It’s a special double length bonus today as we explore the life and the loves of Doris Day in this Trashy Divorces crossover!
Actress and singer Doris Day built a giant career in Hollywood on the image of the All-American Girl, a perfectly relatable Girl Next Door, virtuous and funny. It was pure spin, with Groucho Marx once quipping, “I’ve been around so long, I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin.” Doris herself chafed at the limitations of the typecasting and how utterly at odds it was to the life she was actually living. In this first part of her story, Alicia takes us through her start in show business, her first two husbands, and a whole lotta playing the field in 1950s Hollywood.
In the second half, Alicia tracks Doris Day’s disastrous marriage to Martin Melcher, and the enormous financial hole he left her in when he died at the young age of 52. There was still one more husband to go before Doris would decide she’d had enough of matrimony and turned her focus to a more deserving cause: rescuing animals.
More spiderwebs to come in tomorrow’s episode, bringing it all together!
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Sources
About Doris (dorisday.com)
Doris Day was a conservative icon amid a turbulent counterculture. But her life belied her persona. (vox.com)
Al Jorden Made Doris Day’s Life A Living Hell By Beating Her Senseless (allthatsinteresting.com)
The Sad Truth About Doris Day’s Marriage To Al Jorden (thelist.com)
Doris Day’s 3rd Husband Left Her in Debt When He Suddenly Died after Spending Her $20m (amomama.com)
The tragic last days of ‘manipulated’ Hollywood icon Doris Day | Page Six
Barry Comden dies at 74; restaurateur was 4th husband of Doris Day – Los Angeles Times
How Doris Day’s third husband cost her sanity – and her £66million fortune (dailymail.co.uk)
Doris Day’s son Terry Melcher was ‘very paranoid’ after Manson murders, pal reveals in book (foxnews.com)
All-American Girl: Doris Day’s Deceptively Sunny Life | Vanity Fair
Doris Day’s son was the ‘reason’ for the Charles Manson Sharon Tate murders (express.co.uk)
Actress, singer and animal activist Doris Day dead at 97 (usatoday.com)
Doris Day’s Last Public Appearance Before Her Death at 97 Was Over 5 Years Ago (people.com)
Doris Day still radiant in special 97th birthday portrait, a month before her death (metro.co.uk)
Doris Day’s 4 Ex-Husbands, Marriage and Relationship Details | Closer Weekly
Biggest Bombshells from Doris Day’s Autobiography: Dating Ronald Reagan & More (people.com)
New Ronald Reagan book Love Triangle lays bare his affairs with stars (dailymail.co.uk)
All-American Girl: Doris Day’s Deceptively Sunny Life | Vanity Fair
Doris Day 100: Star had an affair with ‘oversexed’ Ronald Reagan ‘He wanted to propose’ (express.co.uk)
Bob Hope and the countless one-night stands: New book reveals his flings with Doris Day and Lucille Ball and a 30-year affair with a beauty queen (dailymail.co.uk)
Doris Day – America’s Sweetheart | ELYSIAN Magazine
When Doris Day (And Her Fortune) Got Taken For a Ride (forbes.com)