Happy Birthday, Doris!

Apr 6, 2016
1 min read

Just seen on the internet that Doris Day was 92 this week!

I was a great fan of hers when I was about ten, or so, and went to see all of her films. My friends and I would tumble out of the 'flicks', full of the glamour and razmataz of Hollywood - so alien to our little, scruffy, slummy, South London world - pretending to be her! And talking in, what we thought, were great American accents.

Who could forget 'Don't Eat the Daisies', 'Calamity Jane', 'The Pyjama Game', etc. Who could ever forget (though I forget the film!) Doris singing to her reflection in the mirror, 'Hey there, you with the stars in your eyes, love never made such a fool of you, you used to be too wise . . .'

And yes, I remember every word of that song!

Me, very grown-up now, at the grand old age of eighteen, and my work friends and I met a young American guy who was a chauffeur for the American Embassy. Eddie. We used to lunch at the same Italian restaurant in Soho Square. He told me that I looked like Doris Day, and insisted, as much as I protested, on calling me Doris. He would walk into the restaurant and shout out, across the tables, 'Hey, DORIS!' and I would just cringe with embarrassment. (Such an unfashionable name - then and now!)