Doris Day, one of Hollywood’s sweethearts, turns 90-years-old today. The legend has made an unforgettable impact on both the big screen and in the music industry, becoming one of the rare one-two punches in the business.
Day was one of the most popular actresses of the 1950s and 1960s, and got her start singing in the 1940s. Amazingly, during her entire career, she was only nominated for an Oscar once, for 1959’s Pillow Talk, one of her hit films with Rock Hudson. Her acting talents remain underappreciated, as she still hasn’t been given an Honorary Oscar.
She had a talent to go from the light-hearted comedies to taking on tougher roles. She starred alongside James Cagney in Love Me Or Leave Me and starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much remake with James Stewart. That film also featured her best-known song, “Que Sera, Sera,” which won an Oscar for Best Original Song.
If the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences doesn’t want to recognize her contribution to film, they should honor her with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. As People points out, she is asking that fans make donations to her Doris Day Animal Foundation, which she began in 1978. The foundation has worked hard in its 35 years to help animals and those who love them.
“I love life. I have my pets around me and good friends,” she told People in 2011. “I'm young at heart and I love to laugh. There's nothing better.”
Day, whose real last name is Kappelhoff, was born in Cincinnati on April 3, 1934. Life has an amazing gallery of unpublished photos of the performer.