Happy Birthday Doris Day!

Posted on April 3, 2017 at 10:57 am

One of the 20th century’s greatest and — yes — most versatile performers is Doris Day, who celebrates her 95th birthday today. Born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff in Cincinnati, Ohio, her first dream was to be a dancer, until she was injured in an automobile accident. So, she became a singer, and her version of “Sentimental Journey” became a huge hit. By then, a bandleader told her to use the last name “Day” after the song “Day by Day.”

Songwriters Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne recommended her for a movie musical, “Romance on the High Seas,” where she played an outspoken young singer impersonating a society lady on a cruise ship. She introduced the song, “It’s Magic.”

The three comedies she made with Rock Hudson made her one of the most beloved stars of the 1960’s.

She was a fine dramatic actress, and won an Oscar for the biopic about singer Ruth Etting, “Love Me or Leave Me.”

And she is excellent as the neurotic wife in Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much.”

I’m especially fond of her performances in “The Thrill of it All” and “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies.”  Happy birthday, Miss Day!

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