There are a dwindling number of "greats" from Hollywood's "Golden Age" that are still with us. These are the household names who automatically triggered a response in moviegoers, who then rushed off to the local movie theater to enjoy them.
One of the greats is Doris Day and she is still with us, although she has deliberately maintained a low profile for the past 30 years. She's been doing something she considers far more important - helping to create awareness and to make a difference in the lives of millions of dogs and cats. Her work with the Doris Day Animal Foundation has occupied most of her time and she considers the work to be the most important work of her life.
To millions of film lovers and music lovers, however, she will forever be associated with the nearly 40 films she starred in during a dazzling career that saw her become the number one female box-office star in film history, a title she still holds. In films like "Calamity Jane", "Love Me or Leave Me", "Pillow Talk" and "Please Don't Eat the Daisies", she made it all look easy as she sang, danced and acted up a storm in comedies, dramas, westerns, musicals and suspense thrillers.
Find out what's happening in Concordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
In addition, she became Columbia's biggest selling female recording artist, recording well over 750 songs and selling tens of millions of copies in the process.
As she turns 90, Doris has little time to look back, although she is overwhelmed with the number of people who still find pleasure in the work she did many years ago. Even the President noted her invaluable contribution to the entertainment world when she was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Find out what's happening in Concordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
In a world that is increasingly disconnected, take an evening and watch a Doris Day film and be surprised at what you discover about the woman who could seemingly do it all. You might be pleasantly surprised.
This week on my WKXL program, "Downtown Dialogues", I paid tribute to Doris and our longstanding friendship. You can listen in at the link below:
