Laraine Day

From Alfred Hitchcock Wiki

born: 13/Oct/1920 (Roosevelt, Utah, USA)
died: 10/Nov/2007 (Utah, USA) - cancer

Biography

Laraine Day was an American actress.

Born in Roosevelt, Utah, she was a descendant of a prominent Mormon pioneer leader, and moved with her family from Utah to California, where she began her acting career with the Long Beach Players. In 1937 she debuted onscreen in a bit part in "Stella Dallas"; shortly afterwards she won lead roles in several George O'Brien westerns at RKO, in which she was billed as Laraine Hays and then Laraine Johnson. In 1939 she signed with MGM, going on to become popular and well-known (billed as Laraine Day) as "Nurse Mary Lamont", the title character's fiancee in a string of seven "Dr. Kildare" movies beginning with "Calling Dr. Kildare" (1939), with Lew Ayres playing Dr. Kildare.

She starred in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller "Foreign Correspondent" (1940) and was paired opposite major film stars, including Lana Turner, Cary Grant, and John Wayne. She hosted a TV show alternately called "Daydreaming with Laraine" or "The Laraine Day Show" (1951).

She was married to Ray Hendricks from 1942 to 1947, then to the baseball manager Leo Durocher from 1947 to 1960, when she was sometimes referred to as "the first lady of baseball". While Durocher was managing the New York Giants, Day wrote a book with the punning title "Day With the Giants" (1952).

After her divorce from Durocher, Day married the television producer Michael Grilikhes in 1960. She and Grilikhes had two daughters, Dana, born in 1962, and Gigi, in 1964. After their births, Day rarely appeared in films, and only occasionally appeared on TV, portraying matronly types. Day was devoted to the raising of her two daughters, and largely retired from film and television to spend time with her family and be active in her church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Laraine Day has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6676 Hollywood Blvd.

Laraine Day died on November 10, 2007 in Ivins, Utah at the home of her daughter, Gigi Bell, according to her publicist, Dale Olson. Day had moved to Utah in March after the death of her husband of 47 years, producer Michel M. Grilikhes.

(Wikipedia)