Doris Day: 10 Things That Made Our Day
Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
1. One of America’s most prolific actors was born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff on April 3, 1922, in Cincinnati, to Alma Sophia (Welz), a housewife, and William Joseph Kappelhoff, a music teacher and choir master. Her parents divorced when she was a child. Day lived with her mother.
2. While performing for a local radio station, she was approached by band leader Barney Rapp who felt her last name, Kappelhoff, was clumsy and unappealing. He convinced her to change her name to Day after one of the songs in her playlist, “Day by Day.”
3. Day cited Calamity Jane (1953) as her personal favorite of the 39 movies she appeared in.
4. Day, who was married four times, briefly dated Ronald Reagan – who she co-starred with in Storm Warning (1951) and The Winning Team (1952) – shortly after his divorce from Jane Wyman.
5. She hated to fly. Her fear took root while touring with Bob Hope in the 1940s after several close calls in winter weather.
6. Day co-starred with Rock Hudson and Tony Randall in three films: Pillow Talk (1959), Lover Come Back (1961) and Send Me No Flowers (1964). In all three, Day and Hudson played love interests while Randall played Hudson’s close friend.
7. Hudson called Day “Eunice” because he said that whenever he thought of her as Eunice it made him laugh. Of Hudson, Day once said, “If there is a Heaven, I’m sure Rock Hudson is there because he was such a kind person.”
Doris Day's Golden Globe Award for "That Touch of Mink."
Image courtesy Julien's Auctions
8. She turned down the role of Maria in The Sound of Music (1965) saying: “I’m too American to play a nun from Austria.” Day also famously turned down the role of Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate (1967), a role that went to Anne Bancroft.
9. Helping animals was a lifelong passion of hers. “They give us unconditional love and ask very little in return,” Day said. “I’ve never met an animal I didn’t like, and I can’t say the same thing about people.”
10. As per her last wishes, there was no funeral or graveside service when Doris Day died. She was cremated and her ashes scattered in her beloved Carmel, California.
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After appearing in 39 films from 1948 to 1968, Doris Day left Hollywood near the height of her career for the beauty and privacy of her home in Carmel, California.
Image courtesy of Julien's Auctions
