American actress Doris Day appeared in 39 feature films released between 1948 and 1968. Day began her career as a band singer and eventually won the female lead in the Warner Bros. film Romance on the High Seas (1948), for which she was selected by Michael Curtiz to replace Betty Hutton. She starred in several minor musicals for Warner Bros., including Tea for Two (1950), Lullaby of Broadway (1951), April in Paris (1952), By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953) and the hit musical Calamity Jane, in which she performed the Academy Award-winning song "Secret Love" (1953). She ended her contract with Warner Bros. after filming Young at Heart (1954) with Frank Sinatra.

Day in a studio publicity portrait for her 1960 film Midnight Lace

Day's portrayal of singer Ruth Etting in Love Me or Leave Me (1955) with James Cagney was well received by critics and was a box-office hit. She also appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Andrew L. Stone's Julie (1956) and George Abbott and Stanley Donen's The Pajama Game (1957).

Day appeared with Rock Hudson and Tony Randall in three films: Pillow Talk (1959), Lover Come Back (1961) and Send Me No Flowers (1964). She ranked No. 1 at the box office in 1960, and again from 1962 until 1964. Day starred in several other romantic comedies, including That Touch of Mink (1962) with Cary Grant, The Thrill of It All and Move Over, Darling (both 1963), both with James Garner. After the failure of Do Not Disturb in 1965, Day's film career began to decline. She last ranked as a top-ten box-office star in 1966 with the hit film The Glass Bottom Boat.

Her final films Caprice, The Ballad of Josie (both 1967), Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? and With Six You Get Eggroll (both 1968) were critical flops but achieved reasonable success at the box office. Day declined the role of Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate, a role that eventually went to Anne Bancroft.[1] In her published memoirs, Day said that she had rejected the part on moral grounds, finding the script "vulgar and offensive."[2]

When her film career ended, Day turned to television with her situation comedy The Doris Day Show (1968–1973), which ran for five seasons and 128 episodes. She made several other television appearances throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Day, who was an animal lover, launched the series Doris Day's Best Friends (1985–1986), which ran for 26 episodes. She was an honoree at The 50th Annual Grammy Awards in 2008, and was last seen in archive footage in the 2009 documentary What a Difference a Day Made: Doris Day Superstar.

Film appearances

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Year Title Role
1948 Romance on the High Seas Georgia Garrett
1949 My Dream Is Yours Martha Gibson
1949 It's a Great Feeling Judy Adams
1950 Young Man with a Horn Jo Jordan
1950 Tea for Two Nanette Carter
1950 The West Point Story Jan Wilson
1950 Storm Warning Lucy Rice
1951 Lullaby of Broadway Melinda Howard
1951 On Moonlight Bay Marjorie "Marjie" Winfield
1951 I'll See You in My Dreams Grace LeBoy Kahn
1951 Starlift Herself
1952 The Winning Team Aimee Alexander
1952 April in Paris Ethel  "Dynamite" Jackson
1953 By the Light of the
Silvery Moon
Marjorie "Marjie" Winfield
1953 Calamity Jane Calamity Jane
1954 Lucky Me Candy Williams
1954 Young at Heart Laurie Tuttle
1955 Love Me or Leave Me Ruth Etting
1956 The Man Who Knew Too Much Josephine Conway "Jo" McKenna
1956 Julie Julie Benton
1957 The Pajama Game Katherine "Babe" Williams
1958 Teacher’s Pet Erica Stone
1958 The Tunnel of Love Isolde Poole
1959 It Happened to Jane Jane Osgood
1959 Pillow Talk Jan Morrow
1960 Please Don't Eat
the Daisies
Kate Robinson Mackay
1960 Midnight Lace Kit Preston
1961 Lover Come Back Carol Templeton
1962 That Touch of Mink Cathy Timberlake
1962 Billy Rose's Jumbo Kitty Wonder
1963 The Thrill of It All Beverly Boyer
1963 Move Over, Darling Ellen Wagstaff Arden
1964 Send Me No Flowers Judy Kimball
1965 Do Not Disturb Janet Harper
1966 The Glass Bottom Boat Jennifer Nelson
1967 Caprice Patricia Foster
1967 The Ballad of Josie Josie Minick
1968 Where Were You When
the Lights Went Out?
Margaret Garrison
1968 With Six You Get Eggroll Abby McClure

Television appearances

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  • The 21st Annual Academy Awards (1949; TV special)
  • The Bob Hope Show (1950; 1 episode)
  • Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Night Life (1952; short)
  • Screen Snapshots: Hollywood on the Ball (1952; short)
  • So You Want a Television Set (cameo) (1953; short)
  • A Star Is Born World Premiere (1954; short)
  • What's My Line? (1954; mystery guest)
  • The Ed Sullivan Show (1956; 2 episodes)
  • What's My Line? (1957; mystery guest)
  • The 30th Annual Academy Awards (1958, co-presenter; TV special)
  • This Is Music (1958; 1 episode)
  • The 31st Annual Academy Awards (1959, co-presenter; TV special)
  • The 32nd Annual Academy Awards (1960, co-presenter/nominee; TV special)
  • Every Girl's Dream (1966; short)
  • The Doris Day Show (1968-1973; 128 episodes) Golden Globe nomination.
  • The Merv Griffin Show (1970; 1 episode)
  • The Governor & J.J. (1970; 1 episode)
  • The Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff Special (1971; TV special)
  • The Pet Set (1971; 1 episode)
  • The Merv Griffin Show (1973; 1 episode)
  • The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1973; 1 episode)
  • AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to James Cagney (1974; TV special)
  • The John Denver Show (1974; 1 episode)[3]
  • The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1974; 1 episode)
  • The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1975; 1 episode)
  • Doris Day Today (1975; CBS TV special)[4][5]
  • The Mike Douglas Show (1976; 1 episode)
  • Doris Day's Best Friends (1985–1986; 26 episodes)
  • The 46th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1989, winner; TV special)
  • Doris Day: A Sentimental Journey (1991; TV documentary)
  • Vicki! (1993, 1 episode)
  • Homeward Bound (1994; TV documentary)
  • Don't Pave Main Street: Carmel's Heritage (1994, Narrator; documentary)
  • Pebble Mill at One (1995; 1 episode)
  • The Doris Day Story: Everybody's Darling (1998; TV special)
  • A&E Biography: Doris Day (1998, archive footage)
  • The 50th Annual Grammy Awards (2008, honoree; TV special)
  • What a Difference a Day Made: Doris Day Superstar (2009, voice only; documentary)

Bibliography

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  • Kaufman, David (2008). Doris Day: The Untold Story of the Girl Next Door. New York: Virgin Books. ISBN 978-1-905264-30-8.
  • Santopietro, Tom (2007). Considering Doris Day. Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Press. Emphasis is more on body of work than on her personal life.
  • DeVita, Michael (2012). "My 'Secret Love' Affair with Doris Day." Create space (Amazon). ISBN 9781478153580. Emphasis on a meeting followed by 65+ years of correspondence. Special emphasis on the incredible Doris music.

References

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  1. ^ Grindon, Leger (2011). The Hollywood Romantic Comedy: Conventions, History and Controversies. John Wiley & Sons. p. 87. ISBN 978-1-4443-9595-2. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  2. ^ Kashner, Sam (March 2008). "Here's to You, Mr. Nichols: The Making of The Graduate". Vanity Fair. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  3. ^ The John Denver Show (November 1, 1974) at IMDb  
  4. ^ Doris Day Today (TV special, Feb. 19, 1975) at IMDb  
  5. ^ Doris Day Today (1975) CBS press release at Wikimedia Commons