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01
Her mother named her after silent film star Doris Kenyon; decades later, when Day wrote her autobiography, Kenyon was her neighbor in Beverly Hills.
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02
A car accident on October 13, 1937 crushed her dancing dreams; she spent most of her teenage years in a wheelchair and began singing on the radio.
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03
Her son Terry Melcher rented the house at 10050 Cielo Drive where Sharon Tate was murdered by Charles Manson’s followers; Manson had visited looking for Melcher earlier.
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04
Rock Hudson called her Eunice because it made him laugh whenever he thought of her by that name.
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05
She turned down the role of Maria in The Sound of Music 1965, saying she was too American to play a nun from Austria.
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06
During filming of Julie 1956, she underwent a hysterectomy after a tumor the size of a grapefruit was found growing into her intestines.
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07
She briefly dated Ronald Reagan after his divorce from Jane Wyman; she told him he was so good at speaking that he should tour the country making speeches.
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08
In June 2004 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George W. Bush but did not attend due to a fear of flying.
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09
Her only child, Terry Melcher, died of melanoma on November 19, 2004, at age 62.
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10
When husband Martin Melcher died suddenly in 1968, she discovered he had signed her to a CBS TV deal; she went ahead with The Doris Day Show, which ran five seasons.
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11
After Rock Hudson died of AIDS in 1985, she said she never knew he was homosexual.
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12
She turned down the role of Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote 1984 due to concerns about age and appearance.
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13
She required anyone who swore in her presence to put a quarter in a swear jar; she did not allow her songs in movies containing profanity.
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14
She gave birth to her only child at age 19 on February 8, 1942; the father was first husband Al Jorden.
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15
She smoked 2.5 packs of cigarettes daily until about 1951.
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16
While filming The Man Who Knew Too Much 1956 in Morocco, she saw animal abuse on set, which sparked her lifelong animal rights activism.
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17
She introduced two Oscar-winning songs: Secret Love from Calamity Jane 1953 and Que Sera, Sera from The Man Who Knew Too Much 1956.
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18
Warner Bros. changed her birth year from 1922 to 1924 when she signed her contract in 1947; the real date was confirmed by the Associated Press in 2017.
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19
She was considered for the role of Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? but the part went to Elizabeth Taylor.
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20
She got the nickname Clara Bixby from actor Billy De Wolfe on the set of Tea for Two 1950; close friends used it thereafter.
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21
She cited Calamity Jane 1953 as her favorite of her 39 movies, and Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? 1968 as her least favorite.
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22
She telephoned President George W. Bush to personally explain why she would not attend her medal ceremony in 2004, and said she prayed for his re-election.
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23
Her fear of flying stemmed from close calls during tours with Bob Hope in the 1940s; she almost turned down The Man Who Knew Too Much because it was filmed in London and Marrakesh.
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24
In 1976 she married Barry Comden, 13 years her junior, who worked as a maitre d’; they divorced in 1981 because she preferred the company of her dogs.
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25
As of June 2008 she was managing the Doris Day Animal League in Carmel, California.
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26
She was an original choice for Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote but declined as she had been retired from acting for over a decade.
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27
Her childhood idol was Ginger Rogers, with whom she co-starred in Storm Warning 1950.
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28
Bandleader Barney Rapp suggested she change her name from Kappelhoff to Day after the song Day by Day; she initially disliked it.
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29
She and her son Terry Melcher co-owned the Cypress Inn in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.
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30
Oscar Levant famously quipped, I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin; the line was originally said by Groucho Marx.
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31
Her first husband Al Jorden committed suicide after their highly publicized divorce.
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32
Her husband-manager Martin Melcher turned down the role of Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate 1967 fearing it would damage her image; Anne Bancroft earned an Oscar nomination.
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33
In March 1989 she was scheduled to present an Oscar but cut her leg on a sprinkler at her hotel and required stitches.
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34
She was discovered by director Michael Curtiz when she sang at a Hollywood party in 1948, leading to her debut in Romance on the High Seas.
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35
She attended the same Cincinnati ballroom dance studio as a child as Vera-Ellen; their parents carpooled together.
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36
Her third husband Martin Melcher produced 18 of her films and signed her for projects she disliked, such as Caprice 1967 and Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? 1968.
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37
She was the highest-rated actress on Quigley Publications’ top box-office stars of the 20th century, appearing in the Top Ten 10 times between 1951 and 1966.
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38
In 2000, Canadian satirist Rick Mercer tried to force politician Stockwell Day to change his first name to Doris; Doris Day found it amusing.
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39
She was a vocal supporter and close friend of President Ronald Reagan.
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40
She is referenced on every chorus of Ringo Starr’s 1999 top 40 single La De Da.
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41
She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: for motion pictures at 6735 Hollywood Blvd. and for recording at 6278 Hollywood Blvd.
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42
She was named the number one box-office star of 1962, 1963, and 1964 by the Motion Picture Herald.
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43
Wham!’s 1984 hit Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go references her.
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44
She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004 and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.
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45
The Beatles’ 1970 song Dig It references her.
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46
She was the last surviving cast member of Young at Heart 1954.
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47
She was a staunch Republican and voted for George W. Bush in 2000.
