Doris Day- the Legendary Actress & Singer of Popular Song ‘Que Sera Sera’ Dies at 97
Doris Day, one of Hollywood’s most popular stars of the 1950’s and ’60’s who was Oscar-nominated for “Pillow Talk” and starred in her own TV show, has died. She was 97. The Doris Day Animal Foundation confirmed the legendary actress-singer died on Monday at her Carmel Valley, Calif. home. Though she was marketed as a wholesome girl-next-door type, the comedies for which she was most well-known were actually sexy and daring for their time, and her personal life was tumultuous, with four marriages and a notorious lawsuit.
The vivacious blonde, who also had a successful singing career, teamed with Rock Hudson in “Pillow Talk” and other lighthearted romantic comedies including “Lover Come Back” and “Send Me No Flowers.” Her other significant screen roles included Alfred Hitchcock thriller “The Man Who Knew Too Much” (1956), co-starring James Stewart and featuring Day’s Oscar-winning song “Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be”); and “The Pajama Game” (1957), based on the Broadway musical.
After many successful films, she starred on CBS in “The Doris Day Show” for five years starting in 1968, and soon after retired to Carmel, Calif. She released 29 albums, most recently “My Heart,” which consisted of previously unreleased songs, in 2011. The Michael Curtiz-directed musical comedy, her debut feature film gig, provided her with another hit recording, the Oscar-nominated “It’s Magic.” Day starred in a number of Curtiz films in the early and mid-’50s, among them “Young Man With a Horn” with Kirk Douglas and Lauren Bacall.
In the early ’50s she made a series of nostalgic period musicals for Warner Bros., including “Tea for Two,” “On Moonlight Bay” and “By the Light of the Silvery Moon,” for Warner Brothers. Attempting to cut loose from her dainty image, Day began accepting more nuanced parts, including her favorite role as Western tomboy Calamity Jane in director David Butler’s 1953 film of the same name. The New York Times called Day’s performance in the Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” in which she was well cast as a retired singer, “surprisingly effective.”
Day also teamed with James Garner onscreen in 1963’s “The Thrill of It All” and “Move Over, Darling.” Her last film, 1968’s “With Six You Get Egg Roll,” in which she starred with Brian Keith, was released in the same year as the successful Lucille Ball-Henry Fonda comedy “Yours, Mine and Ours,” employing a very similar premise of two people with children from previous marriages coming together.
In 2004, Day was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom; she opted not to attend the ceremony because of a fear of flying. For the same reason Day did not accept an invitation to be a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors, she said on her website. In Carmel, she became an animal rights advocate and created the Doris Day Animal Foundation. While Day was reluctant to speak to the press or travel to Los Angeles for appearances, she was not a recluse despite reports to the contrary. She is survived by her grandson Ryan.
Source: The Sun Times
Listen to her all time favorite “Que Sera Sera”on Youtube :
