Doris Day

She was the Hollywood sweetheart with a turbulent love life and a passion for animals. Michelle Davies looks back at the life of a legend, following her death at 97

- Michelle Davies

It was 1932 and Cincinnati dance studio Hessler’s announced it was giving away 25 free lessons to the child who could stand on their hands the longest. For dance-obsessed 10-year-old Doris Day, it was the prize of a lifetime and she would do whatever it took to win. “For weeks, I was never on my feet. I went up and down the stairs on my hands. I got up in the morning on my hands and went to bed that way,” she revealed years later. “I won the prize easily.”

It was this tenacity that saw Day survive a near-death accident to become one of the most successful actresses and singers during Hollywood’s golden age, starring in 38 films and recording more than 650 songs. When she died in May this year aged 97, the many obituaries written about her served to remind us what an icon she truly was, and also how, after retiring from acting, she became a leading animal rights activist. “[She] inspired so much of what I do,” wrote Stella McCartney, who knew Day through her own family’s work supporting animal rights. “An iconic woman who I was hugely honored to meet and share precious moments with.”