Singing Day’s Praises

My heartfelt thanks to Kenneth Turan and Susan King for their (mostly) kind words about one of Hollywood’s most talented and least appreciated actresses (“Doris Finally Gets Her Day,” Jan. 18). But their thoughtful commentaries tell only part of the story.

Doris Day was much more than merely one of the most popular box-office stars of the ‘50s and ‘60s--she was, some years, the most popular, male or female. (Her name appeared 10 times on the Motion Picture Herald’s top moneymakers. How many of her contemporaries could say that?) Women wanted to look like her, teenage girls wanted to be her, and men (secretly, I suspect) coveted her.

Despite a 20-year body of work that encompassed family films, dramas, comedies and musicals, she was all but overlooked by the motion picture academy (which repeatedly failed to recognize her quality performances) and continually derided by many critics (particularly in the ‘60s), who considered her a guilty pleasure, if they considered her at all. (Only feminist film historian Molly Haskell has consistently trumpeted her virtues.)

In addition to being a formidable box-office draw, Day was a best-selling recording artist, animal activist (long before it was fashionable) and successful TV star, a medium that has made short work of the likes of Judy Garland, Debbie Reynolds and Julie Andrews.

I say all this by way of a request to the academy, the American Film Institute and other film-oriented organizations: Isn’t it about time you formally saluted this criminally under-honored actress with a lifetime achievement award? She is long overdue.

KYLE COUNTS

San Diego