Los Angeles: Screen icon Doris Day, last of the stars to represent the golden era of Hollywood and the velvety voice behind the classic “Que Sera Sera (whatever will be, will be), has died. She was 97.
A popular singer-actor of her era, Day ruled the industry in the 1950s and ’60s with films such as “Pillow Talk”, “That Touch of Mink” and “The Man Who Knew Too Much”. She breathed her last on Monday at her Carmel Valley home in California, her animal welfare foundation, Doris Day Animal Foundation, said in a statement posted on their official website.
The foundation said the star had celebrated her 97th birthday on April 3 this year. Hollywood celebrities such as “Star Trek” alums William Shatner, George Takei, author Paulo Coelho and actor Antonio Banderas took to twitter to pay tributes to Day.
Calling the singer-actor “World’s Sweetheart”, Shatner said she was loved by all and her death is an irreparable loss to cinema. Like his “Star Trek” co-star, Takei quoted “Que Sera Sera” and said the screen legend will be missed dearly.
Born as Mary Ann Von Kappelhoff, on April 3, 1922, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Day began her professional career as a singer at the age of 15 and tasted success in her early 20s with the song “Sentimental Journey”, in collaboration with Les Brown’s band. But her signature song will always be “Que Sera Sera” from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1956 film “The Man Who Knew Too Much”.
She made her acting debut with the 1948 film “Romance on the High Seas”, whose success led to a more than two-decade long career, spread over 39 films across genres as diverse as musicals, comedies, thrillers and dramas. Day worked with the biggest leading men of her era such as Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Rock Hudson, James Garner, David Niven and Rod Taylor.
Her last film was “With Six You Get Eggroll” in 1968 after which she turned to the small screen with “The Doris Day Show”, which ran for five years and earned a Golden Globe nomination. The actor was married four times. Day’s last “wishes were that she have no funeral or memorial service and no grave marker,” the foundation said.
