Acclaimed singer and actress Doris Day was an avid sports fan, best known for her devoted support of the LA Dodgers and Lakers and the New York Yankees. She was also an avid golfer.
Doris Day was one of the most successful female singers of the 1940s and 1950s, and she also had a successful career as a leading actress in many Hollywood films. Known as “America’s girl next door,” Day often appeared in public at Los Angeles Dodgers games in the early 1960s, keeping score and singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
Day not only connected with the Los Angeles Dodgers but also met New York Yankees legends. While promoting the romantic comedy film That Touch of Mink (1962), Day and Cary Grant visited Dodger Stadium with Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Yogi Berra.
In the early 1960s, Day also frequently attended Los Angeles Lakers games. She held courtside season tickets at the Sports Arena and Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, earning the nickname “Lady of the Lakers” from Los Angeles Times columnist Charles Maher. The connection originated when the team doctor of the Lakers, Ernie Vandeweghe (father of former basketball player and coach Kiki Vandeweghe), helped introduce some popular Hollywood figures to the team in the early 1960s, handing out courtside seats to stars like Dean Martin, Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, and Doris Day. This made Day the team’s first celebrity courtside fixture.
Day was often photographed courtside at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, most notably watching the Lakers play against the Boston Celtics in multiple NBA Finals. In addition to being a true superfan of the Dodgers and Lakers, Day also enjoyed playing sports.
Photo courtesy Craig Marquis’s post on Facebook
In a July 1970 Sports Illustrated profile, Day said swimming was her main exercise, maintaining a private pool she heated to at least 94 degrees, where she swam several times a day. She enjoyed playing golf, and was often photographed/filmed playing or posing with golf clubs. She famously posed with Bob Hope in a classic promotional/staged golf lesson. Day featured golf scenes and rode around in a golf cart during the production of her film Send Me No Flowers (1964).
After she retired from the movies, Day became a resident of Carmel Valley, California. She lived in a hilltop estate named Overlook, which overlooked the 18th hole at the Quail Lodge & Golf Club in Carmel Valley, California.
When Day celebrated her birthday, her adoring fans gathered along the golf course behind her property, and she often came out to her balcony or even greeted them from her home. Her fans, known as Dayniacs, would sing “Happy Birthday” to her from above her balcony.
Courtesy of Linda Sherrin on Pinterest
Doris Day began her career as a big band singer in 1937. As a recording artist, she achieved most of her success in the 1940s and 1950s. She had 5 number-one hits: “Sentimental Journey”, “My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time”, “Love Somebody”, “A Guy Is a Guy”, and “Secret Love”. Other popular songs Day sang were “It’s Magic”, “A Bushel and a Peck”, “It’s a Lovely Day Today,” “Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)”, and “Everybody Loves a Lover”.
She had equal success as a star in Hollywood, appearing in multiple films like Romance on the High Seas (1948), It’s a Great Feeling (1949), Tea for Two (1950), Lullaby of Broadway (1951), On Moonlight Bay (1951), I’ll See You in My Dreams (1951), The Winning Team (1952), April in Paris (1952), By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953), Calamity Jane (1953), Young at Heart (1954), Love Me or Leave Me (1955), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), The Pajama Game (1957), Teacher’s Pet (1958), It Happened to Jane (1959), Pillow Talk (1959), Please Don’t Eat the Daisies (1960), Lover Come Back (1961), Billy Rose’s Jumbo (1962), The Thrill of It All (1963), Move Over, Darling (1963), The Glass Bottom Boat (1966), and With Six You Get Eggroll (1968).
After her film career ended, Day turned to television and starred in her own sitcom, The Doris Day Show (1968-1973). A passionate animal lover, she also starred in the series Doris Day’s Best Friends (1985-1986).
Doris Day lived a full life. She died in 2019 at the age of 97.
