Doris Day's Private Life: Sleeping Around?

Doris Day was an American actress and singer, who began her career as a big band singer in 1937. She went on to achieve commercial success with Sentimental Journey and My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time in 1945. Day's first starring movie role was in Romance on the High Seas (1948). She was married four times, and her first husband, trombonist Al Jorden, was prone to violence. Day's third husband, Martin Melcher, squandered her savings, leaving her in debt. She was eventually awarded $22 million for fraud and malpractice.

Doris Day's first marriage to Al Jorden

The American actress and singer Doris Day (born Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff) was married four times throughout her life. Her first marriage was to trombonist Al Jorden, whom she met in Barney Rapp's band.

Day was just 16 when she met Jorden, and initially branded him a "creep". Her mother also strongly disapproved of him. However, Day eventually fell for the moody musician and they tied the knot in 1941, when she was 17.

Jorden was violent and abusive towards Day. He regularly beat her, including once because he was jealous that she had kissed another band member on the cheek, and another time because she appeared in a swimsuit on a magazine cover. When Day fell pregnant and refused to have an abortion, Jorden beat her severely, hoping to induce a miscarriage. The beatings continued throughout her pregnancy and after their son, Terry, was born in 1942. Day eventually left Jorden and they divorced in 1943.

Her career as a band singer

Doris Day began her career as a big band singer in 1937, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, "Sentimental Journey" and "My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time" with Les Brown and His Band of Renown. She left Brown to embark on a solo career and recorded more than 650 songs from 1947 to 1967.

During the early stages of her career, Day secured her first professional jobs as a vocalist on the WLW radio program Carlin's Carnival and in a local restaurant, Charlie Yee's Shanghai Inn. It was during her radio performances that she first caught the attention of Barney Rapp, who was seeking a female vocalist and asked her to audition for the job. In 1939, Rapp suggested the stage name Doris Day because the Kappelhoff surname was too long for marquees and he admired her rendition of the song "Day After Day".

After working with Rapp, Day worked with bandleaders Jimmy James, Bob Crosby and Les Brown. In 1941, Day appeared as a singer in three Soundies with the Les Brown band. While working with Brown, Day recorded her first hit recording, "Sentimental Journey", released in early 1945. It soon became an anthem for World War II servicemen. The song continues to be associated with Day, and she rerecorded it on several occasions, including a version for her 1971 television special.

During 1945–46, Day (as vocalist with the Les Brown Band) had six other top-ten hits on the Billboard chart: "'Tain't Me", "Till the End of Time", "You Won't Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart)", "The Whole World Is Singing My Song", and "I Got the Sun in the Mornin'". Les Brown said, "As a singer Doris belongs in the company of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra."

Day's four marriages

Doris Day was married four times. Her first husband was trombonist Al Jorden, whom she married in 1941. Jorden was violent, had schizophrenia, and died by suicide years after their divorce in 1943. Their son, Terry, was born in 1942.

Day's second marriage was to saxophonist George Weidler, from 1946 to 1949. Weidler was only 20 when they wed, and the marriage ended due to his resentment of being a stepfather to Terry and his infidelity.

Day married her third husband, film producer Martin "Marty" Melcher, on her 29th birthday in 1951. This marriage lasted until Melcher's death in 1968. Melcher adopted Terry, but he also embezzled funds from Day, leaving her in debt when he died.

Day's fourth and final marriage was to Barry Comden, from 1976 until their divorce in 1982. Comden was 12 years her junior, and the marriage ended due to their incompatibility and her greater affection for her pets.

Her career as an actress

Doris Day's career as an actress began with Romance on the High Seas (1948), in which she was selected by director Michael Curtiz to replace Betty Hutton in the female lead. She had been a successful band singer, and her first hit record with "Sentimental Journey" in 1945 led to her being cast in the ocean-bound musical-comedy. Curtiz advised her against taking acting lessons, telling her, "No matter what you do on screen, no matter what kind of part you play, it will always be you. What I mean is, Doris Day will always shine through the part." Her rendition of the film's big number, "It's Magic", secured its writers, Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn, an Oscar nomination.

In the early years of her career, Day starred in several minor musicals for Warner Bros., including Tea for Two (1950), Lullaby of Broadway (1951), April in Paris (1952), By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953) and the hit musical Calamity Jane (1953), in which she performed the Academy Award-winning song "Secret Love". She ended her contract with Warner Bros. after filming Young at Heart (1954) with Frank Sinatra.

Day's portrayal of singer Ruth Etting in Love Me or Leave Me (1955) with James Cagney was well-received by critics and was a box-office hit. She also appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Andrew L. Stone's Julie (1956) and George Abbott and Stanley Donen's The Pajama Game (1957).

Day appeared with Rock Hudson and Tony Randall in three films: Pillow Talk (1959), Lover Come Back (1961) and Send Me No Flowers (1964). She ranked No. 1 at the box office in 1960, and again from 1962 until 1964. She starred in several other romantic comedies, including That Touch of Mink (1962) with Cary Grant, The Thrill of It All and Move Over, Darling (both 1963), both with James Garner.

After the failure of Do Not Disturb in 1965, Day's film career began to decline. She last ranked as a top-ten box-office star in 1966 with the hit film The Glass Bottom Boat. Her final films Caprice, The Ballad of Josie (both 1967), Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? and With Six You Get Eggroll (both 1968) were critical flops but achieved reasonable success at the box office. Day declined the role of Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate, a role that eventually went to Anne Bancroft. In her published memoirs, Day said that she had rejected the part on moral grounds, finding the script "vulgar and offensive."

When her film career ended, Day turned to television with her situation comedy The Doris Day Show (1968–1973), which ran for five seasons and 128 episodes. She made several other television appearances throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Day's relationship with Ronald Reagan

Doris Day and Ronald Reagan starred together in the 1952 film The Winning Team. In the film, Reagan plays Grover Cleveland Alexander, a baseball player who aspires to become a professional. Day plays his fiancée, Amy, who wants him to give up his dream and settle down.

The film depicts Alexander's struggles with injury, alcoholism, and depression, and his eventual comeback. It is based on the life of the real Grover Cleveland Alexander, a major league pitcher.

Day and Reagan also worked together on another occasion, with Day having an affair with Reagan, who was a "leading actor of the day".

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