Doris Day

In November 2004 her son Terry died from complications of melanoma. De Carlo has worked steadily in both film and television, playing her most recent role in the television production of The Barefoot Contessa (1995). In 2004 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom but refused to attend the ceremony because of a fear of flying. She also received recognition for her work in the horror movie American Gothic in 1988. She wrote a best-selling autobiography. She played the role of Lily Munster in the television series The Munsters (1964), and was able to demonstrate a comic flair that her films had failed to utilize. In 1987, she founded the Doris Day Animal League, and she currently devotes much of her time towards the cause of helping animals. Despite this, her success was short-lived and the quality of her film roles did not improve.

Day stood by his side. The film was a huge success and De Carlo was among those to be praised for her work. Soon after, she and the world learned that he was dying of AIDS. Cast in The Ten Commandments (1956), De Carlo was finally part of a major hit. Day was taken aback by Hudson's emaciated and wizened frame, as he had always been in top physical condition. For the next several years, she was constantly working although many of the films failed to advance her career. The show generated unexpected press when her old friend Rock Hudson appeared in the first episode. As the female lead opposite Burt Lancaster in Criss Cross, De Carlo played a dangerous femme fatale, and her career began to ascend.

In 1985 Day hosted her own talk show, Doris Day's Best Friends. In 1947 she played her first leading role in Slave Girl and then in 1949 had her biggest success. Though generally presenting a happy, carefree image to the public, she had four difficult marriages:. Though not a critical success it was a box office favorite and De Carlo was hailed as an up and coming star. Day continued with the show only as long as she needed the work to help pay down her debts. Her break came in 1945 playing the title role in Salome, Where She Danced. Its theme song was "Que Sera Sera". She made her first film appearance in 1942, but could only find bit parts for the next few years.

Upon Melcher's death she learned that he had committed her to a TV series. From 1968 to 1973, she therefore starred in her own situation comedy, The Doris Day Show. De Carlo supported herself working in a chorus while trying to find film work. Robinson in The Graduate (a role which went to Anne Bancroft). Unable to find work, they returned to Canada until 1940, when they once again traveled to Hollywood. One of the roles he turned down for her was Mrs. Born Peggy Yvonne Middleton in Vancouver, British Columbia, the daughter of an ambitious but unsuccessful aspiring actress, De Carlo was taken to Hollywood by her mother at the age of fifteen. Day herself found many of her mid-late 1960s films to be of very poor quality and did them only at the insistence of her third husband, Marty Melcher. Yvonne De Carlo (born September 1, 1922) is an Canadian film and television actress.

Critics, comics and pundits attacked Day as "the world's oldest virgin" and audiences began to shy away from her repetitive, gimmicky roles. Times as well as attitudes changed, but Day's films did not. Many of her 1960s films ignored her singing abilities and painted her as a good-hearted woman with a strong will, a hint of naïveté, and the purest virtue this side of a nun. She and Hudson made two more films together.

The film received positive reviews and was a box office favourite. It also brought a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actress for Day. In 1959 Day entered her most successful phase as a film actress with the hugely popular Pillow Talk co-starring Rock Hudson, who became a lifelong friend. She continued to be paired with some of Hollywood's biggest male stars, including James Stewart, Cary Grant, David Niven, and Clark Gable. In 1955, she received some of the best notices of her career for her portrayal of singer Ruth Etting in Love Me or Leave Me, co-starring James Cagney.

She continued to make saccharine and somewhat low-level musicals such as Starlift, By the Light of the Silvery Moon, and Tea for Two for Warner Brothers until the cycle exhausted itself. Day began her film career in 1948 as a peppy, Betty Huttonesque persona. In Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much, she sang "Que Sera Sera", which won an Oscar; it became her signature song. Day acted in many films, in most of which she sang.

On her own, she had more # 1's, including "Secret Love". She admitted coming to hate singing "Journey", but never tired of reading the letters. "Sentimental Journey" earned her a flood of letters from World War II GIs. With Brown, she charted 12 popular music hits, among them her first two # 1's: "Sentimental Journey" and "My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time".

She never really liked the name Doris Day, thinking it sounded too much like a stripper; this was ironic, since she eventually became associated with a nearly opposite image of wholesomeness and innocence. It was Barney Rapp who convinced her that "Kappelhoff" was too awkward a name and suggested "Day" after the song "Day after Day" that was part of her repertoire. She sang with the big bands of Barney Rapp, Bob Crosby, and Les Brown, before setting out on her own in the late 1940s. Day started out as a dancer, winning a contract that enabled her to travel to Hollywood with her partner, Jerry Doherty, in 1936, but turned to singing when she injured her leg in an auto accident in 1937.

She later embraced Christian Science. Her family was Catholic, despite her parents' divorce. The second of two children, she was named "Doris" after silent movie actress Doris Kenyon, whom her mother liked. A vivacious blonde with a wholesome image, she was one of the most prolific actresses of the 1950s and 1960s.

Doris Day (born Doris Mary Ann von Kappelhoff on April 3, 1924 in Evanston, Ohio) is an American singer, actress, and animal welfare advocate. "You Do Something For Me". "You Are My Sunshine". "Whatever Will Be, Will Be" ("Que Sera, Sera").

"Teacher's Pet". "Tacos, Enchiladas and Beans". "Someone Like You. "Singing in the Rain".

"Sentimental Journey". "Secret Love". "Put 'em in a Box, Tie 'em with a Ribbon". "Pillow Talk".

"Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps". "On Moonlight Bay". "Once In A While". "My Young and Foolish Heart".

"My Darling, My Darling". "Move Over, Darling". "Love Somebody". "It Takes Time".

"It's Magic". "It All Depends on You". "I'm An Indian". "I'll Never Stop Loving You".

"If I Give My Heart to You" (also done by Denise Lor). "Hurray For Hollywood". "Hernando's Hideaway" (bigger hit done by Archie Bleyer). "Everybody Loves My Baby".

"Everybody Loves A Lover". "Dream A Little Dream Of Me". "Cheek To Cheek". "By The Light Of The Silvery Moon".

"But Not For Me". "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered". "Anything You Can Do". "Again".

"A Guy Is A Guy". Comden was her only husband outside show business. To Barry Comden, from April 14, 1976 to 1981. Day also later revealed that Melcher had physically abused Terry.

Her money difficulties continued for a number of years after his death, she ultimately returned to financial security. However, when he died in 1968 it turned out he had been spending her money without restraint, leaving her bankrupt, and owing thousands. Melcher adopted Terry (thus becoming Terry Melcher), and also produced many of Day's movies. This looked like a happy marriage, and lasted much longer than her first two.

To Marty Melcher, whom she married on her 27th birthday, April 3, 1951. Weidler and Day met again years later and he helped her become involved in Christian Science. Weidler never could accept the fact that his wife would become a bigger star than he, and they broke up after eight months. To George Weidler, (a saxophonist), from March 30, 1946 to May 31, 1949.

Her only child, Terry, was born in this marriage, but Jorden was physically abusive. To Al Jorden, a trombonist whom she had met when he was in Barney Rapp's band, from March 1941 to 1943.