Imagine this: You're Doris Day, a 26-year-old singer performing at a glamorous Beverly Hills party. A composer approaches you after your set and invites you to audition for a movie musical, Romance on the High Seas. You're taken aback because acting has never even crossed your mind. Doris admitted, "Acting in films never so much as crossed my mind." Yet, her 1948 film debut marked the beginning of her rise as one of Hollywood's most beloved actresses of the 1950s and '60s.
But here's the thing—getting to that point wasn't a walk in the park for Doris. Life threw her some pretty tough curveballs. At 11, her parents' divorce shattered her sense of security. Then, a car accident crushed her dream of becoming a dancer. Despite these setbacks, she started singing with big bands as a teenager, showcasing her incredible talent. However, her inexperience led her into some less-than-ideal relationships with men. By 20, she was a struggling single mom. "I think I have always been a survivor," Doris once said, and it's hard not to agree.
Doris inherited her naturally sunny disposition from her mom, Alma. But her distant dad, William, a music teacher and choir-master, left a mark on her too. He insisted young Doris take piano lessons from a very early age. She loved playing, singing, and dancing for her mom's friends. "I’d do my stuff until mother would throw up her hands and say, 'That’s enough, Doris,'" she remembered in her memoir, Her Own Story.
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However, not everything in Doris' childhood was sunshine and roses. She found out about her dad's affair with her mom's best friend before her mom even knew. When William finally left, there were no goodbyes. "My father didn’t ask for me, and all I wanted to do was hide," she wrote. His emotional distance and betrayal would influence her relationships with men for the rest of her life.
Doris Day’s Formative Years
Young Doris had big dreams of becoming a dancer. After winning a $500 prize in an amateur contest, she and Alma talked about moving west so Doris could chase her passion. But fate had other plans. One night, the car Doris was riding in with friends was hit by a train, shattering her right leg. During her long recovery, she spent her days listening to Ella Fitzgerald on the radio and honing her singing voice. Her vocal coach, Grace Raine, recalled, "What struck me most about Doris was her ability to always look on the bright side."
Doris was still on crutches when she made her singing debut at Charlie Yee’s Shanghai Inn, earning a modest $5 a night. "Sometimes my audience was little more than the overflowing Yee family," she remembered with a chuckle.
In 1939, Doris landed a gig with local bandleader Barney Rapp, who suggested she change her name from Doris Kappelhoff to the more marquee-friendly Doris Day. She began performing on radio and touring with Barney’s band, even though she was still a teenager. "It’s tough trying to act grown-up when you don’t know how," Doris admitted.
Thrown into the adult world at such a young age, Doris made some mistakes along the way. At 17, she married trombonist Al Jorden, who was violently jealous and abusive. Doris tried to leave during her pregnancy with their son, Terry, but Al stalked her at her radio station job. She finally divorced him in 1943, fearing he might harm their son.
Not long after, she fell for saxophonist George Weidler, but this marriage was also fraught with trouble. George cheated and grew jealous of Doris' talent. However, he did bring her to California, moving her closer to her dream of a performing career. Despite their union lasting only eight months, it set the stage for her future success.
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The Break That Changed Everything
Doris was living in a trailer outside Los Angeles, planning her return to Cincinnati, where her mom was taking care of Terry, when composer Sammy Cahn heard her sing at a party and asked her to audition for Romance on the High Seas. Reluctantly, she agreed. "The screen just exploded," Cahn recalled. "There was no question. A great star was born."
Director Michael Curtiz saw it too—even though Doris cried in front of him at her audition. He found her honesty and unpretentiousness charming and vowed to bring it to the big screen. "He refused to allow her to take acting lessons and didn’t allow her to watch the rushes of Romance on the High Seas in order to maintain her confidence," says Curtiz biographer Alan K. Rode.
The film put Doris on the path to a storied career in movies, and one of its songs, "It’s Magic," became a hit. Over the next two decades, she starred in nearly 40 films. "My life hasn’t always been like some of my happy musicals," Doris reflected. "But when things in life try to knock you down, you just have to bounce right back up."
