talented, strong women who were perhaps too trusting.
9
Maybe slightly a digression, but here's an animated short of a familiar Hans Christian Anderson story with images of this relationship that will sadden and haunt you.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=npBPh-CDRyk
Sometimes when humanity falls short, pets offer the only solace.
2
Doris Day was ahead of her times in so many ways. In the Rock Hudson movies, she may have resisted him until marriage, but she played a woman willing to make her own, adult decisions about sex- an advance over prior generations of movies which usually regarded premarital or casual sex as either unimaginable or unforgivable. She was often a Pre-Me Too movement heroine, resisting (albeit comically) advances from bosses or business rivals who felt entitled to make them. In her real life, she stood up and beside Rock Hudson when it was revealed that he suffered from AIDs, in the very early days of the epidemic when the stigmatizing was at its height, and her devotion to animal care predates the current animal rights movement by decades. Just a few weeks ago, she allowed a photograph of herself working with weight machines, without any dye in her now white and grey hair, and without any signs of having had plastic surgery.
And yes she was an amazing singer and actress.
19
Doris Day was such a naturally beautiful and classy lady; I'm sorry to learn that she has died. This article about her was interesting. And I agree with her conclusion about people versus pets.
9
Of all her many accomplishments, the one that stands out for me is her untiring advocacy to the many dogs abandoned to a short life in shelters. I was a little surprised this obituary didn't mention the famous press conference where she was joined by Rock Hudson, whose gaunt appearance began the rumors that he had AIDS. Throughout the rest of his life, she stayed close to him; unremarkable today, such friendship was all-too rare at the time, when people still feared "catching" AIDS from close contact with someone diagnosed with the disease.
20
Doris Day was a fabulous singer. Her recordings with Andre Previn from the early 1960's ought to be in everyone's music collection.
It would be trite to say that she was "fun," but in many ways, that's what Doris Day was -- a fun person to be around, whether listening to one of her many LP recordings, or watching her as we sat in a darkened movie theater. Her face and personality lit up the screen like few others.
Perhaps "incandescent" is a better word to describe her.
Yes. That fits. Her whole life.
19
Worked with Hitchcock and Hudson and was hilarious as Calamity Jane. "Que sara sara, whatever will be will be..."
2
Pillow Talk is one of the best movies ever; that kiss at the piano! Whoa!
4
".....“Que Sera, Sera” (“What will be, will be”)....."
I may be wrong, but my vague recollection of her singing was the refrain; "Whatever will be, will be".
What about my favorite movie with Doris day and her family living on a house boat? That's my best memory.
Doris Day legitimized the sexual revolution of the sixties as a wholesome pastime as natural as it ever was.
2
I was never a big fan of her films, but I certainly admire her lifelong commitment to animal rights/welfare. Rest In Peace, Doris Day.
5
A beautiful, talented lady who was a fine vocalist as well as a delightful and versatile actress. “Pillow Talk” remains one of my all-time favorite films. The scene where she, while wearing an evening gown, threatens to belt a young man who is getting handsy with her is one of the highlights. She never loses her cool, but he gets the message. A long, wonderful life, but still ended too soon.
6
I loved her, her movies her grace. She will be truly missed.
6
I think we all have a favorite Doris Day movie. Mine is "The Man Who Knew Too Much" with James Stewart. Her acting was superb and she sang that glorious song, Que Sera Sera which became a big hit. There was also another lovely lesser known song that she sings near the end of the movie which is just beautiful. Of course, anything Doris Day sings is lovely with that melodious voice of hers. It was the best.
6
Class act all the way.
9
Her compassion and humanity in the early and terrible days of the AIDS epidemic deserves greater mention. RIP, beautiful soul.
7
Can't believe the article doesn't use and explain this famous quote:
"I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin."
Oscar Levant said that in referring to her first movie, in which he had a role.
4
She always dressed like a class act..I remember so well growing uu I dreamed I could look like her one day. Her voice was so soothing during trying times. Rest In Peace
10
She was sublime in every way, when singing, acting, dancing - and smiling!
8
Rest In Peace, Ms. Day. Doris Day was a classy lady, a marvelous singer and a wonderful actress; she made it all look easy. She was pitch perfect in The Man Who Knew Too Much-see it if you have not yet.
6
Doris Day was wonderful. I love her comedies and she was excellent in dramatic roles like “Love Me or Leave Me” with James Cagney. And what a voice!
She should have been given an honorary Academy Award. What a shame that she wasn’t.
I’m looking forward to Turner Classic Movies doing a full day of her movies in tribute. What’s your favorite? It’s hard to choose but I always love Pillow Talk with the split screen bathtub and phone scenes.
5
Been going to Carmel just to stay at her hotel with my dog and she has always been a stalwart for courtesy and hospitality. MUCH LOVE. (and yeah, watched her movies endlessly)
8
It's dispiriting that there is no mention in the obituary of Doris Day's stance by Rock Hudson when he appeared on national television, visibly deteriorating from AIDS. She kissed him on the cheek, an act that only a tiny number of stars would dare to do in those paranoid times. It was a pivotal moment in the history of AIDS. Hers was a truly enlightened act of bravery. Never forget.
31
She was an impressive dramatic actor but was seldom given the opportunity. I thought "Love Me or Leave Me" was her best film.
2
Rest in Peace, Doris, how badly we need someone like you today! Unlike today's actresses Doris was restrained, sweet, cheerful, virginal, disciplined and good. She was ridiculed for her virginity yet she was more of a feminist than today's women because she had self-esteem, self-discipline and did not feel the need to jump in bed with anybody who passed by and she looked at her virginity as something precious which it is. I love you, Doris!
8
Born in 1951, I grew up on Doris Day movies. Till this day I still turn to her movies for comfort when disaster hits: when I was given a life-threatening diagnosis; when my mother was dying; after my husband's stroke. For me, something about Ms. Day's films is reassuring, reaffirming, even rehabilitating.
9
Doris’s only child, Terry Melcher, had one son, Ryan, with Jacqueline Carlin. Ryan still lives in Carmel, CA.
2
Pillow Talk is as fresh and delightful a romantic comedy today as when it was made, and when I first saw it in the 1980s. Miss Day had a timeless quality in her singing as well as her acting, both comedic and dramatic, that makes her work enjoyable in any cultural era.
I also admire that Miss Day was not afraid to leave Hollywood and engage in a new life of independence and activism, and that she stood up for friends and loved ones when they needed her most. She was one of Carmel's natural wonders, and it's a less beautiful place without her. Goodbye, Doris Day, and thank you. I'm watching Pillow Talk this week.
9
Doris Day May have been portrayed as the iconic virgin in movies and “only wanted to be married and tend to a family”, but she was an independent feminist whether she wanted that label or not.
She left her first husband after he beat her and tried to force her to have an abortion, she was a career woman who earned her own money, and when she found out she was in enormous debt after her third husband died, she climbed out of debt by herself by working on a television series.
She supported her good friend, Rock Hudson, at a time when people had a lot of fear about HIV and AIDS. That showed the loyalty and love that she had for friends and family despite public opinion. She lived outside of Hollywood in a community where she was admired greatly as an independent woman. She followed her values by putting her time and energy into her dog charity and the Cypress Inn was consistent with those values. Although the story said it is not clear what will happen with her estate, I suspect it will support her beloved dogs and the associated charity.
She will be greatly missed.
11
An enormous talent and beautiful survivor inside and out. Who would have guessed she was so strong? An example for young women today, and she was right about animals.
9
Growing up in London, England, my mother and I would attend Ms. Day's films. We spent many happy afternoons at the local cinema with Ms. Day--and what a beautiful voice. As a child, my sister's favorite song was "Que Sera Sera." She also had a lovely voice and it projected throughout our house. Ms. Day's support of and devotion to animal welfare was--and continues to be--truly commendable.
6
I worked with Ms. Day, recording a song called "Take me to Heaven Tonight" . That was at Cypress Star Recording, in Monterey, California. I was living in Carmel at the time, and would often see Ms. Day at the local grocery store, or on the beach with many (many!) of her Golden retrievers.
I always found Ms. Day to be wonderfully relaxed and polite. She had a smile like a Lighthouse, and a quiet dignity and charm that filled the room as soon as she walked in.
Heads up, St. Peter. There's a new Alto in the Angel Choir.
12
For many years, friends have referred to "Doris Day parking" whenever we've been driving somewhere and found a parking spot near our destination. In our memories of her movies (perhaps clouded by the passage of time), she would be driving down Rodeo Drive (or wherever) and always found an open parking spot right in front of her destination. Good for her! And good for her for her class and talent, and for making life happier for a great many dogs, as well as humans.
15
This terrific overview of Doris Day's career fails to do justice to her jaw-dropping performance in Alfred Hitchcock's American remake of his film, "The Man Who Knew Too Much." Day's reaction when she learns her son is missing is deeply moving and utterly unforgettable.
Perhaps this oversight is similar to how Andy Griffith's astonishing turn in Elia Kazan's "A Face in the Crowd" was also not given its due. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences didn't give Griffith or Day the nomination each deserved (and Griffith wasn't even included in the In Memoriam segment in the Oscars after he died).
Like Griffith, Day made her bones by playing sweet characters, but both had the chops to deliver when it counted. To honor Ms. Day's passing, it is time to give credit where it is most certainly due.
5
Doris Day was a warrior. She didn't turn into a superficial flake or phony despite Hollywood. As a young boy in the 50's and early 60's I was struck not only with her beauty and talent but her personality. She knew who she was, what her values were and as she faced the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune she pushed ahead helping to characterize the concept of an independent women that was long over due. Women who fought for equality decades and centuries before were marginalized but you couldn't marginalize the affect of her talent and appeal while helping to lead the way or women. Women's rights leaders in the '60's dismissed her somewhat but they were standing on her shoulders.
209
I hope her friends continue her magnificent work with animals. The aura of lovely Doris Day's generosity to dogs permeates Carmel and makes it a very special place. I hope her memory stays alive for future generations. Truly a lovely human being.
142
Oscar Levant famously quipped: “I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin.”
The sexual recession we’re said to be experiencing is sometimes attributed to the intrusion of hand-held devices, with their distracting virtual world, into our private spaces. I think it may have more to do with the removal of the old taboos and their replacement by a host of new social shibboleths and procedural checkpoints. To be sure, the 1950s were sexually repressed, and repressive as well, but on the plus side there was something called the battle of the sexes. That vital tension between male and female is what Doris Day’s movies were mainly about. (For the viewer, there was also the exciting tension between the movie star's chaste on-screen persona and what we knew or suspected went on in her real life.) Nowadays, it often seems like guys and gals are good buddies at best, and, at worst, antagonists in legal or administrative proceedings, with only fleeting hook-ups in between. Sexual binarism is itself all but passé. It almost gets to be like tennis played without a net.
While I greatly admired Ms. Day's late devotion to our cuddly animal companions, I shall cherish her above all as an icon of 1950s hypocrisy.
35
@Fidelio "Hypocrisy" is a bit strong, and in point of fact, CALAMITY JANE, one of her big hits, is famous for undermining sexual binarism, and doing so at a time that required a lot more ingenuity than it does today.
27
@Fidelio It's unfair to judge a person based on the standards from today. In the 50's, sexual repression was the norm not the exception. Not that it makes it right, but she had to work within those parameters. Still, I feel she did in her own break some of the gender role assigned to women as she was no one's idiot in the movies and she was a proud working woman. Also, I might add, it's pretty awesome how playfully sexually she was in her films without being overtly sexual. Today's actresses and actors should take note.
29
@Fidelio Oscar Levant's quote was about Grace Kelly, not Doris Day.
9
Ms. Day was fabulous in “Calamity Jane,” extraordinary in “Love Me Or Leave Me,” and letter perfect in “The Man Who Knew Too Much.”
However, my favorite role of hers is as the suburban homemaker married to a baby doctor (James Garner) in the great satire about television advertising, “The Thrill Of It All,” which I consider one of the two funniest movies I’ve seen, the other being “What’s Up, Doc?”
In “The Thrill Of It All,” Ms. Day is a comedienne without equal. She’s completely in charge of the character and the character is completely in charge of the story. In fact, I consider the film better than all of the romantic comedies she made with Rock Hudson combined.
It was wonderful having the pleasure of seeing her movies, and I’m happy to write that I have all of the films of hers I mentioned on DVD.
97
@Carmela Sanford The Thrill of it All is my fave Doris Day movie - and I've seen most of 'em. She was great, but let's also give credit to writers Carl Reiner and Larry Gelbert, TV writers who knew exactly what they were satirizing.
14
@Carmela Sanford
"The pool? The pool! GERALD!!
"Not spuds, suds."
"Mommy it snowed out." "Andrew, it didn't snow." "Andrew, did you hang up?"
Gerta, "Doctorrrr not home!
I could go on and on with quotes from the movie just off the top of my head, but I do feel, as you do, that the true gem in this film was Doris's brilliant timing and delivery. Just impeccable.
12
@Carmela Sanford
"The Thrill of It All" and "What's Up Doc?" are two of my fave comedies of all time. Except for one scene (in which Doris has an unflattering towel wrapped on her head), she never looked or acted sexier than when she was partnered with the most hubba-hubba of on screen husbands, James Garner. He admitted in interviews to enjoying their love scenes without apology and it shows. They made marriage fun.
11
One of Doris Day’s lesser-known, terribly-titled but utter gem of a film was It Happened to Jane (1959; set in Maine; shot in Connecticut. With Jack Lemmon and Ernie Kovacs. Time-capsule of character actors and television personalities of the day.) Thought our daughters might find it fun, and I was right. Took a photo of the girls together watching the movie, with Day and Gary Moore up on the screen. It wasn’t a great photo. Figured out how to contact Doris Day by mail. Made a print of the photo and sent it to her. She autographed it back to them. Very much appreciated that. It was suddenly a very great photo.
98
Loved Doris Day and learned so much more from reading this obituary. She had a very interesting and often challenging but well lived life. I was hoping for a mention of Ms. Day's 1960 turn starring with Rex Harrison in the mystery movie Midnight Lace. The voice in the fog still haunts me to this day :) Mrs. Preston, Mrs. Preston ... RIP Ms. Day.
27
@Facts Matter: I saw"Midnight Lace" on tv as a young person and always wanted to see it again. Thanks to the wonderful, wonderful Stanford Theatre which is in the middle of a Doris Day series right now, I was able too finally see it on the big screen in a beautiful 35MM print a few days ago. Yesterday I spent the day watching "The Pajama Game" and "Calamity Jane". RIP Doris Day. A fine singer, dancer and actress.
14
@bustersgirl - happy to hear from another "Midnight Lace" fan! That must have been cool to see it on a big screen. I've only watched it on TV.
Just another funny mention- on Mother's Day, my soon-to-be 90 year old Mom wanted Chinese food and definitely wanted an egg roll. Joking around, I said "with six you get egg roll." Always think of Doris Day when egg rolls are involved (haha) and then the news of Ms. Day's passing just the following day. She will be remembered and has left us many treasures to enjoy.
She brought me and my family much enjoyment through her films and her songs. I still have Move Over Darling (her last big hit in 1964, written by her son) on my playlist. RIP
10
I was a child in the 60's and both of my parents hated Doris Day so I never heard her or saw any of her movies.
But, thanks to TCM, I've watched quite few of her movies over the last several years and liked them all. Sure, they're dated but she comes across as a very confident, professional woman who is a solid actress and terrific singer. There is also something reassuring about her decency and goodness that reflected her values despite the turbulent times. Nothing wrong with that.
And, yes, in my 60's, I have to admit to having a crush on the woman. Nothing wrong with that, either!
RIP, Doris Day. You will not be forgotten and you will be missed.
21
Doris Day-
The best. She endures.
16
Walking down Bergenline Ave., North Bergen, NJ in 1954, dad stopped as I stared transfixed at the new LP in the window of the record shop, "Lights, Camera, Action." Wow! An LP having six songs of my idol Doris Day. Dad bought it for me because at six years old, she was my idol and I imitated her every nuance. Now I'm 71 and yes, I still treasure that LP along with Love Me or Leave Me, which I had to see three times and memorize every word. Mom bought me an scrapbook in the 5 and 10 and I started to keep every article and picture I could get my hands on. I remember the dentist, Dr. Berkowitz on Bergenline Ave., would let me have the magazine if Doris was on the cover. And, yes, I still have that scrapbook too. I continued to sing all my life like my idol, Doris. I am so saddened at her passing. What a beautiful role model she was for me and others. I will miss her and her amazing talent and love for animals. She will always be in my heart. Thank you, Doris, for enriching my life.
24
A friend had been her personal driver at Universal Studios and she was coming to a location to say hello to him and he invited me. This was about 1980 so she was in her 50s. What I remember most was how tall she was and still in great shape. Without makeup her famous freckles were visible but what I remember most was her voice, exactly like in the movies, and that incredible laugh.
A remarkable talent and a remarkable life.
38
Doris Day brought delight to millions through her recordings and films. Her kind deeds, her humble generosity reminded us to search for our better angels. Fortunately we can play "Sentimental Journey" and watch "That Touch of Mink" for spiritual comfort food when we feel dystopia encroaching. So, farewell, Ms. Day, but never goodbye. And thank you.
11
My mother, too, sang Que Sera Sera to me. I learned the words, but at least until I was much older I thought Kay Sera was a young girl.
My mother wouldn't let me go with some other kids to see, "That Touch of Mink", because it was too risqué. I finally saw it some years later - and still enjoyed it.
10
G-d bless Doris Day and Rock Hudson.
15
Her voice? It's magic.
12
Three failed marriages, put in a deep financial hole by the husband who died, outliving her only child...Ms. Day had her share of tragedy. So happy she found solace in her animals in her long life. Fortunately for us, the magic of her voice will live forever. My favorite song by her: the jaunty "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm."
10
IMHO: Her first and best hit was "Sentimental Journey" (1945). It became the theme song played on the ships carrying the troops home from the Pacific at the end of WWII.
8
Lovely voice, lovely face - a quintessential American woman. Brought a new consciousness to animal welfare and HIV-AIDS. She touched more people than she may have known. May God Bless.
13
Rest in peace, Doris Day. You were the example my mother cited when I complained about my freckles as a child. I shut up immediately and forever because I could not imagine anyone more beautiful than you.
17
Thanks NYT. I just bought Duet. I know I sound like an old broken record but they just don't make music like that anymore.
7
I'll always admire her for publicly embracing Rock Hudson right at the onset of the AIDS scourge.
As for her movies, I know I'm in a minority, but my favorite of her performances is her dreamy idealist in "Teacher's Pet" (that sexist title wouldn't fly today), opposite Clark Gable's hard-bitten, cynical newspaper editor. Their contrasting chemistry was a delight to watch. They were both instinctive masters of comic timing, seasoned at doing less, not more, in front of a movie camera.
17
Doris Day's movies were what they should have been, entertaining. She was not a great actress like, Davis, Hepburn or Stanwick, but she was better than sh got credit for.
But as a singer of popular music or Broadway musical music she was in a class with the very best. Yes, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Cook, Ella Rains.
There are others whose records I listen to and as a band singer Doris day was as good as they were. She did not sing a song, she performed it, just for you. I am sad to learn that Doris passed and pleased that she lived for 97 years and was happy in retirement doing good. RIP
12
The face of “Happy” soap.
For all of eternity.
13
For those mentioning how Doris Day broke through the wrongful suspicions about AIDS in the mid-80s by hugging her friend Rock Hudson - here's a video of that - the hug just months before Hudson succumbed to the disease. https://youtu.be/z21shqPRTP8
12
We lost an icon.
I had a horrifying childhood, but Doris Day films brought me so much joy.
There was just something about Doris that went beyond her fetching matchy matchy outfits and hats that went with even the wall decor. Doris taught young girls that it was normal to want BOTH a career AND a love life. Yes, of course her films now look incredibly retrograde, but there is always an element of camp and a wink and a nod in her performances that we picked up on.
We knew she was no virgin. She was just very choosy and she wanted her own career.
Doris Day gave me both joy and courage.
She had a great career as a singer and her albums are magnificent. After her rotten husband's swindelled her, she gave so much as an animal rights activist and later as an AIDS activist.
What a goddess and what a really decent person, from all accounts.
Who is left of this classic era? Kim Novak and Diahann Carroll! Celebrate these women while they are alive!
18
Good job in Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much. A rare non-morally ambiguous protagonist in a Hitch film.
69
@The Buddy
Midnight Lace (1960) was another dramatic movie where she gave a great performance.
11
@The Buddy The Man Who Knew Too Much. Fleetingly racist and misogynist.
I remember discovering Doris Day on TCM when I was a teenager. I was hooked. I loves the flirty banter with Hudson and Grant. I loved the subtle tension. I hope more people under 40 discover what a great talented woman she was. I don’t have cable so I’ll miss TCM’s marathon. I wish Amazon and Netflix would increase their classic movie library.
12
I was born in 1957 and Doris Day was one of the few actresses who seemed to have a job, other than show business, in her films. In "pillow talk" she was a decorator and in "Lover come back, " she was in advertising. So, to me, at 10, she was a feminist role model. She and Rose Marie on the Dick Van Dyke Show.
25
When my father became ill, in a faraway state, many years ago, I went to our local video store and rented four Doris Day films. Just a coincidence I thought. But over the span of those days watching "That Touch of Mink" or "Send Me No Flowers" I realized the connection I was trying to make with my father. Our family went to all of her movies together -- Glass Bottom Boat, With Six You Eggroll, Move Over Darling. She was the 60s for me and I missed my Dad. I have dreaded this day but I am thankful for her groundbreaking work for animals, her uncompromising positive spirit and her devotion to friends. I'd also like to recommend "Teacher's Pet" as her best song she ever recorded. She was at the top and the arrangement with guitar stand the test of time. God Bless you Doris.
11
I remember being most impressed as a boy by "Calamity Jane" - Doris Day morphing from a tough female macho into a "real" woman. Along the way she also sang in that voice which could have filled a music hall.
Later it was fascinating to watch her acting in films which were often much better than she was given credit for. We should remember that she grew up and began her career in times when women were expected to look nice and keep quiet. While she had no problems with the former, her irrepressible personality kept breaking through.
I for one am grateful to have enjoyed some of her films while I was growing up, and later to have discovered others which I missed the first time around. As long as there are films and videos, people will enjoy her performances.
12
A lovely woman. In addition to her talent, she spent a lifetime dedicated to helping animals. As these wonderful animal advocates pass, (Mary Tyler Moore another), and given the advanced age of Bob Barker, Betty White, Robert Redford and others, (Candace
Bergen just matched donations to help African wildlife like elephants and big cats, bless her), but who in the younger generation will replace their tireless advocacy? That makes their passing even more sad. I hope there are plenty more vocal advocates such as Ricky Gervais, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia DeRossi, Rachael Ray, Howard and Beth Stern, Bill Maher. Voices for the voiceless.
13
May Her Memory BE Eternal....She was beautiful and had a gorgeous voice...She adored animals and was a gentle soul. Sleep well sister....
9
Doris Day had luminous talent. But she also had no fear of trying new things, reinventing herself, and moving forward. A husband who blew through her lifetime earnings of $20 million and left her $500,000 in debt had her moving forward on a TV show she didn't even want to do, only months after his death.
And in the 1970s she walked away--from singing, Hollywood, the movies, TV, fame--to live in a beautiful place she loved, doing something that meant more to her than money and fame--animal welfare.
Ms Day is someone I admire on so many levels--I will miss knowing that she is still here.
20
Not ashamed to admit that I loved the Doris Day/Rock Hudson romcoms they made together. I always left the theater happier. Doris Day had a wonderful voice and a smile that lit up the screen. She was a survivor in a tough business.
9
I worked in the business center of Beverly Hills in the late 1970s.
I arrived very early each morning while the traffic was light and the downtown streets were deserted.
It was a treat at times to catch a glimpse of a kerchiefed Miss Day riding her bicycle up or down Roxbury drive.
17
I'm going to go against the majority here, by saying I respect and admire Doris Day's talent, but something about her persona didn't resonate with me. It's hard to place, but there was something coy in the image of innocent, sweet wholesomeness, a style of muted sexuality that just seemed on some level false. Other stars conveyed the complex, multi-layered aspects of romance, but Doris Day personified a hyper-domestic feminine ideal, as if the main aspiration of life is to be a figure in a Norman Rockwell painting.
That said, since seeing it for the first time recently, I've been a huge fan of the movie version of The Pajama Game, an extraordinarily entertaining musical that could also serve as a primer (if a bit simplistic, yet basicially true to the fundamental issues involved) on industrial labor relations when manufacturing was still a significant part of the American economy, with some hints on how and why that changed.
Still, an absolute American icon who brought joy and entertainment to millions, and certainly a pleasant escape from dreariness and the more sordid realities in the middle class's bygone golden age.
1
@Andrew She spent her entire movie career working under the pre-ratings censorship code; coyness was one of the biggest tools in the arsenal. Hollywood in the '50s, maybe even today, tended to prize the scenery-chewing performance, the diva back from last year's overdose attempt, or dressing up like a nun. A famous star doing a picture "without makeup" was catnip. Doris Day was too beautiful, too talented a singer, and too luminous to be seen as a serious actor by critics infatuated with the perverse. What she had couldn't be toned down.
7
@Andrew I suspect that the little something that did not resonate with you is that Doris always played her ridiculous eternal virgin parts with a certain postmodern feminist camp.
She often put an element of camp in her roles, which was very playful, smart, and sophisticated for the time.
She played absurd scenes while winking at them, as if to say, "Are you kidding me?" As a young girl, I picked up on that postmodern camp and I found it both fun and empowering, in combination with the fact that many of her films were about women who wanted BOTH a career and a love life.
This was about as feminist as it got in the (often retrograde) rom coms of the 50s and early 60s. She brought a lot of joy, a winking nod, and a charming sense of feminist wit to those who were watching her closely.
When I found out that her husband swindled her I was beside myself. But when she made her life's work animal welfare and later AIDS research and support, I knew she was a real true icon of not just beauty, but decency.
6
Just read the actual obit, and embarrassed to see what a cliche I wrote; fact is, Pajama Game is the only Doris Day film I watched without being put off too quickly by the saccharine sunshine persona. Pauline Kael's description "all-American middle-aged girl" says it all. But Dwight MacDonald's description also fits.
Still, she had enormous talent, great charm and a great heart, a combination that can be refreshing, and rarer, in the more cynical times (that we're still in) that followed her heyday.
Like Kim Novak and Olivia de Havilland, quintessential movie stars who furnished some of our most enduring images of feminine ideals, whose contributions earned their status as long-living icons of classic Hollywood and its particular glamour.
1
I wrote the Academy several times requesting they award Doris Day an honorary Oscar. She deserved it for the same reason Peter O'Toole deserved his. A true professional talent - authentic in tragedy or comedy. I am sorry she died without receiving this recognition.
RIP, Doris Day.
10
I did not see any of her movies. I watched her on the Doris Day Show when I was a youngster. I thought she was a good role model for girls and women. I also enjoyed her singing.
I think her characters teach lessons that are good for today when society has gone in the opposite direction.
Now that we have a list of films made by Doris, I am going to see them.
I was sorry to read that her first husband, that she married at age 19, was abusive.
1
I will miss her. Mom and I used to watch her old corny movies. They were fun at a time when acting really mattered. Teacher's Pet should be required watching for all NY Times reporters and editors to hear the lessons in how to write a news article. We frequently have to wade down to the sixth paragraph to find out what, when, where, how, who and why. She had a beautiful singing style. I still remember when Que Sera Sera was first played on the radio. She was a lady in a city where weirdness prevails. RIP.
4
I'm basically an opera lover, but I saw DD when I was 9, in ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS, heard her sing "It's Magic" in it, and that has been my favorite female pop recording ever since. The obit, while good, gave short shrift to some of her activities, especially where recordings are concerned. In addition to the hits mentioned, she had many more, and was such a presence in the recording studios for about a quarter-century, that it is estimated she recorded some 600 or more songs in total. Also, in addition to LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME, she gave excellent to superb performances in film dramas not mentioned here, starting with YOUNG MAN WITH A HORN, but including STORM WARNING (in which she gets shot to death by her KKK-leaning husband), JULIE (a 1956 film about a stewardess who unknowingly marries a charming madman - played by Louis Jourdan), Hitchcock's MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (her hysterical scene when learning of her little son's kidnapping is memorable), and of course MIDNIGHT LACE, where, as a woman threatened by an unknown psychopath, hers is by far the most convincing
dramatic performance in a film peopled with the likes of Rex Harrison, Myrna Loy and Anthony Dawson. Of all the very biggest stars in Hollywood, despite her great stardom she may still have been the most underrated of them all, probably because she made it all look so easy.
9
@Joe Pearce
Amendment: She recorded over 800 songs and was the
biggest-selling female vocalist of the first
two decades of the LP era.
3
If you want to explore her incredible singing in depth, buy all four CD box sets on the Bear Family label. Start from the beginning. Each comes with a large LP sized hard cover book, which in themselves are fantastic.
9
For any of you in the Palo Alto area who want to enjoy some of Doris Day's films, the Stanford Theater in downtown Palo Alto is running a series of her films on Wed-Sun evenings through May 23. It's a wonderful opportunity to see her on the big screen, in a classic 1920's theater.
7
As a girl listening to Doris Day sing, I pretty much took her voice for granted. It wasn't until later, when I came upon an album of Doris Day hits, that it sank in how unique and perfect her singing was—a silken, delicate, confident sound that stopped me in my tracks.
It was one of those, "I had no idea....!!" moments when I realized how we had overlooked her superb talent because we were so smug about labeling her just a girly girl, who starred in fluff movies.
First and foremost, she was a terrific singer, who happened also to make hit movies.
9
Doris fans, please do not miss the gorgeous recording she made with Andre Previn.
I wish you all a lovely evening of remembering her!
6
Naturally, as a young boy I was in love with Doris Day. It makes me very sad that such a beautiful, wonderful woman could not find a decent man to marry. I don't understand it. It's awful and tragic when a person finds more solace and companionship in animals than in a loved human being.
3
Doris became my idol when I was only six years old when I saw the movie Calamity Jane. That year I stayed up to see her sing Secret Love on the Academy Awards in the parlor room all by myself. I knew the lyrics to all her songs esp. the songs from Love Me or Leave Me and as I had a good voice myself and was a good mimic, I was pretty good at imitating. Everybody always wanted to hear me sing Que Sera Sera and at seven years old, I was pretty good. I have sung my whole life since. Well, now I'm 70 and although I knew that someday the lovely smile that I so admired on Doris would someday be lost, I am so sad. The world has lost an amazing talent and our wonderful image of the "girl next door". She will always have a special place in my heart.
4
When Doris Day Was Born the Planets and
Stars had to be in complete alignment.
I love her recordings with Andre Previn
And his trio. Her Phrasing is Sublime.
A Life Well Lived.
10
I like her romcoms with Rock Hudson and Cary Grant. I will stop and watch if I catch one on any of the retro tv channels. The fashions in those movies are gorgeous and I always wondered if she kept all the clothes. Special mention to the Bergdorf Goodman fashion show in "That Touch of Mink."
RIP Doris Day
5
I don't know my life without Doris Day in it; been humming "Que Sear Sera" since I was a toddler in the late '60s.
And anyone kind and mindful of animals is my friend without further introduction, to shamelessly paraphrase Mark Twin.
Fly freely among the stars, Ms. Day, and thanks for brightening the world while you were here.
7
@Valerie I was also born in Miami in the 60’s and remember only a handful of TV stations, one which aired “Pillow Talk” & “Move Over Darling” which I fell in love with.
I was born in 1964 and only started watching her films in the past year. (Incredibly, just watched The Pajama Game for the first time this Saturday.) Throughout this little film festival of mine, I have been surprised and struck how winning Day was. (Same goes for Rick Hudson.) There has been a lot of cultural push back against the white-washed 50s and her films in recent years--most recently in the James Baldwin documentary--but much of that era's music and culture was quite good and wonderfully entertaining.
11
I have loved Doris Day and wanted to be her since I was a child. I am 78 years old and I feel the pain of her passing. I loved how beautiful she was and how her clothes fit her to a tee! When she and James Garner were on the screen like in the movie, "Move Over, Darling, " it was magic. Fluff? Yes, indeed, fluff but fluff that took you to another place - out of the world of the mundane and into that magical world where you KNEW Doris Day would triumph and love would prevail. God rest your soul, Ms. Day.
6
“I have never found in a human being,” she added, “loyalty comparable to that of any pet.”
Doris Day is spot on with her above observation.
3
‘But, except in movies, nobody lives happily ever after. Ms. Day told Mr. Hotchner: “During the painful and bleak periods I’ve suffered through these past years, my animal family has been a source of joy and strength to me. I have found that when you are deeply troubled, there are things you get from the silent, devoted companionship of your pets that you can get from no other source.”
“I have never found in a human being,” she added, “loyalty comparable to that of any pet.’
Boy, ain’t it the truth.
5
America's sweetheart. If there's ever been anyone in show business who was easier to like. I'm not sure who it would be. Throw in the fact that she was a strong, vocal advocate for animals and you can stop the phone calls... we have a winner.
5
Excellent and loving review. Thanks.
3
I had such a crush on her when I was a little kid.
Only later did I learn of her brave battles in life against those who would cheat and abuse her.
And I'll never forget how she stood with Rock Hudson as he was obviously ill and dying of AIDS.
RIP, Doris Day.
6
"Calamity Jane" (very racist movie in places) was my favorite Doris Day movie. No one like Doris Day. She was amazing. Thank you and rest in peace.
4
Her movies were absolutely terrible but I give her kudos for her animal welfare and by standing by Rock Hudson when many of her generation shunned aids patients.
1
@Paulie
If you think her movies were absolutely terrible, then you just haven't seen the right ones yet.
6
It pains me to know how many low-life men she was subjected to in her life. How con artists and wife beaters can look themselves in the mirror is beyond me...
She was one of my crushes once. Still breathtaking in her golden years.
Loved her with Jimmy Stewart in Hitchcock’s ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much.’
RIP.
4
When I was a kid on the Upper West Side, there were two movie theaters next door to each other on Broadway and 96th, the Riverside and the Riviera. (The Symphony and Thalia were a block away.) My mother took me to Hollywood movies at those places regularly, and if there is one that still sticks in my head, it is "Pillow Talk," which I demanded to see at least six times. I thought Doris Day was the perfect woman and the sexual antics probably found their way into my subconscious even if I didn't completely get what was behind them. I remember her coming across as quite the strong woman, attractive and sure of herself, and I never did agree with the goody-goody image that she was burdened with. I'm so happy she was finally recognized for her talents and accomplishments, including a superb Broadway voice. Quite a lady!
132
Growing up in Iran before the revolution, Doris Day was on TV and movie screens.
The wholesome image did its part in charming the Iranian middle class with America.
Maybe if all Iranians were given a chance to watch Doris Day, Iran's love affair with America might have continued. After all, how can you burn the flag of a country that produces Doris Day?
262
@Neil Very nice comment. Thank you.
27
Thank you Neil. That is lovely. Beauty, grace, humor, music & love to ail international conflicts. Thank you!
@Neil
27
Wonderful story Neil. I suspect there are also Iranian cultural icons that we Americans could appreciate given the chance.
38
My all time favorite actress/singer/everything. People forget that in the '50's, she was probably the biggest star of the decade and still underrated today. When she sang, her voice was as clear as a bell and you could feel her emotion in the songs. Sad to see her pass, rest well.
26
Loved her movies and TV show as a kid, but gained a greater appreciation of her exceptional talent as an adult. I was astounded by her performance in “Love Me Or Leave Me” the first time I saw it. Also did not realize how sexy she could be until I saw her in that slinky white dress in “Pillow Talk.” And that voice! Thank God for Turner Classic Movies. Younger generations will be able to enjoy Doris Day’s phenomenal talent for years to come.
24
I always enjoyed Doris Day's films and looked forward to seeing them. I hope Amazon or Netflix will bring some of them back and stream them as I would enjoy seeing them again. May she rest in peace.
10
@ExPatMX
Several of her films are streaming on Amazon prime.
Can anyone explain why so many of our great musical movie stars end up with husbands who steal them blind: Doris Day, Judy Garland, Debbie Reynolds to name a few. As for Doris, she was very underrated and while she didn't sing in her later movies, her voice was glorious. Her role in "Love Me or Leave Me" (opposite James Cagney) was sadly, the only time she had a chance to show her acting skills in a straight drama.
13
@Lola
I can think of at least two movies where she played straight drama: The Man Who Knew Too Much (you can feel her anguish in the scene where James Stewart tells her their son has been kidnapped) and Storm Warning, a movie where Doris plays the wife of a KKK member (she was the second female lead to her sister, played by Ginger Rogers).
2
@Bettye Underwood]
Add to those JULIE and MIDNIGHT LACE
2
Love Me or Leave Me is one of my favorite films. It had a great screenplay written by the under-appreciated novelist, Daniel Fuchs. Jimmy Cagney of course was wonderful. And Doris Day was perfect playing Ruth Etting, who made Button Up Your Overcoat such a hit.
I miss those wonderful actors, dancers, and singers of the 40's and 50's: stars like Doris Day, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth. They were a great part of "the greatest generation."
9
My favorite movie of Ms Day's is PLEASE DONT EAT THE DAISIES based on the book of the same name by Mary Kerr (the theatre critic Walter Kerr's wife). A thoroughly enjoyable film which showcases Ms Day's many talents including singing with an excellent cast - David Niven as Mr Kerr, Richard Hayden and Spring Byington (her last film)
Sorry to read of her financial and marital troubles but surprised and inspired to read of her advocacy for animals. RIP Ms. Day
9
@Southern Gal
Correcting my error - it should be JEAN Kerr (not Mary)
And I need to add as another favorite her role in her one Hitchcock film... along with Jimmy Stewart . Of course QUE SERA, SERA will forever be heard in her inimitable voice
As a 30-something, I'm one of the few young people who just absolutely fell in love with Doris Day. My Nana introduced me to her movies when I was 11, and I've been a fan of both her movies and music ever since. Her attitude, spunk and wholesomeness really spoke to my soul, and still does. I got a personalized signed picture of her when I was 15, and it's still the only Christmas present to make me cry.
Rest in peace, fine lady. You will be missed.
37
Doris Day was a class act. I've always loved her movies---Pillow Talk is sill a must-see that, despite its nods to the mores of the time, doesn't seem dated. Her voice, the linchpin of all that followed, was this great combination of wholesome and sexy. But she was so much more than an actress and singer. I hope people will remember that above all else, she championed the causes of Animal Rights and AIDS awareness before they became part of the national consciousness. She lent her name, her time and her money because of her convictions and she did it without any consideration of the impact to her popularity. Her publicly standing by her friend, Rock Hudson, at a time when AIDS patients were being ostracized was inspiring. I'll never forget that. Class all the way. God rest her soul.
33
I will always remember her songs, Que Sera Sera, and especially Secret Love, a depiction of gay love masked in camp. Her voice, and easy going whimsy recall fantasies of a simple past that never was but for which we yearn. I love that she thought her most important work was caring for and advocating for animal welfare.
18
“Terry Melcher, her only child, who became a successful record producer, died in 2004.”
Terry was indeed a successful record producer. One of his later efforts was a #1 recording by the Beach Boys in 1988, “Kokomo”. He co-wrote and produced that song, which was featured in the Tom Cruise film, “Cocktail”.
In 1963, Terry co-wrote and produced an absolutely delightful song for his Mom, “Move Over Darling”, which entered the UK Top-10. (The song was revived in 1983 by Tracey Ullman.) Terry was 21 years old at the time.
Sadly, we’ve now lost two greats.
8
Doris Day has been an inspiration in her work with animals which I know she fought to stay healthy and alive for. Her passion to protect animals will live on in her name. RIP Dear Doris.
13
Skepticism about Day's ability as a dramatic actress is easily addressed not only by "Love Me or Leave Me," but by "The Man Who Knew Too Much" as well; she is utterly wrenching in the scene in which her doctor husband (Jimmy Stewart) labors to prepare her to receive the news that their son has been kidnapped.
A wonderful singer, a delight in so many films, truly one of a kind.
19
@heyblondie Love her in YOUNG MAN WITH A HORN. Day was a natural with the camera. She was able to do sophisticated parts and she added so much to her romantic comedies. I loved her films as a child. I only later learned that she overcame a terrible car accident by singing and was a truly fine jazz and pop singer. A true icon.
4
The last line in the article reminds me of the saying "If you want a friend get a dog".
Every time I visited the Cypress Inn, I was hoping that I would get a glance of her. I am glad I didn't, I want to remember her as a wholesome, intelligent, talented and beautiful woman that I adored as I was coming of age.
5
I always liked seeing her in old movies, but I specifically remember once landing on "Calamity Jane" while channel-surfing and being completely mesmerized by her singing "Secret Love." I became a total Doris Day fan then. And yes, her work with animals and her kindness toward AIDS sufferers -- what a great singer, and what a great human being.
17
Thank you, Doris Day, for all of it, especially your support of animals, gay co-stars, and those suffering with AIDS. And thanks also for the lovely legacy of the Cypress Inn .
14
Doris Day and her films, we the 20th century generations will remember her but with her passing we became history too.
3
One of the great actress-singers; probably the best among the most popular. Her "Hey There" in the too-neglected film version of "The Pajama Game" is a tour de force of unfolding feeling.
14
@Arthur Boehm: Yes, I just saw this yesterday at the Stanford Theatre. Beautifully done.
It really is the end of an era. R.I.P., Doris Day. And, thank you.
15
Much is made of her wholesome, "goody-two-shoes" image, but she truly had a sexy, saucy presence, especially in her early recordings and movies. I believe it was Oscar Levant who quipped, "I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin." My dad always found her sexy, often citing some 1970s appearance she made with Carson on The Tonight Show, in QUITE the dress, apparently!
Google "A Chocolate Sunday on a Saturday Night," the "TCM She's Just a Singer" clip from Romance on the High Seas, or "Doris Day Tonight Show" for evidence.
Such an immensely talented lady, and a kind and loving person by all accounts. She won't be forgotten.
8
Ms. Day has gone over the "Rainbow Bridge" and is now reunited with all of her beloved fur babies.
Thanks for the memories, Doris.
You were beautiful both inside and out.............
9
I'm a generation behind Ms. Day, so I grew up in a time when Raquel Welch, Ann-Margret, and (pre-Vietnam) Jane Fonda were marketed as a man's ideal fantasy.
Yet it was Doris Day that always made me go "ga-ga". To this day, when comparing boyhood notes with my friends, I still talk about her.
I have everything she ever recorded. Many of her lesser known worksi are stunningly brilliant in their "isn't this FUN!" energy.
5
My first celebrity crush, although I watched her movies on TV, as I was only one when "Pillow Talk" was released. Her Christmas album is one of my favorites.
I was sorry to see the headlines about her passing. I never bought into the dismissive characterizations of her as the perpetual virgin; you only had to see the full range of her movies to understand how superficial that was. She had what all the great movie stars had---an almost indefinable quality that compelled you to watch her and nothing else when she was on the screen.
Thank you for everything, Doris. You live on in your music and your movies.
10
I cannot shrug off the demise of Doris Day as "Que Sera, Sera."
What a star! What a voice! What a personality!
We will miss her.
10
Ms Day often played romantic comedy characters so unbelievably saccharine and innocent that at times seemed to defy modern day feminism. Upon closer examination, those characters ultimately more often than not dispensed with the silly stereotype that a feminist couldn't be genuinely nice and feminine while simultaneously smart, resourceful and fiercely independent. It would seem Ms. Day's off-screen persona was not radically different from her onscreen ones. Anyone who championed animal welfare and dedicated her life to it with as much zeal and passion as Doris Day, deserves to be praised and remembered with glowing tributes dripping in treacle. Her kindness is a balm for these poisonous times.
7
Standing O for the joy you brought us all and for giving your heart so mightily to all the spirits in the animal kingdom. What a soaring example you were, Doris Day. Over the rainbow bridge - the love you gave awaits you.
5
Doris Day personified that fearless indeed spotless American woman admired and dreamed about by millions of young European girls in the fifties and sixties - before Vietnam. She was sensational in every movie her qué sera sera challenges revealing a sunny self confidence with songs smiles and a wonderful sense of fun. She never ever failed. There was noone like her. Thank you Doris and thank you America for being there for us.
2
She had a hard life, but she triumphed through what would have destroyed others. A real hero.
7
Just a genuinely nice person - a rarity these days in Hollywood. RIP Blondie.
5
I enjoyed the Doris Day & Rock Hudson movies. She was dressed so beautifully and played hard to get but Rock in the end was irresistible. Good entertainment.
8
I recently listened to the "Duet" album (available on YouTube) that Doris Day recorded with Andre Previn at the piano. Magical. What a voice. As another commenter suggested, a piece on her recording career is needed.
11
My Mother and Doris Day. Exemplar guides and leading me by example in how to be. Extraordinary singer and much underrated actor.
9
In my teens, Doris Day movies always encouraged and inspired my friends and I to do good, obey our parents and school authorities. Somehow, though we thought some movies were corny, we were still convinced that the values that Ms. Day portrayed on the silver screen would certainly stand us in good stead; if we would faithfully follow the moral standards that our families and Miss Day modeled.
Though my friends and I have all fully experienced real life with all its warts and blemishes, for ourselves; all of us now know for certain that Ms. Day was a great role model, and that our families' values and expectations that she embodied on screen are true blue!!
Thank you Ms. Day!!! In this day and age of rampant licentiousness, you are, and you will continue to be sorely missed!
4
The word icon is often overused.
In this case, a truly great one is gone.
There aren't many left.
20
May she rest in peace! Allowing many generation to enjoy her delightful films.
5
A wonderful screen presence.
Haven't watched it recently, but have seen "Calamity Jane" any number of times.
It's the one in which she sings, "Secret Love," which has long had special meaning for plenty of guys of my generation....
7
Just fun, terrific movies, and truly Doris Day plays every part to perfection...In Midnight Lace that scream! And even in the phenomenally bad Julie, Doris, as the flight attendant, lands the plane! She is so watchable in everything she ever made...I have introduced my grown daughters to her movie magic now and they love her too. A lovely human being who made the world a softer, gentler place.
5
When we were in Carmel last fall many locals mentioned the love Doris Day had for all dogs and her untiring devotion to their welfare. Quite apart from all her musical and performing talent, she was a great human being.
8
Doris Day called in to a nyc radio show of Stephen Schwartz’s son. He ended up doing his entire show talking to Doris and playing her songs. Can Anyone fill in more details? I’d love to listen to that program again.
Doris may have given up dancing for a career, but she did get to do a great dance routine in one of her films.
2
@Agnes de Garron I think you are referring to the composer Arthur Schwartz's son Jonathan Schwartz. Here is a link to that call http://thejonathanstation.com/audio/saturday04062019.mp3
2
Radio host Jonathan Schwartz is the son of composer Arthur Schwartz, not Stephen.
I heard that broadcast too. Perhaps one day WNYC will see fit to replay it.
1
A real professional and a delightful singer and actress. John Updike's long and affectionate essay on Ms. Day is worth re-reading. Other singers from her contemporaries to kd lang commented on how good and natural a singer she was. This article is a fine review of her life by Ms. Harmetz. I like especially these lines: "And when Ms. Day opened her mouth to sing, the effect was magical. She had a perfectly controlled voice that brimmed with emotion." And: "But even in the early 1950s she was nobody’s fool, and her characters had an unusual resilience, cockiness and competence." Well-done!
5
I grew up watching her classics in the '70's on ABC's "The 4:30 Movie" while not doing my homework. It strikes me that so many actors, that brought to life all those characters that fired the imagination of my procrastinating childhood mind, I now read obits about in which it is revealed that their animals gave them much more fulfillment in their lives than any people ever did. So many stars get destroyed by the public and industry that used to love them. Great fame so often ends up being a great wellspring of cynicism about humanity in the famous. It's a wonder why so many continue see it as their greatest desire, irregardless of these endless examples of its many vicissitudes, seen almost daily as an afterthought during short tributes, delivered by a talking head next to an old photo of the formerly famous, at the end of the evening news. Apparently, conventional wisdom extolling the benefits of endless attention are intentionally overrated in the service of the ones making the real money off all that fame, mostly to the detriment of actually famous and their opinion of others.
2
Doris Day had an amazing singing voice, was a very good actress, had a lovely personality, and could dance too. On top of that she admirably advocated on behalf of dogs and cats. She was a wonderful woman.
9
I grew up watching her movies with my Mom and my two sisters. She gave us so many happy memories.
5
My 57-year-old brother emailed me an hour ago to say Doris Day had died and that he'd had a crush on her when he was young. Both were news to me.
Great voice and humanitarian.
5
My folks weren't really movie-goers, but my Mom took me to all those rom-coms. She said it was because she wanted to see what Doris was wearing in them. Ms. Day was a fashion icon, too. At least for those of us in the boonies. Now I think it was the romantic comedy, too. I don't know why my sisters didn't come, too, but just me and Mom excited for a new Doris Day movie? A highlight of my young teenage years. Thank you, Doris. Maybe I'll see you at the picnic and you can meet my Mom.
4
I have been lucky to be able to spend summers in Carmel for the past eight years. I always bring my dog, because thanks to Ms. Day, Carmel is a dog’s paradise. Free to roam on the beach with no leash, welcome in most restaurants including, of course, the delightful Cypress Inn, where Ms. Day even has tea for dogs on week ends. Her acting career notwithstanding, her greatest contribution, at least to this animal lover, is to have transformed Carmel into a dog’s heaven.
May you test in peace Ms. Day. My dog will be mourning you this summer in Carmel.
12
Class. Pure Class. We will miss her. God Bless.
10
I grew up in the 1950s and early 1960s when Doris Day was in her movie-making prime. These were happy times. Yet, when I compare them to today, I wonder why. We were still in the post-war economic recovery. The Cold War raged. Medical miracles were yet to come, as even public water fountains posed the threat of polio until the mid 1950s.
Today, the US has no military or, yes, economic equal. Immunotherapeutics are rapidly rendering certain cancers manageable. But we're miserable, frightened and angry. Why? I'm not sure. But there is an aching sense of dissatisfaction that spans all demographic cohorts.
Maybe it has something to do with the loss of our ability to enjoy fantasy and to enjoy reality and not to mix them. Our ability to play at times and to work at times. If this article finds you worn from work or stress, maybe you should pay a quick visit to YouTube and give Que Sera, Sera a spin.
Goodbye, Doris. I don't think Bob Hope would mind if I added, thanks for the memories.
8
@maqroll
It’s obvious why “we're miserable, frightened and angry.” It’s just that we miss Doris Day.
Although for a part of her career, she played the professional virgin, her career was much more than that. Others, like Audrey Hepburn are rightfully noted for their wonderful wardrobes; Judy Garland for her gorgeous voice; Barbara Stanwyk for her steely strength; Carole Lombard for her great comedic timing. But Doris Day had all of those assets and more. She leaves behind a fine legacy of work. She was beautiful in face and body; resilient and loyal to her friends—two-legged and four. Thanks for the memories, Doris.
11
Humans as loving and loyal as pets do exist. It's very sad that Doris Day never found one.
4
Doris Day had a long and enriching life--she made people happy and she is someone who was devoted to animal rights and loved them and her cause deeply. She lost her son, probably her greatest loss of all, she lost millions which were gained through hard work by someone she trusted and was married to, she knew both the highs and lows. She had class. Something truly missing in our culture today. She was both modest and humble in her person and what she presented publically. This passing of her life is what made me most sad. A time that is long gone for America.
The other day I was watching Fred Astire dance to "Let's Face The Music and Dance" with Ginger. Also made me sad. Sheer beauty and grace! All you could see in that fabulous dress were her hands but WOW was she full of grace: Romance.
Doris Day said this "Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty."
Gratitude also seems a thing of the past! She was truly RICH!
RIP dear Doris.
7
Besides founding the Doris Day Animal Foundation, she created the Doris Day Equine Center, and was an advocate for other groups like PETA, for whom she gave Congressional testimony.
She also was an angel to the City of Cincinnati and to the College-Conservatory, University of Cincinnati and left a scholarship to honor her late son at UC Davis.
7
@Daniel F. Solomon A class Act!
My favorite Doris Day movie is "The Glass-Bottom Boat," and I love the theme song. " . . . The flying fish was an awful ham, he made a three-point landing in a frying pan . . ."
8
In tears. She's my childhood. I've watched her films hundreds of times. There will never be another Doris Day. Please rest in the atomic universe, and make great pillow talk with your friends Rock, Cary, and James, to mention a few.
6
Really enjoy her in films...she was a great person , who cared about animals...one of the great, has left this world...but her films will always make me smile.
4
It's not every actress that inspires a shift in language. Whenever I have the good luck of just pulling up to the curb in front of my home in Brooklyn, I always crow about finding 'Doris Day Parking.'
3
Truly the end of an era. RIP, Doris.
4
She was at his side and gave unforgettable public support to Rock Hudson when he announced he had AIDS.
She was the real deal.
26
@Toms Quill
Absolutely and I'm surprised no mention is made of this. She was very courageous for doing that given the tenor of those times. But then again, having read her obit, I think that's just who she was. A class act.
RIP.
10
As a young girl, my father would walk me to the movies across the tracks in Passaic, New Jersey. With my brown hair and eyes, a nose not pert, a different ethnicity, I was enthralled by the luminous Doris Day. This article reminds me of those Saturday afternoons when I would enter an entirely other world than the one I lived in. Of course I came to love who I really was, but it took me awhile to stop idealizing what Doris Day and others represented. Now, I can appreciate who she was and plan to watch Love me or leave me.
153
I can still hear the beautiful lilting voice of my mother, who grew up in the Depression and had herself a very hard scrabble life early on, singing Ms Day's famous 'Que Sera, Sera' as she went about her daily business of raising 4 children and yes, tending house during the 1950s and early 60's .
I'm glad to hear that at her death, however belatedly, Doris Day is finally getting some of the credit she deserves for being one of the first major film actresses who insisted on depicting women as having the ability to not only be domestic goddesses but to also to be able to make a living outside the home and to even build a successful career, on their own terms. As her roles in "The Man who Knew Too Much " with James Stewart and "Leave Me or Leave Me" with Jimmy Cagney proved, Ms Day could act with the best of them, had superb timing and was able to movingly depict a wide range of emotions in many different kinds of situations. And yes, Ms Day could sing.
So yes. Thank you Ms Doris Day for your on screen generosity of spirit, your support of our animal friends and thanks for inspiring my mother enough to make 'Que Sera, Sera' her theme song. Your spunk and spirit will be missed.
281
@Bird - OH sooooo very well said! My comment pales in the face of yours! :) . But you said it so very well, "Thank you Ms. Doris Day for your on screen generosity of spirit, your support of our animal friends and thanks for inspiring my mother enought to make 'Que Sera, Sera" her theme song. Your spunk and spirit will be missed." The only place I differ with you is that my mom never sang 'Que Sera, Sera' but I did while raising my five beautiful children. Doris Day inspired me, lifted me up when I was down and made me believe that even when the kids were sick, or money was tight, that tomorrow would be better...much, much better. Thank you for your well said comment, Birddog.
19
@Birddog-Her generosity also extended to doing USO tours with Bob Hope, despite the fact that at the time she had a fear of flying.
23
@macloverf1524 Beautiful!
3
A true national treasure!
Not to mention a LADY and a lady with CLASS that embodied every human virtue that should make today’s “celebrity” denizens of the new Hollywood and it’s sausage factory of mediocre, soulless, SPX tripe pause in reverence before a real titan of talent, gentility, kindness, honor and elemental decency.
Not to mention her unflagging support and care for her gay icon Co-Star Rock Hudson. How fortunate am I to be old enough to remember countless Saturdays as a small boy glued to my movie of the week when her radiance, and that talcum comforting voice caressed my young soul with examples of what is highest in human nature.
Today is a sad day. Such presences are so sorely needed in this age of mendacity and mediocrity. Every time we lose one of our greats the frayed fabric of our noblest ideals frays a little more.
Thank you Doris. I cannot, will not, ever forget you. Now I will go into my garden and weep for your loss. I feel it deeply today on this rainy Washington afternoon. Then I will plant that climbing rose I’ve been lagging on in your honor; I will name it Doris. May it reach for the heavens where you now grace the loftiest orders of the archangels. Godspeed my platinum angel. All my love.
15
I would have been a loyal husband, Doris.
11
She was my first movie love. So wholesome and nice. She was so kind to Rock Hudson when he was outed. He would have made a much better husband for her too. At least she would have known
his faults.
6
Doris Kappelhoff and Roy Scherer, her playing the reluctant virgin and he the ardent suitor, sums up the Hollywood of that era. Their movie personas were projected as who they were not only as actors but as individuals by the studios. Without a touchstone to anchor real life many actors would be challenged to keep a foot in the real world. Doris's love and devotion to her doggie crew kept her firmly connected to nature and balance. That was a gift she possessed that was as important if not more so than all of her singing, dancing and acting accolades.
3
America’s “girl next door “: smart in an arresting way; sexy in an understated way; forceful when she had to be; an “American girl.” Rest In Peace.
7
The only Doris Day movie I can stomach is The Man Who Knew Too Much, and that's because Jimmy Stewart is in it. That doesn't mean she wasn't a wonderful woman, of course.
R.I.P. She brought a lot of joy to a traumatized western world after WWII.
7
While Doris Day became known for her "virginal" comedies, she had a rich singing and acting career before "Pillow Talk." Watch the scene in "The Man Who Knew Too Much," in which Jimmy Stewart reveals their son's kidnapping, and you'll see real talent and genuine emotion. Too bad she didn't get more chances to stretch her acting muscles, and too bad she declined (year after year) the honorary Oscar that she richly deserved. And the singing!
1
She was sexy and she was sweet. The perfect combination that you wanted your girlfriend and your best friend's mom to be. Her movies always brought you up and you knew they would going into the theater. If there a perfect women in the fifties and sixties she was Doris Day. RIP and thank you for everything.
3
my favorite movie move over darling. i"m watching it tonight
1
Doris dazzled from the start in Romance on the High Seas...she was a real trouper. Thank you for sharing your many gifts with us, Doris. It was Magic.
3
Of course everyone knows her as an actress, but this obit could have done a bit more to emphasize what a phenomenal singer she was prior to the movies. From 1940:
Let's Be Buddies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5ZgXtMFzfY
Dig It:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfSUFQWabKM
2
RIP, Ms. Day.
" Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die..." -McLean
Rest in Peace, You were just a Great Lady.
1
The animal-welfare community owes much to Ms. Day for almost legitimizing us.
3
Wasn’t Day the precursor to Mary Tyler Moore in Minneapolis?
It's not "Chasing the Blues Away." It's "Shaking the Blues Away."
1
I once read somewhere that Doris Day claimed the happiest times of her life were when she was on the road singing with the big bands - before her movie career --
We all loved - and still still - to watch her movies -- but if you go over to YouTube and listen to some of her recordings - listen to a naturally-gifted musician do what she really did best - you will discover an inner element of Doris Day which never really translated to the screen --
"Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper I love you
Birds singing in the sycamore tree
Dream a little dream of me
Say night-ie night and kiss me
Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me
While I'm alone and blue as can be
Dream a little dream of me
Stars fading but I linger on, dear
Still craving your kiss
I'm longing to linger till dawn, dear
Just saying this
Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you
Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you
But in your dreams whatever they be
Dream a little dream of me
Stars fading but I linger on, dear
Still craving your kiss
I'm longing to linger till dawn, dear
Just saying this
Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you
Sweet dreams that leave all worries far behind you
But in your dreams whatever they be
Dream a little dream of me."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7j8wa9sWOE
Thank you Doris - so very, very much --
We will dream a little dream of you - and we will never forget you.
4
As someone who was 13 when she started her 20 years of movies, I probably saw them all and know the words to all of the songs. It brings tears to my eyes to recall her lovely singing and her sweet smile. I'm grateful to her for enhancing my youth and memories.
33
I was an usher at the late Boulevard Theatre on Revere (MA) Beach when "Romance on the High Seas" came out. Always, later, there was Doris Day and Rock Hudson, but I thought Jack Carson was the perfect match for her in that film, and still do. Fire destroyed the theatre, but the memories remain.
8
I wanted to marry her when I was 7! She is a shining star. Good works later in life with saving animals, Doris Day Animal Foundation, is another legacy. Heaven has another beautiful voice today. May God bless.
25
Nice, but I missed the paragraph about her and how she felt about dogs. You might check out a little place called "the Cypress Inn, in Carmel, CA.
I grew up loving her as an actress, but she was so much more than that.
4
@Ken Sayers - You did miss it, apparently. The obituary mentions her love of animals - and even ends with a quote from her about how much they meant to her - and there is mention of the Cypress Inn. The article states that she was a partial owner of it, along with her late son.
Rest in peace, Doris Day.
3
Doris Day was Americas Martha Steward before Martha was Martha. And dare I say a bit sexier, just as smart and a whole lot nicer. We love you girl!
5
Doris Day - truly an exceptional singer. Listen to her 1962 album recorded with Andre Previn - it’s perfection with a jazz feeling. So soothing. Watch her film “Lover Come Back” - still funny after all this time - she was a master of the “slow burn.” And on a darker note - her son Terry was reportedly Charles Manson’s intended victim but had moved out of the house the Manson “family” invaded that fateful night in 1969 which changed Hollywood forever.
12
She was a silent angel for animals. She chartered a plane to bring Hurricane Katrina dogs to California shelters. Her animal welfare foundation did so much for rescue animals. Her wonderful hotel, the Cypress Inn in Carmel, is animal centric first and people centric after. An important show biz person certainly, but her untiring advocacy for animal welfare is her soul legacy.
16
When Stanley Donen died recently, we rewatched 'Pajama Game' - I think it's probably her best musical, in part because it's such a strong book, and in part because she's got such a terrific supporting cast (if you don't know it, get it!).
But it's her movie, from start to finish - I can't tell you how many times I saw it when it came out, and it still gives me great pleasure more than 60 years later.
No doubt about it, Doris Day was a one-off.
p.
23
A few years ago, I was bedridden with a serious bout of pneumonia caught from the high school where I teach. As I was recovering, I turned to old movies to pass the time and came across Doris Day's comedies such as "Move Over Darling" and "Pillow Talk." I loved them instantly and couldn't believe how my generation didn't really know her that well. Further, I felt there was a special quality to these films that don't exist any more. After I recovered, I was able to find something to talk to my nonagenarian grandma about. Upon hearing Doris Day's name, her eyes lit up and she was taken back to the heyday of her youth. Doris Day is a treasure and her legacy will be remembered by many American generations. May she rest in peace.
581
Great intergenerational reporting, JM !
Well done.
30
@Socrates,
Miss your political insights. Please come back.
14
@Jim,
The moderator wall is unbreakable.
10
This makes me sad. When I first met my husband, 31 years ago, he was in his late '20s. He told me he loved Doris Day, and I found a cassette tape of her greatest hits. I gave it to him, and he fell for me. We both love her, for everything she was and everything she did. Bless you, Madame xoxox
300
Growing up on the UWS of Manhattan in the 1960's my mother, who was the same age as Doris Day, would get stopped all the time and asked if she knew how much she resembled Doris.
She would smile.
There were times when people, believing she WAS Doris Day, would approach her to say hello and tell her how much they loved her and her movies.
My mother would just smile and keep going. She said she did this because while she couldn't lie, she didn't want to disappoint the fans.
RIP
320
Doris Day had three different and distinct careers where she had pronounced impact simultaneously. As a singer she was flawless and could set a lyric with her phrasing the way Frank Sinatra could. Her recording career was remarkable. Her records sold millions of copies. Her life as an animal activist was ahead of its time. She advocated for their safety and worked to protect them and end their abuse. Doris Day literally changed the culture of thinking about animals and raised our consciousness about how humans treat them through her activism. She talked the talk and walked the walk. (There is a 2011 recording of an interview of her with Paul McCartney that's about the most delightful thing I've ever heard and I can't find the link, just a transcription. They talk musician to musician). Day never planned to be a movie star although she starred in nearly 40 movies.
350
@MR Thanks for mentioning that. Here's the link: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/8733533/Doris-Day-and-Paul-McCartney-in-conversation.html
50
@gf
Thanks to MR for mentioning and gf for providing the link. That was a great conversation between the two of them. Brought tears to my eyes reading about their shared love of animals. Both good people. She was incredibly talented and even more kind.
19
@MR-Her talent was truly impressive. Her work was recognized with numerous awards and nominates: seven Academy Awards nominations, three Golden Globe nominations including receiving the 1962 Golden Globe Award as the World's Favorite Actress, and she was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame for three different songs plus received a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement.
https://www.dorisday.com/work/awards
11
I was a kid when she hugged Rock Hudson on camera when he was so sick with AIDS. This was a milestone as it was still in the early days of the disease and there was such fear and prejudice surrounding the illness. It was a turning point for people to find their higher selves. Doris Day had that kind of media power and she used it for good.
RIP
1070
@Madge
I remember that hug! God bless her!!
34
Doris Day was one of those actresses who did it all, and made it all look easy. But it didn’t make her happy, and when she walked away in 1968, she really left for good. She was consistently underrated, but she held her own with James Cagney, Cary Grant, Clark Gable, James Stewart, Kirk Douglas, and many others. The last part of her life was truly dedicated to animal welfare. She was the last of the golden age movie stars. God bless her.
32
Well except for her TV shows in the 1970s and 80s, the record in the 2000s, and Kirk Douglas and Olivia DeHavilland, who are both not dead. But yes, she was great.
6
@Angelus Ravenscroft. I was referring to her movie career which ended in 1968, but you are correct that Mr Douglas and Ms. DeHavilland are not dead. Thank you for the correction.
4
Loved Doris Day's movies!
Pure delightful entertainment.
What joy she brought to so many.
6
Doris Day sang with a sincerity that no other singer captured. No frills, no vibrato, just heart. I listen to her still and always will. There will never be anyone like her. She combined class and kindness and realness. I hope young people will listen to her on you tube or spotify because the songs she sang are treasures. And her animals will miss her. A light went out in my world.
19
There were no sad, grey days in the artistic legacy left by this great artist and great friend to animals. Just hope, happiness and resilient charm, grace and common sense. That's a great legacy and thankfully will be with us forever. Thank you Doris Day for your art and your kindness!
16
I’ll never forget how she stepped into the public sphere with loving support of Rock Hudson - AFTER the shocking photos of him, emaciated by AIDS, burst upon the public. Remember that in that moment, there was a belief (it was fear of course) that AIDS could be transmitted by touch. While Elizabeth Taylor often gets credit for this very thing, Doris Day‘s actions were many years earlier and in a far more fraught period. This, to me, proved the humanity that always shone from her persona. I agree with many in this stream when I say RIP Miss Day. You did well as a human. We can all learn a thing or two.
181
I'm a Gen Xer who loved Doris Day. I was just talking to an older friend the other day about "Pillow Talk," which I've watched at least dozen times starting in my teens, and just talking about it made us smile. I was in a low mood in general and my friend suggested that I go watch "Pillow Talk" again to lift my spirits and so I did. Naturally, it worked. Doris Day represented an optimistic, playful, hopeful, down-to-earth persona to me, Hollywood-made yet somehow still _real_. She represented our better half as Americans.
27
In the decades before second-wave feminism, Doris Day, like many other professional women, lived feminism. Whether by accident or design, they demonstrated a quiet power and resilience in the face of many challenges. Her characters always were strong, independent, and interesting--usually way more interesting than her male counterparts (even Grant!) Flights of angels to an amazing woman.
19
I recall hearing on a radio show on Doris Day that she was influenced in her early singing days by Billie Holliday. Mr Sinatra also took some styling from Lady Day
7
Thank you, Doris Day. We'll miss you very much. Your voice, smile, charm, and buoyant screen personality brightened many a movie I love, from Pajama Game ("Hey There"!) to Pillow Talk. Today's one-dimensional Hollywood stars take note, this tough gal had the talent you sorely lack!
8
I was born in Sydney in 1970. I remember as a kid we were allowed to stay up late on Saturday night to watch a movie - and no-one was more popular than Doris Day.
Great, great, sweet and charming films.
Que Sera Sera, dear Doris. Thank you for the memories.
19
Rest in peace Doris Day. You were an icon of American song, film, and animal rescue. Your presence through out my life has filled it with grace and dignity. We could use more of grace and dignity in our culture and society today. You will be sorely missed.
10
Another part of my childhood has moved on. Doris Day was the perfect cultural counterpart the hyper-macho John Wayne. I am saddened not only by her loss, but to learn how sad her private life was. Even though she was beaten and betrayed by her husbands, she ultimately had the inner strength to persist and prosper. And it is that knowledge that makes her more human and remarkable than her screen persona and a symbol of hope to all women who fighting those same battles today.
20
"You make the sun shine brighter than Doris Day". Great line from a song - only no one could. When she appeared on the screen, she lit it up. Even the photos - there's a glow that no one else had or has. Her acting and singing were discounted because she didn't have a "star" attitude and was saddled with a wholesome, perky identity - a true one - that didn't get at the deeper talent it took to portray her characters, or their independence in an era where women were mostly portrayed as dependent on men. What can't be discounted is what you see on the screen and hear on the records - a lasting record of extraordinary work of one of the great American originals. Her work at the end of her life for animals only expanded her contribution to good things in America and the world. Listening to "Duet" now, will watch a movie tonight, and celebrate Doris Day.
11
Doris Day was one of the most brilliantly talented performers that no one appreciated enough. She represented everything that was good about the 20th century. A brilliant natural singer -- an early vocal coach asked if she had training, she said no, and he said never to get any since what she was doing herself was perfect -- an intuitive and skilled actor -- Hitchcock could give her no advice in 'The Man Who Knew Too Much,' because she grasped the character and did everything perfectly on the first take - a sparkling comedienne - her turn in 'Pillow Talk' is still a lesson for all comics and actors -- and a very decent and compassionate human being -- at the early edge of AIDS crisis, in retirement, she welcomed Rock Hudson to her modest show about animals, and though he was ravaged by disease, you could see how much she loved and adored him, and gave the most decent example by simply being close to him, kissing him without worry or judgment. It was an example that would take the rest of us years to learn. All this, and she was sexy , beautiful and strong. There's a clip of her on YouTube with Johnny Carson -- in her 50s, she's still a force of nature in kindness, sexiness, plain speaking and warmth. A truly great artist and person. We don't see them like that any more.
35
@David Law
I was thrilled to acquire an album of songs by a very young Doris, since I love youthful voices. But, natural though she might have been, her singing fell far short of the later recordings I’d heard. Those years as the girl singer for big bands were her lessons and she learned them superlatively well.
Doris Day was a Hollywood construct of what all Americans were supposed to be and look like.
White. Blonde-haired. Blue-eyed. Wholesome.
Like the girl-next-door, if you lived where only well-to-do white people lived.
She was America's darling, even if all Americans didn't look like her.
And now she has passed, like the era she once represented.
Rest in Peace.
4
@N. Smith You know, today's sloppy, crude, coarse, let-it-all-hang-out Americans should take a lesson from Ms. Day, and not just white folks. A good part of that "era" is sorely missed, and should be.
7
Yes, it is undeniably better that America has become much more multicultural and racially diverse since the 1950’s. No argument there.
And yes, Doris Day was a white woman with light hair and blue eyes, born in the 1920’s. With the exception of hair color, these are traits she couldn’t change. Why equate her with the era she lived in? I have never hear that she was racist; have you?
How about in this forum we focus on her beautiful heart, and celebrate her work with animals and early support of people with AIDS, rather than paint her with the brush of the collective ugliness of our nation’s past.
5
@Maggie Hard to insult her with "racist" tag, especially since she was rumored to date several black athletes in 1960s, like Maury Wills.
1
It's disappointing that the author of this obituary neglected to mention the public show of compassion and support of Rock Hudson when he announced his diagnosis with AIDS. As is clear from many commenters, her bravery at a time when nearly every public figure avoided or scorned people afflicted with the disease was an important moment in the life of this remarkable woman.
41
When Rock Hudson became the most famous person living with AIDS, there was Doris, right by his side. I'll always remember her for that, and her work with animals.
37
Wow, another screen legend gone. I loved just about everything she did, and she was such a class act. It's a shame the Academy never gave her the recognition she so richly deserved.
18
@EN
I had read that she was offered an honorary lifetime award but declined as the requirement was that she had to accept in person but due to stage fright was reluctant to go to the ceremony. But if anyone deserves lifetime recognition, it is her. RIP Doris.
5
As a 1st grader in 1964, we were given the assignment of writing about what we wanted to be when we grew up. While other kids wrote about wanting to be doctors or teachers or firefighters or astronauts, I wrote that I wanted to be Doris Day. I remember cutting out the front of my album from "Jumbo", the film I had recently seen starring Doris Day, Stephen Boyd, Jimmy Durante, Martha Raye, and an elephant, to include with my written report. I still love that movie and love Doris Day!
122
@Lori Lutz - Hopefully, you got a really good grade on that assignment:)
16
Rest in Peace my absolute favorite movie star of all time.
I was just thinking about you the other day—smiling at memories of all the happy times viewing your movies when I was a very young girl.
And it came to me that time was nigh in your life, knowing you were approaching 100 years. And now you are gone.
For a 1998 travel feature I wrote for COASTAL LIVING magazine, I spent a few days at your pets-welcome Cypress Inn in Carmel, including it in my story on California’s Monterey Peninsula. I loved having breakfast among the various guests who were there with their pooches. Someone said a llama had once come in with a guest but I don’t know if that is true.
In a personal (non-magazine) trip to Carmel in 2007, I returned to your Cypress Inn for 2 days and reminisced about you, your movies, and my appreciation for all of your fine acting, beautiful voice, and care for animals. I always wanted to meet you—American royalty, in my opinion. So sorry I never did have a chance to see your beautiful face in person.
157
My great-grandfather Alexei Bobrinskoy played the ambassador she rescued from assassination and in whose embassy she sang "Que Sera Sea" in The Man Who Knew Too Much (Hitchcock liked him and threw him bit parts). Keep singing to the stars, Doris. RIP
227
@steveconn
Wow, a direct descendant of Catherine the Great.
4
In the early part of the article we are told she became a mother at age 20. Near the end of the article we are told that Terry Melcher, her son by her third husband, was her only child. Do we know what happened to her firstborn? I figure he or she would be about 77 years old now. Just curious. RIP Doris
2
@Tundradad Terry Melcher was that child - took the 3rd husband's last name
3
@Tundradad
Terrence Paul Jorden became known as Terry Melcher.
1
@Tundradadg
DD’s firstborn is Terry Melchior, adopted by her 3rd husband but fathered by husband #1.
1
In spite of what the unforgettable critics said, Doris Day's style, grace, charm, talent and beauty made her sexy! Too bad she was married to men who didn't appreciate who she was and what they had. RIP
15
Its a shame she had such bad luck in her marriages. Nothing lower than embezzling your wife's money and leaving her in debt.
I enjoy listening to Big Band 1940s music on Sirius XM "Forties Junction", which frequently has selections with Doris as the singer. She could really put a song over.
Rest in peace, Doris, and all the little critters you helped thank you.
19
What a marvelous actress she was.
If you're walking your dogs today, tell them, "Please don't eat the daisies."
19
My first crush as a little girl. Thank you. I love you.
6
I am sorry to hear, but I didn't know she was still living with us!
4
She was adorable!
4
The obituary says she was pregnant and had a child by her first husband, Al Jourden...what happened to that child?
1
@BarbaraI believe that child was formally adopted by Marty Melcher and then used the last name Melcher.
1
He was Terry Melchior, who died in 2004. His name was changed when his mother married her third husband.
2
@Barbara
Yes, Ms. Day became a mother at the age of 20, which would have been ~1942. Terry Melcher was born in 1942 and passed away in 2004.
As u cross the rainbow bridge, u will be remembered as a nightingale. U gave life and love to so many unwanted dogs. Continue to follow the 10 Commandments of Carmel on ur Celestial journey
1
We can all take a cue from Doris Day. Not only for her seemingly optimistic, and tenacious ability to face life's obstacles, which she seemed to have had many, but from her devoted commitment to animal rights. Her animal family gave her "much strength and joy", while going through many of her troubled times. Something we could use in today's topsy turvey world.
Hoping her foundation continues to thrive, and that Doris's memory and her wonderful films will not be forgotten.
142
We were so very lucky to have the music and singers, like her, in our lives. What a voice, what a charmer. I still find it a pleasure to set the pandora to her, and Les Paul and Mary Ford, and others from that era. We were lucky.
54
@Marilyn Yeah. Leave me with "Sentimental Journey" and "How High the Moon," and I could easily sacrifice most of the popular music of the 21st Century. MOST, not all.
9
@Marilyn
Yes! I get most of my music on Google Play these days, and there is a HUGE trove of her albums there. I am lucky to be able to play so much of her music. RIP, Ms. Day.
9
During the late 1970s- early 1980s, my business travel would take me to Palo Alto (prior to Silicon Valley appellation) and the choice for a hotel was Dinah's Place, The Cabana, and Ricky's Hyatt, respectively, referring to Dinah Shore, Doris Day, and Ricky Ricardo, all within shouting distance. The Cabana was my favorite!
17
A genuine class act. Wonderful singer, actress, and activist. Did she ever win an honorary Oscar? She certainly deserved one.
The only disconnect for me is the offer to play Mrs Robinson in The Graduate. I doubt that she could have summoned up the repressed rage that Anne Bancroft tapped into.
39
Her movies were always fun to watch. She was very good at what she did. She will be missed.
31
I heard an NPR story on her that compared her (admiringly) to strawberry ice cream. It seemed like a perfect description.
33
Thank you Ted Turner, for giving us the chance to see Doris Day's work in the twenty-first century! As for Doris: Brava!!
44
The clothes she wore in Midnight Lace were
divine.
16
Truly a legend who always dignified and personified the professionalism of an actor. Her movies were a breath of fresh air whenever I needed it, a voice of reason and humanity during the AIDS epidemic and a tireless advocate for the humane treatment of animals. Truly a life well lived and one to emulate! Rest in peace, Doris, and thank you for being such a power of example!
623
A wonderful presence in my life since my teens, Doris Day was extraordinary in her talents and in her own meaningful life!
25
@Wilson Woods
Same here. My first icon crush on a beautiful, talented singer/actor/humanitarian.
Condolences to her lucky friends and family.
3
I always loved Doris Day’s talent and came to realize she was a heroine in other parts of her life as well - animal welfare and AIDS activist (and that she took good care and was kind to another one of my all-time favorites, Rick Hudson). I often wondered how she was as she aged out of the public eye. Rest In Peace, Ms. Day.
125
This is a sad Day.
38
A truly lovely person by all accounts. One of my former acting teachers told a great story about a woman he knew well that had a random encounter with Ms.Day in LA while shopping for clothes. She tried on a pair of light colored pants. Ms. Day noticed that the panties were showing through the cloth so she shared a tip to hide the line by ripping the waist seem component, flattening it out enough to make the line disappear. So at the end of the day you have this world famous movie star offering her good advice to a total stranger. That was very nice. And I loved her persona. RIP Ms. Day.
89
Her type is gone for good. Nothing but comic-book nonsense now. She was a real icon.
120
@Plennie Wingo
Cheer up, Plennie. There will always be beautiful souled people. Just look around.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l-JbDVDB29w
7
Que sera sera.
RIP Ms Day.
57
A star like no other. Que Sera Sera Ms. Day.
23
The actors and actresses from the good old days are slowly but surely leaving us. Thankful that we have film and recordings of Doris Day to keep her alive in our homes. We and all the animals she has helped will miss her terribly. May she have eternal rest.
48
Ah, but we have People Magazine and the Kardashian's to keep ourselves entertained these days.
When she sang, it was magic.
38
Incandescent actor and powerhouse singer, and should be the poster girl for Academy oversights.
39
Thank you, Doris Day. Thank you.
44
Wow, between Peggy Fleming and Doris Day, we've lost two beauties who were true icons. For two different generations, these were the "girl-next-door beauties" than men throughout the US either wanted to marry or at least have as a girlfriend.
Sandra Dee, Debbie Reynolds, Annette Funicello, and now Peggy Lipton, and Doris Day... Who do we have left alive who were at least somewhat iconic like that? Susan Dey, Shirley Jones, Tuesday Weld...?
9
@VJR Kim Novak is still alive, as are Faye Dunaway and Robert Redford... but I take your point.
2
@VJR I had to look it up to make sure Peggy Fleming the olympic ice skater hadn't passed away. I assume you meant Peggy Lipton.
10
Maybe you mean Peggy Lee?
R.I.P. Great voice, she lived a long life.
18
Class act all the way. Sad to hear she's passed away and love all of her movies! A true sweetheart.
26
Her love of dogs is no accident.
Dogs don't betray you and she knew that. As she sadly had to learn, only humans are capable of the betrayal of trust.
May she find a paradise surrounded by happy, loving pups for eternity.
103
@John Harrington
What a negative thought to share upon her death, that people are not to be trusted, and if we are lucky we end up in a heaven with no people, only dogs.
4
@John Harrington-Worth noting her tireless work on behalf of animals. I hope millions of us fans will contribute.
https://www.dorisday.com/work/animal
1
@John Harrington
Doris loved and trusted men who didn’t deserve her. It cost her a fortune, but was well worth it because that good heart made her Doris Day.
1
Doris Day is the best
16
Brilliant assessment of this extraordinary woman's life. She had that "girl next door" look and a sexy voice. In my opinion, her films were pleasant distractions. On a more serious note, the body of her work fueled a sexual revolution in America during the Sixties. I had no idea her voice as a singer earned such high praise drawing comparisons to Bing Crosby and Sinatra. Les Brown would know. Once again a beautiful tribute to a beautiful human being, both outwardly and inwardly so. Godspeed Doris Day. You will be missed by millions of your fans who remember you.
39
She was a very good actress, but more so, a terrific singer who could break your heart with a song or swing like crazy. Unlike today's popular female singers she never sang at you but always sang to you.
84
@Larry
Nah, Doris would agree that the world is never lacking great “female “ singers.
Try listening and you will be overjoyed.
2
Loved her, in the time of Trump it's a pleasure to see one of those 1960's movies on T.V...
I thought she had a grandchild....
Doris Day was a gem...
13
@soosch she does, Randy Melcher and he is a real estate broker in Carmel. The obit should have mentioned him
The old era is slowly erasing, the stars whom we used to admire. All the romance, fun, frolic black and white era look far better than avengers, star wars. Humane. Doris was an angel whom we fell in love millions of time. A dog lover to boot, RIP
75
Oh my, my mother sang Doris Day songs to me when I was wee boy.
And I regularly make reference to Doris Day during a lecture to my undergraduates (it's a long story). At the end of class, young women routinely approach me with tales of watching Rock Hudson/Doris Day movies with their mothers and grandmothers (their favorite tends to be Pillow Talk, mine is Send Me No Flowers).
Fare thee well, Doris. A small but precious chunk of Americana travels to the Great Beyond with you.
84
@ToddTsch
And please keep giving us those 'Doris Day parking spaces.
One of many millions of DD fans.
3
Thank you for this great obit article! I've always enjoyed Ms. Day's movies (Calamity Jane and Pillow Talk are my favorites) and her singing was incredible. She did a thriller/mystery flick in the 60's , Midnight Lace, that evidently got her little recognition, but her range was demonstrated in that film, But as a grateful caretaker of my dog, I was so moved by the story of how she became a dog lover and a champion against animal cruelty. She was an amazing person with lots of talent.
64
@Linda Mac
Yes Linda, nobody ever gave a better movie musical performance than Doris in Calamity Jane.
2
What a life!
11
Doris Day was a ray of sunshine.
37
As a young girl, seeing her portray career woman was always a source of inspiration.
20
People can dismiss her as a "goody-two-shoes," but not wanting to take the part of Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate because the idea of an older woman seducing a younger man made her uncomfortable sounds kind of woke to me. Rest in peace, Ms. Day.
36
@Anonymous
There is a difference between portraying something and advocating for it. Also, leaving the particulars of "The Graduate" aside, there is nothing wrong with a woman having a relationship with a younger man as long as everyone is of legal age and it's not exploitative. So there is nothing to be "woke" about.
11
@jim
The particulars are precisely the issue. There was a power differential there, let alone the ickiness, for lack of a better term, of sleeping with your friends' son. All I'm saying is that she may have been more modern than people gave her credit for.
10
@Anonymous
Did you really come away from The Graduate thinking it was advocating those things? If so, you really misread that film. Yes it was "icky". It was supposed to be.
As for Day, her reasons for not wanting to do it were personal and her own business. She was entitled to play or not play whatever role she chose and I would be the last to judge her for that, but I also wouldn't make too much out of it.
4
Doris Day, a passionate animal advocate who just happened to have a successful career in music, film, and television.
That’s probably how she would prefer to be remembered.
32
Gratitude to Ms Day for a life well lived !
17
Her performance in "Love Me or Leave Me" is unforgettable!
13
Americas sweetheart never let us down. It was indeed a sentimental journey to read her obituary. She showed that she was just as real a decent person in her personal life as she played on the screen.
20
Doris Day vs the Kardashians. The difference between my upbringing and that of my kids. The viewer always knew Doris Day was playing to type but subverting the type and was going to outsmart and outwit her male adversary every time, and he wouldn't even know it. A delightful, sunny actress who gave audiences so much joy.
282
Goodbye Doris. It was a long time since you took the brightest and most beautiful place
in my heart. I'm glad to have you there /Stig, 81 springs
14
A wonderful and loving champion for animals. Thank you, and rest in peace.
19
I am so saddened by this news, but I do not think Ms. Day would want me to be. Therefore, I am thinking of all the joy her movies and music and TV series brought to my life. I also appreciate all she did for animal welfare. Rest in peace, dear lady.
40
I grew up with Doris Day movie re runs. I never appreciated her until later in life. My mother loved the clothes she wore in her movies so I paid attention when watching more recently. She had great style. Check it out.
17
Her huge movie success makes it easy to forget what a truly great singer she was - perfect intonation, flawlessly articulated American English, elegant phrasing, and an instantly recognizable sound. If you don't know it, check out her album with the Andre Previn Trio.
34
The obituary neglects coverage of Doris Day's extensive and significant recording career. Primarily at Columbia Records, Day recorded a series of albums of pop standards. Her singing on these recordings is effortless and masterful and timeless, putting her in the first rank of American pop singers, among the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, et. al. Perhaps because Day seldom, if ever, performed in public after she became a film star, her singing career is often unjustly overlooked, as in this piece. (Tom Santopietro's biography of Day gives due attention and praise to her recordings.) Perhaps the Times music critic can set this matter in balance.
170
@Gothamscribe My two absolute favorite albums of hers are "Day by Day" from 1956 and "Day by Night" from 1957. They are spectacular.
14
@Gothamscribe-Would love to know how many songs she recorded. Even her speaking voice carried sunshine,
6
When I was a kid is was fashionable to dis Doris Day's movies, even though they were hits. Decades later in watching these films, naive though they may have been, it was a surprise to discover Day as a wonderful comedienne and solid actress. Though her singing style never much appealed to me, her movie songs were usually bright spots. Day only received one Oscar nomination and, bizarrely, was never awarded an honorary Oscar for her 25-years as a major movie star. As big a star as she was, she was still always underrated as a talent.
33
As a lover of Doris Day’s films and voice this was a day I long expected with dread. But I am delighted that she was able to live such a long, healthy, fulfilling life out of the public eye. And I am, like others of my generation, very grateful for the gifts she has shared and left behind for future generations to rediscover.
Goodbye Doris. Ya done real good. Thank you.
59
Like Crosby and Sinatra, Ms. Day was a wonderful all-around entertainer. She will be missed.
17
This is obit should have mentioned her singing career a little more. She had a great voice, one of the best. Always admired her.
18
I am devastated! Doris Day’s movies have entertained and sustained me through the years. My sisters and I used to do our Saturday chores while listening to her sing. I especially remember “Hooray For Hollywood” and “Sentimental Journey” and I continue to listen. The “Doris Day Channel” on Pandora is a particular favorite. Having seen all her movies numerous times over the years I continue to be tickled and moved by Doris’ performances. Several years ago Teri Gross interviewed her and Doris was still sharp, entertaining, and introspective, with her musical, lilting voice still youthful and vibrant. May she Rest In Peace.
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@She
Terry Gross is going to repeat the Fresh Air interview on Thursday, part of it, at least.
2
Doris Day was a gifted actress (she was the number one box office star for several years in the 50's and 60's) and an extremely talented singer. Though I love all her films, my personal favorites are a few of her lesser known movies: The Thrill of It All (with James Garner,) Please Don't Eat the Daisies (with David Niven,) and The Pajama Game (with John Raitt.) And I recommend checking out the jazz album she made with Andre Previn entitled Duet. It was her best.
Peace to her spirit.
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@Ken L
Those are three of my favorites as well. Daisies was the movie that first brought her to my attention when I was a kid and Pajama Game is, imho, one of the great musicals of the 50's. Let me also recommend another of her lesser known films, "It Happened to Jane" in which she plays a widow running a lobster farm who sues the railroad and takes over one of their trains. It also stars Jack Lemmon and, in a hilarious take off on Citizen Kane, Ernie Kovaks as the head of the railroad.
6
The incomparable Doris Day was, at her apex, one of the loveliest and most delightful actresses and singers in the golden age of 1950s and 1960s cinema. Her effusive positive outlook, despite a life of marked with disappointment and pain, provided countless hours of pure entertainment. She was a true original and will forever remain so in the hearts of her fans and admirers.
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Ms. Doris Day will have a lasting legacy for those of us who grew up and raised their children on California's central coast. Several of our family members were rescued at the Monterey chapter of the SPCA which currently bears her name. We now live on an Oklahoma farm where we take in all strays, wild or domestic. Ms. Day taught our family there is value in treating with dignity those who are most vulnerable.
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@Mark Hammond-Also worth noting that she was one of the first people to advocate that animals not to be harmed in movie-making and in her advocacy efforts on behalf of animals she spoke out against animal-testing and puppy mills.
25
She had it in her to look quite sexy, but she seemed to choose to put away that look - in favor of a more homey, "wholesome" presentation. Still, she was beautiful and had a beautiful voice, and I loved her sparkle, acting, and sense of humor.
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@Paul O - When I hear the name, Doris Day, I always think of a very elegant woman who would be a great mom. And yes, very "wholesome" much like Marie Osmond.
I miss the women of my youth who were gorgeous and desirable but kept their clothes on. And for that matter, I miss the men of my youth who would have all stood up as soon as Doris walked into a room and offer her their seat.
10
For those of us who love movies, she is a legend - one of the last great stars. For those of us who work in animal welfare, she is a hero - one of the first great stars to shine her light on the plight of homeless animals. RIP Doris Day and thank you for making the world a better and more humane place.
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@J. L. Lipp Well said.
17
Quite the life. Hit every milestone there is in entertainment and succeeded at all of them. On top of being a movie star, she helped the public deal with the fears of AIDS, and who was kinder to animals? Doris, thank you, and here’s to your unbeatable sentimental journey.
343
My first onscreen crush was "Calamity Jane". Thanks for a wonderful childhood.
RIP Doris Day
38
Doris Day always projected a sunny optimism, radiance and good natured friendliness that Americans fell in love with. Perhaps her life mirrored that of Ruth Etting who Ms. Day convincingly portrayed in "Love Me Or Leave Me", a 1955 film with James Cagney. May you rest in peace, Doris Day.
31
She was always one of my most favorite singers and actresses. A truly lovely lady, with a marvelous sense of humor, who will be missed. Rest in Peace!
29
While I grew up watching her films on television and enjoying her TV series, it's Doris' 1940's recordings with Les Brown & his orchestra that truly gave me insight into what a brilliant vocalist she was. She truly is one of our great voices and her big band collection remains a favorite on our family playlist. Do yourself a favor and check them out.
106
@Sean Hingston Her version of 'Close Your Eyes' with Andre Previn also shows her incredible vocal quality.
I'm 68 and loved Doris Day. I loved her movies and singing. The "Happy Soap" Girl. She was a STAR.
54
I admired her for her integrity and for being an early voice for humane treatment of animals.
171
"You take the gray skies out of my way/
You make the sun shine brighter than Doris Day/..."
Who else captures a feeling of happiness by invoking their name in song? You will be so missed.
45
My late father's favorite singer, and clearly a lovely human being. Rest in peace, Doris.
38
RIP to a great Lady and Actor.
Besides making all those wonderful movies, We remember her fondly for her tender care of another legend her pal Rock Hudson.
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@B.Sharp-Didn't Doris Day offer Rock Hudson a home when she learned he was sick?
5
@Ann
Yes indeed.
2
Thanks for caring for animals.
I've reached the same conclusion: they are far more reliable than (most) humans.
Rest in peace.
57
What a beautiful person with a beautiful voice. She will be missed.
52
A bright, shining light has gone out from our lives. Rest in peace, Doris.
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