Thanks to the magic of movies, Doris Day will remain eternally young and wholesome. Hard to believe that today she will be celebrating her 90th birthday. Her on-screen image of being squeaky clean inspired the famous Oscar Levant quip, "I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin."
Whatever troubles she had in her personal life (and there were apparently quite a few bumps along the way), Day continued to entertain America with her music and movies. My very favorite is "Pillow Talk," where the actress looked impossibly perfect in every shot.
A former coworker once pointed out to me that each shot with Doris used "The Doris Day Filter." Whenever shots cut back and forth between Doris and Rock, it was obvious by the dewy glow in her closeups that a special filter was being used just for her.
The purpose of the filter and special lighting were most likely for eliminating her abundance of freckles, which were not removed for this publicity still from the dark (yet now somewhat corny) drama, "Midnight Lace."
Disneyland fans will recognize the background from this photo of Doris in "Calamity Jane" as the inspiration for the Golden Horseshoe Saloon. Both saloons were designed by Harper Goff.
An avid animal lover, she has been retired from the screen since 1968, and now resides in Carmel-by-the-Sea, where she owns the Cypress Inn.
Happy Birthday, Doris - I hope your day brings as much joy to you as you've brought to the world!
Thanks for always helping us to "shake the blues away"!
See more Daveland classic Movie and TV photos on my main website.
3 comments:
That Golden Garter saloon set from "Calamity Jane" definitely reminded me of the Golden Horseshoe when I first saw it some time ago.
I love so many Doris Day films, but if I had to pick my favorite, it would be "Young Man With A Horn" also starring Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall and Hoagy Carmichael. An awesome black and white film directed by Michael Curtiz.
Doris Day was designed by Harper Goff, you say? Who knew? Those early Imagineers . . . amazing.
I remember well going to the studio preview for Calamity Jane on the Warner lot. Doris was there that night. I politely asked for her autograph which I tucked into my very lady-like dress purse for safe keeping –I placed that precious slip of paper into my autograph book when I got home.
My mom did some extension work on That Touch of Mink (Doris/Cary Grant). They were working on location at a hotel in Santa Monica. I dropped by to get some money from my mom before going on up with friends to 'hang' at Malibu - but mostly I dropped by to feast my eyes on Cary Grant!
I worked on some animal adoption clinics in the Carmel area in the later part of the 90s. (We live just north of Big Sur now.) She was very unpretentious, working with the rest of us, showing dogs on leashes, cats and bunny rabbits in cages in front of a vet and a few times in front of a grocery store we would use to stage the adoption clinics at. I got brave one day working with her and shared, when folks asked me where I got my freckles from as kid, and they usually added 'were you kissed by the sun?" --I responded with my pat answer, 'I got them from Doris Day!' She laughed and shared, she too had been teased over her freckles as a kid! Both the two of us saw our freckles fade quite a bit with age!
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