Day's film career began during the latter part of the Classical Hollywood Film era with the 1948 film Romance on the High Seas, and its success sparked her twenty-year career as a motion picture actress. She starred in a series of successful films, including musicals, comedies, and dramas. She played the title role in Calamity Jane (1953), and starred in Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) with James Stewart. Her most successful films were the bedroom comedies she made co-starring Rock Hudson and James Garner, such as Pillow Talk (1959) and Move Over, Darling (1963), respectively. She also co-starred in films with such leading men as Clark Gable, Cary Grant, David Niven, and Rod Taylor. After her final film in 1968, she went on to star in the CBS sitcom The Doris Day Show (1968–1973).
Day was usually one of the top ten singers between 1951 and 1966. As an actress, she became the biggest female film star in the early 1960s, and ranked sixth among the box office performers by 2012. In 2011, she released her 29th studio album, My Heart, which became a UK Top 10 album featuring new material. Among her awards, Day has received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Legend Award from the Society of Singers. In 1960, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, and in 1989 was given the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures. In 2004, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush followed in 2011 by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association's Career Achievement Award. She was one of the last surviving stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Her death was announced by her charity, the Doris Day Animal Foundation, on Monday 13th May 2019.
Discography
chart hits
Year Title Chart Positions
US CB UK
1945 "Sentimental Journey" (w/ Les Brown) 1 — —
"My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time" (w/ Les Brown) 1 — —
"'Tain't Me" (w/ Les Brown) 10 — —
"Till the End of Time" (w/ Les Brown) 3 — —
"Aren't You Glad You're You?" (w/ Les Brown) 11 — —
"Come to Baby Do" (w/ Les Brown) / 13 — —
1946 "You Won't Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart)" (w/ Les Brown) 4 — —
"Day by Day" (w/ Les Brown) 15 — —
"I Got the Sun in the Mornin' (and the Moon at Night)" (w/ Les Brown) 10 — —
"The Whole World Is Singing My Song" (w/ Les Brown) 6 — —
1947 "The Christmas Song" (w/ Les Brown) 12 — —
"Sooner or Later" (w/ Les Brown) 13 — —
"Papa, Won't You Dance With Me" 21 — —
1948 "Thoughtless" (w/ Modernaires) 24 — —
"Love Somebody" (w/ Buddy Clark) / 1 — —
"Confess" (w/ Buddy Clark) 16 — —
"Put 'em in a Box, Tie 'em with a Ribbon, and Throw 'em in the Deep Blue Sea" / 27 — —
"It's Magic" 2 — —
"My Darling, My Darling" (w/ Buddy Clark) 7 — —
1949 "Powder Your Face with Sunshine" (w/ Buddy Clark) 16 — —
"Again" 2 — —
"Everywhere You Go" 22 — —
"Let's Take an Old-Fashioned Walk" (w/ Frank Sinatra) 17 — —
"Now That I Need You" 20 — —
"Canadian Capers" 15 — —
"Bluebird on Your Windowsill" 19 — —
1950 "Quicksilver" 20 — —
"I Said My Pajamas (and Put on My Prayers)" 21 — —
"Enjoy Yourself (It's Later than You Think)" 24 — —
"Hoop-Dee-Doo" 17 — —
"Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" 9 — —
"I Didn't Slip, I Wasn't Pushed, I Fell" 19 — —
"A Bushel and a Peck" 16 — —
1951 "It's a Lovely Day Today" 30 — —
"Would I Love You (Love You, Love You)" 10 — —
"Shanghai" 7 — —
"Domino" 21 — —
1952 "A Guy Is a Guy" 1 — —
"Sugarbush" (w/ Frankie Laine) 7 12 8
"When I Fall in Love" 20 — —
"No Two People" (w/ Donald O'Connor) 25 — —
"My Love and Devotion" — 31 10
"The Cherries" — 39 —
"A Full Time Job" (w/ Johnnie Ray) / 20 21 11
"Ma Says, Pa Says" (w/ Johnnie Ray) 23 28 12
1953 "Mister Tap Toe" 10 11 —
"When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along)" 29 — —
"Candy Lips" (w/ Johnnie Ray) / 17 18 —
"Let's Walk That-a-Way" (w/ Johnnie Ray) — 31 4
"Kiss Me Again, Stranger" / 30 — —
"A Purple Cow" 25 — —
"Choo Choo Train (Ch-Ch-Foo) 20 — —
1954 "Secret Love" 1 1 1
"The Black Hills of Dakota" — — 7
"Lost in Loveliness" — 25 —
"I Speak to the Stars" 16 17 —
"Someone Else's Roses" — 32 —
"If I Give My Heart to You" / 3 2 4
"Anyone Can Fall in Love" 27 41 —
"Ready, Willing, and Able" / — 31 7
"Hold Me in Your Arms" — 39 —
1955 "Foolishly Yours" — 25 —
"Love Me Or Leave Me" — — 20
"I'll Never Stop Loving You" 13 14 17
"Ooh Bang Jiggily Jang" 83 — —
1956 "Let It Ring" 51 — —
"Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" 2 3 1
"Julie" / 64 40 —
"Love in a Home" 79 — —
"The Party's Over" 63 47 —
1957 "Twelve O'Clock Tonight" 68 — —
1958 "Teacher's Pet" 56 36 —
"A Very Precious Love" — — 16
"Everybody Loves a Lover" 6 6 25
"Tunnel of Love" 43 53 —
1959 "Love Me in the Daytime" 100 51 —
1960 "Any Way the Wind Blows" 50 109 —
"Please Don't Eat the Daisies" 102 102 —
"A Perfect Understanding" 111 — —
1962 "Lover Come Back" 98 — —
1964 "Move Over Darling" — — 8
"Send Me No Flowers" 135 — —
1967 "Sorry" * — — —
* "Sorry" made the US AC charts at #19.
Albums
10" LP
You're My Thrill (1949)
Young Man with a Horn (1950, soundtrack with Harry James)
Tea for Two (1950, soundtrack)
Lullaby of Broadway (1951, soundtrack)
On Moonlight Bay (1951, soundtrack)
I'll See You in My Dreams (1951, soundtrack)
By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953, soundtrack)
Calamity Jane (1953, soundtrack)
Young at Heart (1954, soundtrack with Frank Sinatra)
12" LPs
Love Me or Leave Me (1955, soundtrack)
Day Dreams (1955, expanded re-issue of You're My Thrill)
Day By Day (1956)
The Pajama Game (1957, soundtrack)
Day by Night (1957)
Hooray for Hollywood (2 volumes, 1958)
Cuttin' Capers (1959)
What Every Girl Should Know (1960)
Show Time (1960)
Listen to Day (1960)
Bright and Shiny (1961)
I Have Dreamed (1961)
Duet (with André Previn, 1962)
You'll Never Walk Alone (1962)
Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962, soundtrack with film cast)
Annie Get Your Gun (1963, with Robert Goulet)
Love Him (1963)
The Doris Day Christmas Album (1964)
With a Smile and a Song (1964)
Latin for Lovers (1965)
Doris Day's Sentimental Journey (1965)
The Love Album (recorded in 1967, released in 1994)
My Heart (2011)
Singles
Hit records:
(with Les Brown's Band of Renown)
"Sentimental Journey"
5,000,000+ sales
"My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time"
1,000,000+ sales
(As a solo performer)
"It's Magic"
1,000,000+ sales
"Again"
"Love Somebody" (duet with Buddy Clark)
1,000,000+ sales
"Confess" (duet with Buddy Clark) (also done by Patti Page)
"Bewitched"
1,000,000+ sales
"Shanghai"
"Sugarbush" (duet with Frankie Laine)
1,000,000+ sales
"Mister Tap Toe"
"Secret Love"
1,000,000+ sales
"If I Give My Heart to You" (also done by Denise Lor)
"I'll Never Stop Loving You"
1,000,000+ sales
"Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)" ("Que Sera, Sera")
1,000,000+ sales
"Everybody Loves a Lover"
"Move Over Darling"
Stewball
Doris Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where Stewball was born
All the jockeys in the country
Said he blew there in a storm
You bet on Stewball you might win, win, win
Bet on Stewball you might win
Don't you wish you was there
You would'a bet your last dollar
On that iron gray mare
You bet on Stewball you might win, win, win
Bet on Stewball you might win
When the horses were saddled
And the word was given "go", given "go"
All the horses, they shot out
Like an arrow from a bow
You bet on Stewball you might win, win, win
Bet on Stewball you might win
When that big bell was a-ringing
And the horses was run
And that big bell was a-singing
And the horses did run
You bet on Stewball you might win, win, win
Bet on Stewball you might win
The old folks they hollered
The young folks did bawl
The children said look, look
At that noble Stewball
You bet on Stewball you might win, win, win
Bet on Stewball you might win
You bet on Stewball you might win, win, win
Bet on Stewball you might win
The lyrics of Doris Day's "Stewball" describe the excitement and energy of a horse race, with a particular focus on a horse named Stewball. The song is set in California where Stewball was born, and where he is known as a talented and fast horse. The jockeys across the country marvel at his abilities, believing that he must have been propelled to California in a storm. The lyrics encourage listeners to bet on Stewball, with the repeated refrain of "Bet on Stewball you might win, win, win" emphasizing his promise as a winning horse.
As the narrative of the song moves to a specific race, the excitement and anticipation build. Listeners are transported to Dallas, where the big day has arrived. The song creates a sense of urgency and eagerness, with the suggestion that anyone present would have been eager to bet on the "iron gray mare". When the horses are lined up at the starting line, the anticipation reaches its peak, with the horses shooting out "Like an arrow from a bow". The continued repetition of the refrain once again highlights Stewball as the horse to bet on, and the excitement of the race is captured in the sound of the ringing bell and the cheering of the crowds. The final verse captures the enthusiasm of spectators watching Stewball race, with the old folks hollering, the young folks bawling, and the children admiring "that noble Stewball".
Line by Line Meaning
Way out in California
The story of Stewball begins in California
Where Stewball was born
Stewball is originally from California
All the jockeys in the country
Every jockey in the country knew of Stewball
Said he blew there in a storm
The jockeys believed Stewball arrived in a dramatic fashion
You bet on Stewball you might win, win, win
If you bet on Stewball, you have a good chance of winning
Bet on Stewball you might win
This line is repeated as a reminder of the likelihood of winning if you bet on Stewball
It was a big day in Dallas
The story moves to a big race day in Dallas
Don't you wish you was there
The artist suggests that the excitement of the race was worth experiencing
You would'a bet your last dollar
The artist implies that the race was so exciting you would have risked everything to bet
On that iron gray mare
The race is between Stewball and another horse, an iron gray mare
When the horses were saddled
Just before the race began
And the word was given "go", given "go"
The artist emphasizes the moment of the race beginning
All the horses, they shot out
The horses began running at top speed
Like an arrow from a bow
The horses ran as straight and as fast as an arrow fired from a bow
When that big bell was a-ringing
The singer describes the excitement and noise of the race
And the horses was run
The race was happening
And that big bell was a-singing
The artist continues describing the excitement and noise of the race
And the horses did run
A repeated line that emphasizes the racing
The old folks they hollered
The older people in the audience expressed excitement
The young folks did bawl
The younger people were crying tears of joy
The children said look, look
The children were excited by the race, and pointing out Stewball in particular
At that noble Stewball
The artist describes Stewball as being a noble horse
You bet on Stewball you might win, win, win
A reminder of the likelihood of winning if you bet on Stewball
Bet on Stewball you might win
Repeating the reminder of the likelihood of winning if you bet on Stewball
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Ralph C. Rinzler, Robert A. Yellin, John Herald
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Michael Tiefenbacher
I'm not sure when she recorded the tracks on that album, but I'd judge that the picture on the video is about sixty years off. Her son, Terry Melcher, produced it, and he died in 2004, so she was in her seventies or early eighties when she did it. Given her love of animals, the subject matter was perfectly suited to her.
memphisward
Love!
My Name Is Victoria Winters
not her best effort