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Doris Day Net Worth ([2021])
Lifestyle | Bio | Facts [UPDATED]

Doris Day


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What is Doris Day Net Worth?

Doris Day Net Worth, Biography & Lifestyle: Doris Day was an American actress, singer, and animal welfare activist who died in 2019 with a net worth of $200 million. She began her career as a singer with Les Brown & His Band of Renown in 1939. Doris was a notable film star, a top female box office star, in the 1950s and 1960s, and 

And what about her track record, you may wonder?

Fortunately for you, we will not only discuss Doris Day Net Worth in this post, but we will also go into:

  • Her childhood and how she got into the entertainment industry;
  • Her fascinating professional path;
  • Her passion and affection for animals;
  • Some amazing facts about the actress;
  • And much more!

Let’s get started…

Who Is Doris Day?

Doris Day Net Worth

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Net Worth: $200 Million
Date of Birth: 102 years old
Gender: Female
Height: 5 ft 6 in (1.7 m)
Profession: Singer, Actress, TV Personality, Animal Welfare Activist
Relationship Status: Divorced
Nationality: American
Place Of Birth: Cincinnati, Ohio
Marital Status/ Relationship: Divorced
Died: May 13, 2019 (aged 97)
Eye Colour:  Blue
Zodiac Sign: Aries
No. of Children: 1 – Terry Melcher
Smoking/ Drinking: Yes
Tattoos: None
Religion: Christian Science
Languages: English

Doris Day, born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff on April 3, 1922, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and died May 13, 2019, in Carmel Valley, California, was an American singer and motion picture actress best known for her roles in 1950s movie musicals and early 1960s romantic comedies.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, her natural charm and pure femininity made her the epitome of the perfect lady

And not only that…

She is known as the epitome of a perfect lady of her generation. 

And we’ve only just started…

Doris started her career as a singer, performing in Barney Rapp, Bob Crosby, and Les Brown.

After working with the band, Day went solo in 1947 and became a successful recording artist. Her voice has a crystal clear tone and the capacity to communicate strong emotion without using histrionics(drama).

In addition to that…

She made approximately 650 recordings between 1947 and 1967. 

Soon after that, she became an accomplished actress. 

Romance on the High Seas was Doris’s debut film. She would go on to appear in 39 feature films throughout her career. 

And from this…

She became the highest-paid female box-office star of all time and rated sixth overall among male and female actors.

But here’s the kicker…

The actress believed she was immensely wealthy after decades of incredible success. 

Doris Day was startled to learn that her third husband, Martin Melcher, and his financial partner and “adviser,” Jerome Bernard Rosenthal, had blown her wealth, putting her heavily in debt, after Martin Melcher died on April 20, 1968. 

And not only that…

Doris Day was left with a $500 thousand debt after the two squandered more than $20 million of her money.

Have you ever wondered how she managed to surpass that?

Doris’ son Terry, a prominent and rich music executive at the time, rushed in to protect his mom’s assets and prevent her estate from going bankrupt.

Apart from that…

To supplement her income, she decided to act in The Doris Day Show, a sitcom that ran for five years and was a huge success. 

With this…

Doris’ finances were finally straightened up. She was allowed to keep her rich real estate portfolio, which included homes in Malibu and Beverly Hills and many high-value hotels.

Man’s life, like any story, has an ending. 
After contracting pneumonia, Day passed away on May 13, 2019, at the age of 97. Her organization, the Doris Day Animal Foundation, issued a statement announcing her death

How Much Is Doris Day Worth?

At the time of her death in 2019, Doris Day had a net worth of $200 million.

Doris Day Net Worth Year By Year

YearEarnings $
2015$193 million
2016$195 million
2017$199 million
2018$200 million
2019$200 million

Doris Day Movies

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The Doris Day Show

A complete collection, from seasons 1-5

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Pillow Talk

A man and woman carry their feud over the telephone line they share into their real lives.

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The Man Who Knew Too Much”

An American couple was vacationing in Morocco, whose son is kidnapped and taken to England.

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Love Me Or Leave Me

A fictionalized account of the career of jazz singer Ruth Etting and her tempestuous marriage to gangster Marty Snyder helped propel her to stardom.

Cypress-Inn Carmel-by-the-Sea

Doris Day, the renowned singer, actress, and animal activist, has operated Cypress Inn with Dennis LeVett for more than 20 years. Doris’ strong love for animals was instrumental in establishing Cypress Inn as the “pet friendliest” inn in the “pet friendliest” town in America!

The Young Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff

Young Doris Day

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Doris Day was born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff, the daughter of Alma Sophia and William Joseph Kappelhoff, was born on April 3, 1922, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her mother was a stay-at-home mom, while her father was a choirmaster and music instructor. 

She was the youngest of three siblings, with two older brothers: Richard (who died before she was born) and Paul (two to three years her senior).

Doris Day Family & Relationships

Son: Terry Melcher

Doris Day Sons

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Terrence Paul Melcher, born Terrence Paul Jorden on February 8, 1942, was an American record producer, singer, and songwriter who helped shape the California Sound and folk-rock movements in the mid-to-late 1960s.

Doris Day’s only child, Melcher, was born to her first husband, Al Jorden, and was adopted by her third husband, Martin Melcher.

Melcher died at his home on November 19, 2004, at 62, following a long battle with melanoma.

4th Husband: Barry Comden

Doris Day Huspand

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From April 14, 1976, to April 2, 1982, Day was married to Barry Comden (1935–2009). He worked at one of Day’s favorite restaurants as the maître d’hôtel.

On April 2, 1982, they divorced, and Comden subsequently claimed that she was more concerned with her “animal pals” than he was.

3rd Husband: Martin Melcher

Doris Day Husband

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On April 3, 1951, on her 29th birthday, Day married American film producer Martin Melcher (1915–1968). Many of Day’s films were produced by Melcher. 

Melcher adopted Day’s son Terry, who went by the stage name Terry Melcher and became a renowned musician and record producer.

Sadly…

Their marriage lasted until April 1968, when he died.

2nd Husband: George William Weidler

The saxophonist George William Weidler is the brother of actress Virginia Weidler. Several years later, after a brief reunion, Weidler and Day reconnected, and he introduced her to Christian Science. From March 30, 1946, to May 31, 1949, they were married.

1st Husband: Al Jorden

Doris Day’s first spouse was trombonist Al Jorden. She was a member of Barney Rapp’s Band when she met him. Jorden was a violent schizophrenic who committed suicide later in life. 

Their marriage lasted from March 1941 until February 1943.

From that one side of her life, let’s move on to the other part.

Have you ever wondered how her career started?

We’re going to take a close look at how Doris Day spends her money – her house, and how philanthropic she is. But first, let’s take a look at her career, as well as some scandals and controversies.

Doris Day Career

Doris was drawn to music and dance as a child, eventually joining a dance pair that performed locally until she got involved in a car accident when the car she was traveling in was hit by a train, breaking her right leg and putting an end to her dream of becoming a professional dancer.

On the other hand…

Doris received a vocal education while recovering by listening to the radio, becoming a fan of the embryonic albums of forthcoming Ella Fitzgerald. 

Doris’s mother motivated her to take singing lessons. Alma introduced Doris to voice teacher Grace Raine, who was blown away by Doris’ innate ability.

As a result of this…

Kappelhoff’s first professional job is as a vocalist on the WLW radio show Carlin’s Carnival and at Charlie Yee’s Shanghai Inn, a neighborhood restaurant.

Doris caught the attention of Barney Rapp, an American orchestra leader and jazz musician from the 1920s through the 1940s, who asked her if she wanted to audition for a female vocalist.

Let me tell you an interesting fact.

After Rapp suggested that “Kappelhoff” was too lengthy and clunky for marquee appeal, she adopted the stage name “Day.”

Not long after that…

Following her time with Rapp, Day went on to work with bandleaders Jimmy James, Bob Crosby, and Les Brown. Day performed as a singer in three Soundies with the Les Brown band in 1941.

Day’s first hit single, Sentimental Journey,’’ was released in early 1945 when working with Brown. It quickly became an anthem of World War II, demobilizing troops’ yearning to return home. 

The song is still linked with Day, and she re-recorded it numerous times, notably in her 1971 television special, Doris Day Special.”

During 1945–46, Day (as vocalist with the Les Brown Band) earned six more Billboard top ten hits such as My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time, “Tain’t Me,” “Till The End of Time,” “You Won’t Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart),” “The Whole World is Singing My Song,” and “I Got the Sun in the Mornin.”

She didn’t stop there…

Doris Day was also an accomplished actress.  

To sum it all…

She would go on to appear in 39 feature films throughout her career. 

Day won the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement as well as the Career Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. She has 31 albums to her credit and has been honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

In addition to that…

Day also set the record for receiving seven consecutive Laurel Awards as the top female box office star

Doris Day Scandals & Controversies

2004: After a car accident near her home, the victim decided to sue Day. Later, the two reconciled.

Not only that…

According to rumor, Doris Day’s great, forbidden love was with actor Patrick O’Neal, who starred in many episodes of her 1970s television show The Doris Day Show… O’Neal was also a married man.

Doris went on to say that the year-long relationship was one of the happiest she’d ever had. Doris revealed, “This man I fell in love with was different from the men I had known before.”

1969: Murder at the former house of Doris Day’s son, Terry Melcher. Charles Manson supposedly chose the home to instill fear into Terry Melcher since Terry had given them his word on a couple of things and never followed through.

1969: Doris Day found out that her then-husband, Melcher, and his business partner, Jerome Bernard Rosenthal, had lost her $20 million fortune and put her in serious debt. Day sued Rosenthal in February 1969, and she eventually got some of her money back.

1967: Her first marriage, at the age of 17, to trombone player Al Jordan, whom she met while performing in Barney Rapp’s band, was a disaster. Jordan eventually committed suicide because he was depressed and felt his life had no meaning following his highly publicized divorce.

How Doris Day Spends Her Money

Doris Day spends her money on her foundation and on the Cy-press Inn, which she was a co-owner.

Doris Day House in Carmel, CA

Doris Day House

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Doris Day’s former home has been put up for sale for $7.4 million. It is being sold for the first time since it was built in 1960.

The 8,382-square-foot home in Carmel, California, features a 1,236 square-foot guesthouse and two caretaker apartments in the brilliant red gatehouse.

Despite being erected in the 1960s, the property’s buildings have been carefully preserved, and its interiors are flooded in light and brilliant colors and pristine white.

Doris Day Car – 1930 Ford Convertible

Doris Day

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Day’s 1930 Ford Model A, which she had for almost 35 years. The rumble-seat roadster, dubbed “Buttercup” by Day. It was auctioned for $96,000.

Doris Day Philanthropy

Doris Day Animal Foundation

Doris shifted her emphasis to assisting animals full-time after leaving Hollywood and the entertainment world.

She created the non-profit Doris Day Pet Foundation, which is now the Doris Day Animal Foundation, in 1978, intending to find homes for many animals. With the aid of a committed team of volunteers, she was fostering animals at her home, leasing kennel space, giving veterinary care, and finding loving forever homes.

Doris soon realized that saving animals was insufficient.

Doris Day Animal League (DDAL)

In 1987, she founded the Doris Day Animal League (DDAL), a nationwide non-profit citizens’ lobbying group, to supplement the Doris Day Pet Foundation. DDAL quickly became one of the most effective voices for animals on Capitol Hill because of Doris’ engagement in sending letters and phoning senators.

That leads us to…

The establishment of Spay Day USA in 1995 is one of Doris’ and DDAL’s finest achievements. The effort, now known as World Spay Day, currently includes 70 countries.

Yes. You read that right! 70 countries!

The Doris Day Animal League and the Humane Society of the United States joined in 2007 to provide the Humane Society of the United States a stronger legislative presence in Washington.

We are not done yet…

Soon after that…

The Doris Day Horse Rescue and Adoption Center, which aids mistreated and neglected horses, debuted in Murchison, Texas, in 2011. It was built on an animal sanctuary founded by her late friend, novelist Cleveland Amory. Day gave $250,000 to the center’s establishment.

Did you know that…

In April 2020, a postmortem auction of 1,100 Days’ belongings raised $3 million for the Doris Day Animal Foundation.

Fun Facts About Doris Day

  • Doris was named after Doris Kenyon, a silent film actress whom her mother adored.
  • Smoked 2-1/2 packs of cigarettes a day until about 1951.
  • She has a fear of flying.
  • Her nickname is Clara Bixby.
  • Day said she was born in 1924 for most of her life until the Associated Press discovered her birth certificate, which showed she was born in 1922, on her 95th birthday.
  • Doris Day has always had a soft spot for animals and has been devoted to them since she was a child. Her dog, “Tiny,” helped her cope when she was recovering from a childhood car accident.

Doris expressed her thoughts,

“It was during this time that I began a lifelong love affair with dogs, a sentiment known only to dog lovers – and cat lovers, too. Their affection and caring is a relief from tensions and anxiety.”

5 Lessons We Can Learn From Doris Day For Financial Freedom

  1. When it comes to your money, don’t put your confidence in just anyone.
  2. Learn how to keep track of your money and balance them.
  3. Don’t go overboard with your spending.
  4. Set a financial goal for yourself.
  5. Save money. This will come in handy in an emergency.

Top 3 Quotes From Doris Day

  • “I like joy; I want to be joyous; I want to have fun on the set; I want to wear beautiful clothes and look pretty. I want to smile, and I want to make people laugh. And that’s all I want. I like it. I like being happy. I want to make others happy.”
  • “Helping animals has been a lifelong passion. They give us unconditional love and ask very little in return.”
  • “The really frightening thing about middle age is the knowledge that you’ll grow out of it.”

Top 3 Memes From Doris Day

Doris Day

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Doris Day

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Doris Day

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What Did Doris Day Died Of?

After contracting pneumonia, Doris Day died on May 13, 2019, at the age of 97

What Was Doris Day’s First Movie?

“Romance on the High Seas” was Day’s first significant cinematic role (1948).

What Kind Of Voice Did Doris Day Have?

Doris Day had a great jazz vibrato voice.

Conclusion: Doris Day Net Worth, Biography & Lifestyle

There you have it.

Doris Day was a remarkable woman. She embodied the mid-century modern lady.

She embraces the definition of a grateful woman. She may have had numerous heartbreaks, but her outlook and how she perceived life are remarkable. 

I will end this with a quote from her;

“I always believe things work out exactly the way they are supposed to. There is no sense in having regrets.”

 I hope you found Doris Day Net worth, biography, and lifestyle interesting – Check out some of Doris Day’s Albums.

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