Longtime actress and singer Doris Day, who achieved fame in the 1950s and 1960s to become one of the most popular actresses in history, died at age 97, according to reports.
The Doris Day Animal Foundation confirmed Day died on May 13, saying she died at her home in Carmel Valley, California, The Associated Press reported. She was surrounded by her friends.
“Day had been in excellent physical health for her age, until recently contracting a serious case of pneumonia, resulting in her death,” the foundation stated.
Day had recently celebrated her 97th birthday.
Her movie career started with a role in the 1948 musical comedy “Romance on the High Seas,” and became a hit with audiences.
She initial specialized in musical comedy roles, which include “My Dream is Yours,” “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” “Tea for Two,” and others.
“Her persona hit a cultural mother lode, tapping into what the average postwar woman was about,” Drew Casper, a USC film professor, told the Los Angeles Times.
“Every female wanted to be Doris Day and every male wanted to marry somebody like her,” Casper said.
Her work shows “how much of an icon she was, how much she became in her own way, the female equivalent of John Wayne or Clint Eastwood,” Times film critic Kenneth Turan said in the article.
And Rock Hudson stated that the actress “was an Actors Studio all by herself,” according to the report.
Hudson, the legendary actor, also wrote: “Her sense of timing, her instincts—I just kept my eyes open and copied her.”
Notable Celebrity Deaths in 2019
Peggy Lipton
Actress Peggy Lipton, who starred in David Lynch’s iconic show “Twin Peaks,” and the 1960s show “The Mob Squad,” died on May 11 at the age of 72.
The cause of death was cancer.
Actress Rashida Jones (C) poses with her father Quincy Jones and her mother Peggy Lipton, at the premiere of "Celeste and Jesse Forever" at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, on Jan. 20, 2012. Lipton died of cancer at age 72. Danny Moloshok/AP Photo, File
Nipsey Hussle
Rapper Nipsey Hussle was shot dead at the age of 33 in South Los Angeles on March 31.
Nipsey Hussle and Lauren London in Los Angeles, on Feb. 7, 2019. The rapper was shot dead in late March. Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images
Iconic “Boyz N The Hood” director and the youngest ever Oscar nominee for best picture died after spending days in a coma following a stroke.
John Singleton at the 90th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, Calif., on March 4, 2018. Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
Peter Tork
Peter Tork of the Monkees died at 77 in February 2019. Noel Vasquez/Getty Images
Albert Finney
British actor Albert Finney died in February 2019 at the age of 82. Lucy Nicholson/AFP/Getty Images
James Ingram
Longtime R&B singer James Ingram died in late January. Quincy Jones, a collaborator of his, wrote, “With that soulful, whisky sounding voice, James Ingram was simply magical ... every beautiful note that James sang pierced your essence and comfortably made itself at home.”
Singer James Ingram died at the age of 66 after a battle with brain cancer, according to reports on Jan. 29. Getty Images
Freddie Starr
Celebrity comedian Freddie Starr died aged 76 at his home in Spain, according to reports.
The body of the British-born funnyman was reportedly discovered by a caregiver at his apartment in Mijas on the Costa del Sol on May 9, the Mirror reported.
Starr had been ill.
A neighbor, who asked not to be named, told the Mirror: “His carer found him dead in his chair at around 3:30 p.m. Police arrived first and then later an ambulance arrived and he was taken away.
“His next door neighbor, who is a nurse, said he was definitely dead. She said she thinks he may have suffered a heart attack.”
Legendary comedian Freddie Starr at the British Comedy Awards at Fountain Studios in London, on Dec. 16, 2011. Stuart Wilson/Getty Images
Kelly Jobanputra
BBC Radio 6 music presenter Kelly Jobanputra, of Swindon in southwest England, died on April 26, according to the Swindon Advertiser. She was tragically struck and killed by a train, according to reports.
The celebrity radio host had just turned 40 in April, The Sun reported, and last year had given birth to her second child.
Kelly Jobanputra poses for a photograph she posted on Twitter on March 31, 2019. @KelJobanputra/Twitter
Fatima Ali
“Top Chef” alum Fatima Ali died on Jan. 25, after a battle with terminal cancer. She was 29.
Former “Top Chef” contestant Bruce Kalman paid tribute to her: “It’s with a heavy heart we say goodbye to Fatima Ali today, as she has lost her battle with cancer,” he wrote.
“Top Chef” star Fatima Ali died at the age of 29 after battling a form of bone cancer, said her family. Instagram
Carol Channing
Carol Channing, whose career spanned decades on Broadway and on television, died at age 97. Publicist B. Harlan Boll said Channing died of natural causes early in Rancho Mirage, Calif., on Jan. 15, 2019. Jim Cole/AP Photo, File
Bob Einstein
Bob Einstein in Hollywood, Calif., on June 27, 2018. Christopher Polk/Getty Images
Comedian and actor Bob Einstein died on Jan. 2 after a battle with cancer. He was 76.
Daryl Dragon
Daryl 'The Captain' Dragon beside his ex-wife, Toni Tennille, wearing his signature captain's hat. Hillel Italie/AP
Daryl Dragon, or “Captain,” of pop group Captain and Tennille, died on Jan. 2 of renal failure.
Jack Phillips
Breaking News Reporter
Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter who covers a range of topics, including politics, U.S., and health news. A father of two, Jack grew up in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
