88-Year-Old Doris Day Caps Offs Unexpected Comeback With…
America’s sultry, honey-voiced darling of the 1950s and 60s, Doris Day, captivated viewers with her romantic roles in front of leading men in Hollywood such as Cary Grant, Rock Hudson, and Jack Lemmon. The 88-year-old Day said that she loved and misses everyone of them. Though Day’s first album in almost two decades features Terry Melcher’s touch and voice as a record producer, her greatest desire is for her late son.
“Oh, I wish he could participate in it and be present. That would be so wonderful. However, things didn’t turn out that way,” Day remarked in a quiet voice. Since her withdrawal from Hollywood in the early 1980s and her retreat to the town of Carmel, California in Northern California, where Clint Eastwood briefly served as mayor, she has seldom been heard.
Day is gradually becoming more well-known again thanks to “My Heart,” which is scheduled for release in the United States on December 2. The CD features 13 previously unheard recordings that were made over a 40-year period. The selections include covers of several standards, Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful,” and the Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Daydream”. All sales support Day’s long-standing charity, animal welfare. Earlier this autumn, a shortened version of the album was released in Britain and peaked at number 10 on the charts. Melcher, who produced most of the tracks and sang on two, was a session musician for bands like the Byrds and the Beach Boys. At the age of sixty-two, he lost his life to melanoma in 2004. Day finds herself crying every time she thinks of him.
“Having Terry along made it so much fun for me to do. That was significant, at least for me,” she stated in a Carmel interview. “I never would have imagined it to be as it is. I’m really happy he’s on it. And I have that, even though I miss him so much.” The actress and singer are receiving new prominence at the same time as the album’s release. This week, it was revealed that Day and Jimmy Stewart’s 1956 thriller “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” directed by Alfred Hitchcock, includes Day’s performance of “Que Sera, Sera” (“Whatever Will Be, Will Be”). This recording will be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Day will receive the career achievement award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association in January.
That career was also legendary. She previously dominated the box office with a run of lighthearted comedies that emphasized her youthful sexiness and vigor, such as “That Touch of Mink” with Grant and “Pillow Talk” with Hudson (for which she was nominated for best actress). Her charming voice contributed to the success of pop songs such as “Sentimental Journey” and the Oscar-winning songs “Que Sera, Sera” and “Secret Love.” In film, Day frequently portrayed the resolute single professional who may be seduced by attractive men like Grant or her three-time co-star Hudson, but would never engage in premarital sex. In films like David Niven’s “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies” (1960), she played a devoted mother and wife.
