DORIS DAY

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. This weekend was a relaxing one for me and my husband. We had a horrible storm come through on Friday night and knock the power, cable, phone, etc. out. I didn't realize how much we depend on electronics until we were sitting there in the dark not knowing what to do. We finally got up and going on Saturday morning. Thank goodness!

I can't really complain considering we needed the rain. The flowerbeds and lawns are very green and lush at the moment as I peek out my office window. Because of the rainy weather we thought it was a good opportunity to get some down time. We popped some popcorn and watched some old movies. I dug around our movie collection and found an old Doris Day movie called, "Do Not Disturb." I'm a huge Doris Day fan. I grew up watching all her movies.

Here's a little clip of "Do Not Disturb." The last few minutes of the clip is my favorite scene.




Doris Day was born on April 3, 1922, in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was given the name, Doris Mary Ann Von Kapplehoff. She was born into a German Catholic family and had two older brothers, Richard, died before she was born, and Paul who was a few years older. Her parents divorced when she was ten and like most children stayed with her mother. She enjoyed dancing and dreamed of becoming a professional ballerina. At fourteen, she had a dance act with a boy named, Jerry Doherty, and won $500 at a local talent contest. Doris and Jerry made plans to move to Hollywood, California dreaming of making it big. Tragically, the night before they were going to move she was injured in a car accident. The car was hit by a train and crushed her leg. During rehabilitation she found that she could sing. And began taking singing lessons.

Doris began singing with local bands in the area when she was only fifteen (she told them she was eighteen). This is where she met her husband, Al Jorden. Jorden was a trombonist that played for the Les Brown Band. The two married in 1941. She and Jorden had a son they named, Terry. Soon after Terry's birth Jorden and Day divorced.


In 1946, after touring with Bob Hope (entertaining the troops) and singing on radio programs, Dorris married George Weidler. But that marriage lasted only a year. Doris Day's agent talked her into reading for a screen test for Warner Bros that same year. The executives liked her so much that they offered her a contract.


* Here's some information that I find fascinating. There were two Doris Days during that time period in Hollywood. There was another actress, Doris Day, who played mostly in B rated westerns (1930s and 1940s).

Doris Day starred in her first movie role in Romance on the High Seas (1948). The following year, she made two more films, My Dream Is Yours (1949) and It's a Great Feeling (1949). She became a star overnight as everyone in America fell in love with her acting and terrific singing voice. She went onto make huge films for Warner Bros.

In 1951, on her 29th birthday, she married her manager, Martin Melcher. Melcher adopted her son. Terry became Terry Melcher, and grew up to be a successful record producer (working with the Beach Boys, Bobby Darin, and the Byrds). In 1958, her brother Paul died and she became emotionally exhausted to film anymore movies. Her husband, Martin Melcher, died in 1968, and she found that they were millions in debt. She discovered that her husband had squandered over $2 million dollars in bad investments. She married once again in 1976, to Barry Comden, but divorced in 1980 (not a lot information regarding this marriage).

Doris loved animals and created the Doris Day Animal League, in Carmel, California. Finding loving homes for household pets.

Here's a few fun facts about Doris Day:

She and her son, Terry, own a hotel in Carmel, Cypress Inn http://www.cypress-inn.com/dorisday.html

Her co-star, Rock Hudson, use to call her, Eunice, because it made him laugh. It was a inside joke between them.

Turned down the role of Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate (1967). The role went to Anne Bancroft.

She has been referenced in several songs:
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by pop band Wham!, "We Didn't Start The Fire", by Billy Joel, "Dig It" by The Beatles, "Wrap Her Up" by Elton John.

She dated Ronald Reagan briefly before he married, Nancy.

WE STILL LOVE YOU, DORIS!!!

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