A birthday surprise: Day a bit older than she thought
LOS ANGELES — To Doris Day’s many admirers, the pert and fresh-faced charmer who starred in Pillow Talk and Move Over Darling is ageless.
But Day turned 95 on Monday — which is a birthday surprise to even the star herself, who has long pegged her age to a 1924 birthdate that would make her 93. Media outlets have variously reported her as between 93 and 95.
A copy of Day’s birth certificate, obtained by the Associated Press from Ohio’s Office of Vital Statistics, settles the issue: Doris Mary Kappelhoff, her prefame name, was born on April 3, 1922, making her 95. Her parents were Alma and William Kappelhoff of Cincinnati.
“I’ve always said that age is just a number and I have never paid much attention to birthdays, but it’s great to finally know how old I really am!” Day said in a statement Sunday.
She’s in excellent company with other vibrant Hollywood standouts lucky enough to reach that milestone year, including Betty White, a close friend, and Carl Reiner.
“There has long been speculation and rumours about Doris’s age and we get this question a lot, looks like we finally have the answer,” said Day’s spokesman, Charley Cullen Walters. “The story I have heard the most is that at one point Doris was up for a role when quite young and her age may have been miswritten on the audition form. We don’t know if that’s correct, but if so it could’ve simply stuck for all these years.”
He said Day and White had long joked about White being two years older.
“Now we know that they are actually just a couple of months apart, and turns out it’s an even bigger exciting landmark than we thought,” Walters said. White was born in January 1922.
On previous birthdays, Day has said she doesn’t care about her age but rather using the occasion to highlight her favourite cause: animals. A longtime supporter of animal welfare, Day founded the non-profit Doris Day Animal Foundation in 1978 .