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Remembering the honey-voiced singer and actress Doris Day

Doris Day, the honey-voiced singer and actress whose film dramas, musicals and innocent sex comedies made her a top star in the 1950s and ‘60s and among the most popular screen actresses in history, has died. She was 97.
 
Actress-singer Doris Day. AP (1962)
Actress-singer Doris Day. AP (1962)
Published May 13, 2019
Actress Doris Day, right, does a rehearsal with actor Gene Nelson, in a production of,"Tea for Two", April 2, 1950 in Burbank, Calif. AP
Doris Day, who will play the title role of "Calamity Jane," poses between scenes with co-stars Howard Keel, left, and Chubby Johnson, center, on the Warne Ranch in Burbank, Ca., Feb. 1953. AP
Actress Doris Day and actor Cary Grant, standing in the dugout, pose with New York Yankees players, from left, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Yogi Berra before the Yankees-Dodgers game in Los Angeles, Ca., July 12, 1962. The players appeared in the movie "A Touch of Mink" with Day and Grant. (AP/Ed Widdis)
Hollywood stars Doris Day and James Stewart at London Airport on June 21, 1955, prior to flying to New York. They had been shooting scenes for the Alfred Hitchcock production. "The Man who knew Too Much." AP

The Doris Day Animal Foundation confirmed Day died early Monday at her Carmel Valley, California, home. The foundation said she was surrounded by close friends.

In 1987, Actress-singer Doris Day founded the Doris Day Animal League, a national lobbying organization for animal rights issues. Doris Day can't turn away a stray. She owns several dogs, and recently took in a Maltese that someone dropped off, scrawny and dirty, at the Nebraska Humane Society. Times

“Day had been in excellent physical health for her age, until recently contracting a serious case of pneumonia, resulting in her death,” the foundation said in an emailed statement.

Doris Day and Denver Pyle Times (1968)
Rock Hudson goes into a clinch with Doris Day in a scene from "Any Way the Wind Blows." AP (1985)
Doris Day and McLean Stevenson. Times (1969)
Doris Day, Richard Steele (left) and Brian Keith (right). "With Six you Get Eggroll" on "NBC Monday Night at the Movies." Times (1972)

With her lilting contralto, wholesome blonde beauty and glowing smile, she was a top box office draw and recording artist known for such films as “Pillow Talk” and “That Touch of Mink” and for such songs as “Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)” from the Alfred Hitchcock film “The Man Who Knew Too Much.”

Ronald Reagan and Doris Day in "The Winning Team," a 1952 biopic of pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander. AP
Clint Eastwood poses with Doris Day at the 46th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Ca., Jan. 29, 1989. Eastwood won a Golden Globe for motion picture directing for his work on "Bird," and Day was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award for her outstanding contribution to the film industry. (AP/Douglas C. Pizac)
Related: Read the full story here: Legendary actress and singer Doris Day dead at 97