Where Are They Now

Updated: 01/01/01

Name: Doris Day

Birth Name: Doris Mary Ann Von Kappelhoff

Born: April 3, 1924 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Claim To Fame: No info available.

Family Life: Barry Comden (14 April 1976 - 1981) (divorced)
Martin Melcher (3 April 1951 - 20 April 1968) (until his death)
George Weidler (30 March 1946 - 31 May 1949) (divorced)
Al Jordan (March 1941 - 1943) (divorced) 1 child son Terry

Info: Doris' life has been filled with much heartache. She had a brother Richard, who died before she was born and Paul, a few years older than her. Her father and mother split when she was about eight. At twelve, she won a $500 talent contest and went to Hollywood. On returning to Cincinnati at 14, she was in a car crash which almost ended her dancing career. She met Al Jorden at 16 (Les Brown Band), who she later married.

Life with Al was rough as he turned out to be a violent man and soon after the birth of her son Terry in 1942, she divorced Al.

In 1958 her brother Paul died and it was around this time that Marty (her 2nd husband) started to make her sign to do films that she did not want to. This eventually led to Doris becoming ill from nervous exhaustion. By the time that Marty died in 1968, Doris was bankrupt and owed thousands. She later regained much of it by suing her former lawyer, who had colluded in the mismanagement, for damages.

Trivia: Nicknames: Do-Do, Clara Bixby and Eunice.

According to Day's autobiography, she got the nickname Clara Bixby when Billy De Wolfe told her, on the "Tea for Two" set, that she didn't look like a "Doris Day," but more like a "Clara Bixby." To this day, that remains her nickname among a close circle of old friends.

Rock Hudson called her 'Eunice' because he said that whenever he thought of her as Eunice, it made him laugh.

Turned down the role of Mrs. Robinson in Graduate, The (1967). The role went to Anne Bancroft.

It was during the location filming of Man Who Knew Too Much, The (1956), when she saw how camels, goats and other "animal extras" in a marketplace scene were being treated, that Day began her lifelong commitment to preventing animal abuse.

At 16 she discovered her singing talent and began touring with the Les Brown Band.

She married for the fourth time in 1976 and since her divorce in 1980 has devoted her life to animals.

She is a Vegetarian

She and her son Terry Melcher (along with a partner) co-own the Cypress Inn in Carmel-By-The-Sea, California

Where Is She Now: Today at 80, she runs the Doris Day Animal League in Carmel, California which advocates homes and proper care of household pets. She is also actively involved in the Doris Day Animal Foundation. http://www.ddal.org

She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but could not attend the ceremony on June 23, 2004, because of her fear of flying.