The film’s director, Michael Curtiz, absolutely loved Day’s audition. She admitted to him early on that her experience was in singing, not acting, but that didn’t seem to bother him one bit.
He would later report that discovering Doris Day was one of the proudest moments of his career. And the film was a hit, which launched an acting career that spanned two decades.
Doris and Al finally called it quits in 1943 and got a divorce. Doris left Terry with her mom in Cincinnati and went on tour with Les Brown. It was with his band, The Band of Renowned, where she would get her first taste of real, measurable success in the industry.
The year after she joined the group, they published the song “Sentimental Journey,” which found its way to number one on the charts.
But when exactly did Doris Day make the transition from bubbly big band performer to sultry Hollywood star? In 1948, she landed a starring role in "Romance on the High Seas", after she’d been spotted singing at a party by a famous songwriter who personally invited her in for a screen test.
After she made a great impression on screen in her first role, she soon found herself getting call after call from people who wanted her in their films.
Over the span of just three years, from 1950-1953, six of her musical films made the top 10 at the box office. Of those six, half of them hit number one.
Up until that point, Day had been working with Warner Brothers, but once her contract was up in 1955, she decided not to renew it. But her career wasn’t going to slow down anytime soon. In fact, it was just about to skyrocket.
That same year, she nabbed the role of Ruth Etting, in "Love Me or Leave Me". The film would end up becoming the biggest hit of her career. Day even said herself that it was her best performance. And she wasn’t the only one. The Academy granted the film multiple awards, including the award for Best Writing and Best Music.
She is widely praised for her work in "Calamity Jane." Day quickly rose to become the queen of musical comedy. And everyone in Hollywood was dying to work with her.