Doris Day, the legendary actress and singer, died in her California home on Monday, May 13, at the age of 97. The Doris Day Animal Foundation confirmed the news to the Associated Press. In a statement the foundation added that Day “had been in excellent physical health for her age, until recently contracting a serious case of pneumonia, resulting in her death.” No memorial plans have been announced yet.
She was born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff in Cincinnati and changed her last name to Day when she began singing on the radio in the 1940s, according to People. Day was eventually hired by Warner Bros. to star in the studio's romantic musicals. In the 1950s and early '60s, Day rose to superstardom with films like Teacher’s Pet (1958), Pillow Talk (1959), and That Touch of Mink (1962). Her signature song became “Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)” from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1956 film The Man Who Knew Too Much.
Day was nominated for an Academy Award for Pillow Talk, in which she costarred with Rock Hudson. She also starred on The Doris Day Show on CBS from 1966 to 1973.
The actress was known for her squeaky clean "good girl" image onscreen, but that didn't seem to always sit well with her. “I have the unfortunate reputation of being Miss Goody Two-Shoes, America’s Virgin, and all that, so I’m afraid it’s going to shock some people for me to say this, but I staunchly believe no two people should get married until they have lived together,” she wrote in her 1976 memoir, Doris Day: Her Own Story.
Day was the recipient of many awards, including the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1989, the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush in 2004, and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. In her later years she was mostly retired from show business—though she did release an album in 2011. Instead, Day turned her focus to the Doris Day Animal Foundation, which advocates for animal rights.
She was married four times: to Al Jorden from 1941 to 1943, George Weidler from 1946 to 1949, Martin Melcher from 1951 until his death in 1968, and Barry Comden from 1976 to 1981. She had a son with Melcher, Terry Melcher, a famed music producer who died at age 62 in November 2004.
She will be missed, but her impact on Hollywood lives on. Below, see 10 iconic images of the star:
