Doris Day: Her Own Story
when i bought this book at the flea market several months ago, the woman who sold it to me said "you'd never know it, but doris day had a pretty rough life." baby, did she ever!
doris is fucking annoyed by her IMAGE, you guys. and she lets her kid drop the f-bomb in the book a few times just to prove it. her purpose in writing this book is to make it very clear that she is not "America's Virgin," as she describes herself. get it? good.
it's kind of an oddly written book - apparently it's written by this A.E. Hotchner dude, but he writes it as doris talking in the first person, and all kinds of people in her life pop in randomly throughout the book to badmouth her ex-husbands and stuff for about half a page.
holy shit, though. she was first supposed to be a dancer, but then she was in a car-train accident that crushed both her legs, which is when she became a singer, and then married a totally sadistic trombone player who beat her mercilessly and ended up shooting himself in the head while driving around in his car. the way she tells it, she fell into acting without trying (she says throughout the book that she has no ambition whatsoever, and all she wants is to be a wife and mother. she says "stardom found me." i think is kind of a lie, but whatever). she stays with her third husband for almost 20 years, just to find out after his death that he had been quite a bit less-than-honest with her money the whole time. her son is almost murdered by charles manson! "patty andrews of the andrews sisters," as doris calls her, once came to her door swinging a baseball bat, wanting to kill her! and i'm only on chapter ten! i seriously sit on my couch with my eyes bugging out while i'm reading this book.
i have to say, doris day (she even hates the name doris day, and makes most of her friends call her "clara bixby") seems a little too into trying to destroy her image as a goody-two-shoes. i think she comes off as a bit of a sourpuss.
other stuff:
she was a devout christian scientist for a time, as was ginger rogers, apparently. was this a big thing in hollywood in the 40's or something? wasn't joan crawford a christian scientist too?
she refers to asians as "chinamen." COMPLETELY SERIOUS, HERE. and this was written in the 70's! however, she later writes about her father (who she once heard having sex with his mistress), who married an african-american woman long before that was even legal in most states, and she seems pretty cool with that, so yeah. baffling.
doris thinks every couple should live together before they get married. she knows that's just going to destroy her image, but she has to say what she feels!
there is an appendix in the back with some of doris's "diet, clothes, and makeup" secrets, and i can't wait to get to them.
i must HIGHLY recommend this book.
doris is fucking annoyed by her IMAGE, you guys. and she lets her kid drop the f-bomb in the book a few times just to prove it. her purpose in writing this book is to make it very clear that she is not "America's Virgin," as she describes herself. get it? good.
it's kind of an oddly written book - apparently it's written by this A.E. Hotchner dude, but he writes it as doris talking in the first person, and all kinds of people in her life pop in randomly throughout the book to badmouth her ex-husbands and stuff for about half a page.
holy shit, though. she was first supposed to be a dancer, but then she was in a car-train accident that crushed both her legs, which is when she became a singer, and then married a totally sadistic trombone player who beat her mercilessly and ended up shooting himself in the head while driving around in his car. the way she tells it, she fell into acting without trying (she says throughout the book that she has no ambition whatsoever, and all she wants is to be a wife and mother. she says "stardom found me." i think is kind of a lie, but whatever). she stays with her third husband for almost 20 years, just to find out after his death that he had been quite a bit less-than-honest with her money the whole time. her son is almost murdered by charles manson! "patty andrews of the andrews sisters," as doris calls her, once came to her door swinging a baseball bat, wanting to kill her! and i'm only on chapter ten! i seriously sit on my couch with my eyes bugging out while i'm reading this book.
i have to say, doris day (she even hates the name doris day, and makes most of her friends call her "clara bixby") seems a little too into trying to destroy her image as a goody-two-shoes. i think she comes off as a bit of a sourpuss.
other stuff:
she was a devout christian scientist for a time, as was ginger rogers, apparently. was this a big thing in hollywood in the 40's or something? wasn't joan crawford a christian scientist too?
she refers to asians as "chinamen." COMPLETELY SERIOUS, HERE. and this was written in the 70's! however, she later writes about her father (who she once heard having sex with his mistress), who married an african-american woman long before that was even legal in most states, and she seems pretty cool with that, so yeah. baffling.
doris thinks every couple should live together before they get married. she knows that's just going to destroy her image, but she has to say what she feels!
there is an appendix in the back with some of doris's "diet, clothes, and makeup" secrets, and i can't wait to get to them.
i must HIGHLY recommend this book.