Photo, ABC News
Doris Day is much loved by her many LGBTQ fans. She is one of Hollywood’s most versatile and talented performers ever, moving easily between Comedy, Drama, Musicals or Suspense, working with master director Alfred Hitchcock on The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), featuring that song that would be her trademark, Que Sera, Sera.
Day turns 95-year-old today, which is a birthday surprise even to her. Day’s biography has long read that she was born in 1924, which means that she would be celebrating her 93rd birthday on this day.
When I have written about her before, I have noted that no one was certain how old she actually is, but a copy of Day’s birth certificate, obtained by The Associated Press from Ohio’s Office Of Vital Statistics, has settled the issue: Doris Mary Kappelhoff was born on April 3, 1922, making her 95-years old. She was born to Alma and William Kappelhoff of Cincinnati.
Day:
“I’ve always said that age is just a number and I have never paid much attention to birthdays, but it’s great to finally know how old I really am.”
Day joins her close friend and fellow animal lover Betty White and the legendary Carl Reiner in this landmark age. Day and White had long standing joke about White being two years older.
It seems that early in her career, Day was up for a role and her age was fudged on her audition sheet. At least that’s the story we are sticking to.
On previous birthdays, Day has said she doesn’t care about her age but rather using the occasion to highlight her nonprofit Doris Day Animal Foundation which provide grants to projects that rescue, care for and protect animals, including a group that helps seniors with pet care needs.
Day worked steadily from 1939 into the early 1970s. In the 1985-86 television season, Day hosted her own television talk show, Doris Day’s Best Friends, and then she sort of disappeared. But she remains a Gay Icon. Her hot song Secret Love from one of her best films, Calamity Jane (1953), became an anthem in gay bars. I must note that in her last films she had played opposite gay actors Cary Grant and Rock Hudson. She spoke out in support of Hudson when he became the first big celebrity known to have AIDS.
This year, she’s asking fans on social media to post a photo or video of their pet with the hashtag #DorisBirthdayWish and the tag @ddaf—org for her foundation. The best of the submissions will be combined into a digital birthday card specially made for her. If you love Day, and you should, make a donation to her foundation here: http://www.dorisdayanimalfoundation.org/
