Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Women We Love: Doris Day

Object of our affection: Doris Day, actress/song bird.
- Why we love her: For her vivacious, bubbly personality and wholesome, all-American woman image as seen in a highly popular string of musicals and romantic comedies.
- A star is born: Her debut in Romance on the High Seas, wherein she performed the hit song "It's Magic", was so popular, that it was released in the UK under the title It's Magic.
- Awards on her mantel: Oscar nomination for Pillow Talk; various lifetime achievement awards, most recently from the Grammy Awards; oh yeah, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
- She was robbed: Snubbed by the Academy for her dramatic turn as Ruth Etting in Love Me or Leave Me.
- Other choice roles: The sharp-shootin' title character in Calamity Jane (her personal favorite among her films); the frantic mother of a kidnapped boy in The Man Who Knew Too Much; a sassy pro-union factory worker in The Pajama Game.
- What else has she done: Five seasons of the beloved The Doris Day Show on television.
- Golden voice: Six songs that she sung onscreen were nominated for Oscars, including two winners -- "Secret Love" (which she recorded in one take) and her signature tune, "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que SerĂ¡, SerĂ¡)".
- Musical legacy: She has been name-dropped in several songs over the years, including "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" from Grease, Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" and Wham!'s "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go".
- Bet you didn't know: Was in a car accident at age 14 that derailed a career as a ballerina; she was born on the same day as Marlon Brando.
- Yes, it's true: Is a vegetarian and a Republican; turned down the role of Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate.
- Nickname: Do-do; frequent co-star and longtime friend Rock Hudson always called her "Eunice", because he said that whenever he thought of her as a "Eunice", it made him laugh. On the other hand, she called him "Ernie", because "he's certainly no Rock".
- Can we quote you on that: "I like joy; I want to be joyous; I want to have fun on the set; I want to wear beautiful clothes and look pretty. I want to smile and I want to make people laugh. And that's all I want. I like it. I like being happy. I want to make others happy."
- What is she up to now: Founder of the Doris Day Animal League, which advocates homes and proper care of household pets; co-owner (with her son) of the Cypress Inn in Carmel-By-The-Sea.
- Video tribute: A salute to Rock and Doris' biggest hit, Pillow Talk.

Links via Imdb.com, LATimes.com, DDAL.org, DorisDay.com and YouTube.com.

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