Doris Day was often called America's "girl next door"--friendly, wholesome, relatable, and unintimidating. Women wanted to be her and men wanted to marry her. It was an image so firmly attached to her that it overshadowed her remarkable talent.

In her book Holding My Own in No Man's Land, film critic Molly Haskell wrote about Doris as a role model. "Doris Day most always played women who followed a career, strong independent women who enjoyed their work--advertising executive, interior decorator, college journalism teacher, magazine writer, professional singer (lots of those), lobster farm owner, factory worker/union leader. Those were some of the careers her characters had. Doris was an inspiring role model for oppressed women of the 1950s and '60s. Although she looked the part, Doris Day was actually the antithesis of the stock character, "girl next door."

Doris Day had parallel careers as a recording artist and movie actress, although she thought of herself as a singer first and foremost. She was superb at whatever she did in a career that lasted for over three decades.

She made 39 movies from 1948 through 1968 and was the No. 1 female box office star for four consecutive years in the early 1960s, as well as being in the top 10 for ten years, a record that still stands.

At the same time, she was a top-selling recording artist for Columbia, with several singles that sold over a million copies and a lot of chart-toppers as well.

Recording artist, Columbia, 1947-1967

In his invaluable book, A Biographical Guide to Pop and Jazz Singing, renowned critic Will Friedwald said of Doris, "At her very best she's worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, yet she's never gotten a fraction of their respect. I think it was too easy for the media to characterize her as the bouncy, sunny 'girl next door' who drank milk every morning and never stopped smiling. Her public image became so fixed that it was 'uncool' to acknowledge her supreme gifts as a vocalist."

Hear, hear!

Doris Day was a jazz singer who began her career in big bands, starting at the age of 16 with Barney Rapp in Cincinnati and getting hired by Les Brown two years later. She is noted for her versatile voice and ability to blend jazz and swing idioms with pop music. She recorded 650 songs, including hundreds of singles and 31 studio albums.

Doris was admired by some of the greatest vocalists--Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Elvis Presley, Anita O'Day, Peggy Lee, June Christy, among others.

Composers like Rodgers and Hammerstein as well as Cole Porter praised her renditions of their songs, as did many others:

"She is one of the greatest vocalists that has ever lived. I adore her. I think she has been underrated for years." --Cybill Shepherd

"From the first moment I heard Doris, I was carried away by the warmth and passion of her natural gift. She remains the high benchmark against which all other singers are measured. I listen to her voice constantly, for inspiration and joy." Michael Feinstein

"I have always admired Doris Day for her beautiful voice that has such feeling and depth to it--she can sing any style and touch you--a true and rare gift. I admire her as both an artist and a woman." --Olivia Newton-John

"She's gifted in a way that makes everything she does work. She's a Hollywood producer's dream: she has beauty, she's a great actress, a wonderful singer--putting it simply, she has it all!" --Tony Bennett

"I'd say that next to Sinatra, Doris is the best in the business on selling a lyric." --Les Brown

"She had a way of being very personal with a song... she was absolutely perfect for the recording industry." --Rosemary Clooney

Everything came easy to Doris. She relates in her book how she did "Secret Love" in one take. She was scheduled to record it at the Warners Studio. She rode her bike there from her home in Toluca Lake, Calif., and recorded the song. When music director Ray Heindorf heard it, he said "that's it, you nailed it." She simply made everything so easy that people weren't that impressed. ("Secret Love" won an Oscar and is one of her greatest hits.)

While her career expanded into movies and television, Doris was considered by critics and her peers to be a gifted jazz vocalist with a distinctly jazz-swing ethos. But Warner Brothers promoted her as the ordinary "girl next door" who'd grow up to be "the nice lady next door... " And that persona has stuck with her all her life to the detriment of her legacy.

That's not to say she doesn't have the girl next door's admirable traits, but she was so much more than that.

A Brilliant Song Technician

Music experts praise Doris Day's singing style for its effortless sound, flawless technical control, intimate expressiveness, and jazz-influenced phrasing. She was a subtle and masterful vocalist. She had extraordinary breath control to execute long, sustained phrases, and her perfect diction ensured that every lyric was clear.

That's what the experts said, but the general public didn't know about technique. They just liked the way she sounded and bought her records. Day had complete command over the volume and intensity of her voice. She could sing with power in her belt register while maintaining a beautiful tone, but also scale back for a delicate, subtle effect.

Day didn't just sing songs; she told them, varying her delivery and imbuing each lyric with care and depth. This allowed her to underplay emotion while still deeply moving her audience.

The Concept Albums

Despite Day's numerous successful hit singles and movie-themed albums, the excellence of her musical legacy is ultimately found in her concept albums, most of which she made with Columbia Records.

A match was made in musical heaven when arranger/composer Paul Weston stepped in. He recalled that Doris "was a very expressive singer. She could take a lyric, and to some extent act it out, while never losing sight of the music."

Day's concept albums included Day By Day, Day by Night, What Every Girl Should Know, Young Man with a Horn, Love Me or Leave Me, Duet with Andre Previn, Latin for Lovers (perfect for Day's sensuous voice), The Love Album and The Greatest Hits, which went Gold in 1964 and is still a best seller. But no matter how many people recognized her great talent, she was still called 'the girl next door," even in her obituaries.

A Magical Story

Lyricist Sammy Cahn along with others involved in the new production "Romance on the High Seas" gathered in the screening room to watch a new batch of tests. Cahn said: "I'll remember this to my grave... when Doris Day came on, the screen just exploded!"

It was not her so-called "girl next door" persona (translation: "ordinary"), they saw It was that undefinable, almost magical quality called charisma. Doris had it in abundance and it was the basis of her lifelong appeal.

Based on her screen test, Doris Day was hired by director Michael Curtiz ("Casablanca") as the lead in the new movie and introduced the Oscar-winning song "It's Magic" by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn. She was an instant star who only shone brighter over time.

Curtiz objected to Warner Brothers' suggestion that she receive acting lessons, saying she didn't need them. He later directed her in "My Dream Is Yours," "I'll See You In My Dreams," and "Young Man with a Horn," each with terrific standards from the American Songbook.

Day's filmography falls easily into two sections--17 Warner Brothers contract movies (all but two were musicals) in 1948-1954 and 22 with various studios in 1955-1968 (only two musicals).

Great at Playing Bitter

Doris' best movie is unquestionably "Love Me or Leave Me," although it may not be a favorite to watch. She plays a bitter and unhappy woman, the 1930s torch singer Ruth Etting stuck in a marriage to brutal gangster Marty Snyder, played by James Cagney. But if you can stand seeing Doris without her smile, you'll be rewarded by the 11 musical numbers, more than in any other Doris Day movie.

Equally as good is "Calamity Jane," which is fun all the way through. But again, you'll see a different Doris. She created a Calamity voice and way of behaving that completely erases the actress we know. But you will love her just the same.

In The Man Who Knew Too Much, Day has a 12-minute-long scene in which she doesn't speak or move positions. Her job is to appear anxious while glancing back and forth between the assassin and his target. She pulls it off very well, and director Alfred Hitchcock was quite pleased, although initially he didn't think she should be cast because she had been too sunny and cheerful in previous roles. It was an acting tour de force. Director Martin Scorsese once said, "I just love the good old Hollywood movies. The other day, I saw 'Love Me or Leave Me' starring Doris Day and James Cagney. It was terrific. Doris Day was superb; her performance in this film and Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much have been vastly underrated."

Film critics praised Doris Day's versatility, her ability to shine in comedies, musicals and even dark dramas. She received numerous acting awards, most notably the Golden Globe Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989. And her colleagues sang her praises often--Jack Lemmon, who worked with Day in It Happened to Jane, said that her natural, simple but effective acting style drew him into the scene and made him look good. James Garner said she was the Fred Astaire of comic timing, the ultimate expert. Rod Taylor said she was the best actor he'd ever worked with. And John Wayne was disappointed that he never got to work with her. He said he'd "crawl on his hands and knees to Beverly Hills just for the opportunity to be her co-star."

Doris' First Ambition

Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff originally wanted to be a dancer and as a child took tap lessons. She formed a duo with a boy her age (pre-teen). They showed such promise that their mothers made plans to move to Hollywood to further their careers.

But the night before they were to leave, Doris was in a horrendous car crash that shattered her right leg. Doctors feared she would never walk again. She spent eight months in a full leg cast in a two-year recovery process. She amused herself by singing along with Ella Fitzgerald on radio and records, learning how to sing. Her mother arranged for singing lessons.

Making Her Dream Come True

In the Warner Brothers musicals, Doris displayed her formidable dancing skills. That she was able to dance at all was a miracle, but to do it at such a high level was further proof of her phenomenal talent.

Miriam Nelson, choreographer and wife of dancer Gene Nelson, said: "Doris Day was the most gifted dancer I ever worked with. She had perfect rhythm and could do any routine I showed her, often better than I could."

The Hays Code and the Doris Day Myths

It's interesting that the Hays Commission (1934-1968) and Doris Day's career (1938-1968) existed at the same time. Part of Day's career was shaped by the rules set forth by this powerful group. But it gave rise to baseless myths that remained with her all her life, namely the "girl next door" and the "40-year-old virgin." Both were baseless fabrications about an actress who had to play parts that fit a strict moral code.

The Hays office existed to ensure motion pictures adhered to the moral code of the time. The committee went over scripts with a fine-toothed comb, looking for anything that smacked of sex. The code stated that people did not engage in sexual intimacy until after marriage. Even married couples were supposed to use twin beds.

Salacious and Fallacious

Both Pillow Talk and Lover Come Back used the plot device of having the womanizing Rock Hudson character assume a different identity in order to win the Doris Day character's affections. The scripts followed the Hays code while ignoring logic and believability. Teacher's Pet with Clark Gable is an entirely different matter. It has an intelligent script and is thoroughly enjoyable. There is NO instance of Doris Day's character "saving herself for marriage" in any of her movies. She prefers being treated as a person rather than a sex object, that's all. The description is a ridiculous fabrication, yet even some of her obituaries mentioned it.

Turning down "Mrs. Robinson"

Doris Day is sometimes criticized for turning down the role of Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate, played ultimately by Anne Bancroft, who was nominated for Best Actress at the 1968 Academy Awards. Doris felt the concept of a middle-aged woman seducing a young man half her age went against her values. More power to her!

The idea of Doris Day playing an alcoholic, unhappy seducer of a young man her daughter's age was beyond ridiculous. It is tantamount to having Shirley Temple play the murderous child in The Bad Seed or Cary Grant playing Jack the Ripper! Turning down this role was prudish. It was intelligent.

The Real Doris Day

The Cincinnati native had natural beauty, a charismatic personality, a kind heart and phenomenal talent. She was a top-level singer, dancer, and actress. And to top it off, she developed the highly respected Doris Day Animal Foundation, which has been caring for animals for decades.

She received numerous honors throughout the years: the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2004, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008, the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1989, the LA Film Critics Association Career Achievement Award in 2011, and the Society of Singers' Ella Award in 2010. She also would have received Kennedy Center honors and an Academy Awards Honorary Award, but her fear of flying prevented her from getting those.

Despite all the accolades, Doris is in some ways still underappreciated, never mentioned as one of the great entertainers of all time. But not by her fans. They know her worth, and she is beloved by millions. As Tom Santopietro wrote in his excellent book, "Considering Doris Day" (St. Martin's Press, 2007), "Doris Day could do it all, and did it so naturally, in such an unintimidating package, that people didn't realize just how great she really was."

Amen.

It's time to drop the demeaning "girl next door" and "40-year-old virgin" tags and give Doris Day the respect she deserves!