Back in the mid-1970s, the phrase "women's liberation" was everywhere. And guess what? Hollywood legend Doris Day felt just as liberated as anyone else. She had weathered the storm left by her third husband's financial mismanagement and was finally free from her contractual obligations to the long-running TV show The Doris Day Show. This was a fresh chapter in her life, and she was ready to embrace it with open arms.
By late 1974, Doris had started rehearsing for her second television special. The show was packed with star power, featuring comedic geniuses like Rich Little and Tim Conway, alongside the legendary singer of "Rocky Mountain High," John Denver. During the special, Doris, then 52, and John, 31, shared a memorable moment as they harmonized beautifully on the classic tune "Exactly Like You." There was something special between them, a connection that lit up the screen.
“She was seeing John,” Doris’ dear friend Paul Brogan confides to Closer. “Doris always believed that if there’s a genuine connection between people, that’s what truly matters.”
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A New Memoir Reveals Doris Day's Liberated Spirit
In his heartfelt memoir, A Sprinkling of Stardust Over the Outhouse, Brogan dives deep into his close friendship with Doris and sheds light on this pivotal period in the mid-1970s when she relished her newfound independence after decades of heartache. Doris had always been a beacon of positivity, but she had faced her fair share of challenges.
“You have to stay positive,” Doris once told Closer, just before her passing in 2019. “Whatever is meant to happen will happen.”
Despite her sunny disposition, Doris knew the sting of suffering all too well. Her first marriage, as a teenager, was marred by her husband’s mental illness and physical abuse. Her second husband abandoned her and their infant son. And her third husband, the film and music executive Martin Melcher, left her drowning in debt and locked into a TV contract she wasn’t even aware of until after his death. “She had been married until 1968, and then she had the TV obligation,” explains Brogan. “And suddenly, all of that was over. She was free.”
Doris Day Embraces Freedom and Fun
Doris threw herself into this new phase of her life with enthusiasm. “She went on Johnny Carson without a bra! Can you imagine that? She was finally free and having fun,” recalls Brogan. “Warren Beatty pursued her, but she turned him down. She was free to do only what she wanted.”
Brogan, who first began corresponding with Doris as a young boy, visited her at her Beverly Hills home countless times during this joyous period in her life. “She was this incredible person who never treated me like I was different because I was gay,” he shares. “In those days, gay people often felt marginalized and ridiculed, but Doris was never judgmental. She was just Doris.”
Life Lessons Over Burgers and Cokes
They often met at the Hamburger Hamlet on Sunset Boulevard, a place Doris joked had great lighting that made her look 20 years younger. “She loved the hostess there, Miles Davis’ ex-wife, who worked there for years,” Brogan chuckles. Over burgers and Cokes, they would talk about everything under the sun. “Around Doris, you could discuss anything,” he says. “She listened intently, looking you right in the eye, and her beautiful blue eyes never wavered. She was fully present.”
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Brogan credits Doris for inspiring him to become involved in charitable work. “The final chapter of her life was all about her animal advocacy,” he explains. “For me, it was diving into the nonprofit world of HIV/AIDS and finding my purpose.”
Like her friend, Doris discovered a higher calling in serving others. “She wasn’t eccentric or odd,” Brogan adds. “She just believed that dogs love unconditionally. They don’t try to con you or steal your money. They simply give their hearts.”
