Doris Day: It's Magic (Full Frame)

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The smile that lit up millions of movie screens! With her considerable talent and plucky spirit, Doris Day embodied the wholesome ideal of 1950s America. But while her films were usually lighthearted, her own life was filled with turbulence and heartache. Scenes from her classic films, newsreels, trailers, rare photographs and intimate interviews with family, friends and colleagues document the dramatic life and career of a screen legend. Doris Kappelhoff was born in Ohio on April 3,1924. A talented performer from an early age, Doris' girlhood dreams of becoming a professional dancer were dashed in a car accident at the age of 14. During her recovery, Doris listened to the radio and fell in love with the voice of Ella Fitzgerald. With the same discipline and intensity that made her an accomplished dancer, Doris began to sing. She quickly secured a spot on a Cincinnati radio station and segued to singing in a nightclub, where the owner encouraged her to change her difficult surname to Day. At 16, Doris Day began touring with Les Brown's popular dance band and found enormous success as a singer. While in L.A., Doris Day was asked to audition for the part of a night club singer in "Romance On The High Seas." Her recording of the song "It's Magic" for the film sold over a million copies, and audiences quickly fell in love with the charismatic actress. Day became an instant success with films like "Calamity Jane" and "Love Me Or Leave Me." While enchanting audiences around the world, Day has survived both professional upsets and personal crises with dignity, and has used her celebrity to champion the cause of animal rights. In more than forty years as a Hollywood star, Doris Day has not only become an American icon but a role model, a devote mother and an inspiring human being.