Vintage postcard, no. 3494. Photo: RKO Radio Films. Laraine Day's first name is misspelt here as Loraine.
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. P 301. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Lew Ayres and Laraine Day in The Secret of Dr. Kildare (Harold S. Bucquet, 1939).
Calling Dr. Kildare
Laraine Day was born La Raine Johnson in 1920 on an Indian reservation in Roosevelt, Utah, USA. Her parents were Clarence Irwin Johnson and Ada M. (Rich) Johnson. Her father was a grain dealer and an interpreter for the Ute Indian tribes. She had a twin brother, Lamar. Her prominent Mormon family relocated to Long Beach, California, during her childhood.
She began her acting journey with the Long Beach Players and secured her first film role as an uncredited extra in the Barbara Stanwyck vehicle Stella Dallas (King Vidor, 1937). Early roles included leads in several B-movie Westerns opposite George O'Brien, such as Border G-Men (Lew Landers, 1938) and The Painted Desert (George D. Baker, 1938).
Her career breakthrough arrived in 1939 when she signed a contract with MGM and was cast as Nurse Mary Lamont, the love interest of Lew Ayres's character, in the highly successful Dr. Kildare film series. Day appeared in seven of these films, including Calling Dr. Kildare (Harold S. Bucquet, 1939) and Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day (Harold S. Bucquet, 1941), before her character was tragically killed off.
Loaned out to other studios, she delivered memorable performances in films like the Hitchcock thriller Foreign Correspondent (Alfred Hitchcock, 1940) with Joel McCrea, the Irish melodrama My Son, My Son! (Charles Vidor, 1940), and the romantic comedy Mr. Lucky (H.C. Potter, 1943) alongside Cary Grant.
A disagreement with MGM over a promised role led her to leave the studio, after which she delivered what she considered her favourite role in the psychological Film Noir The Locket (John Brahm, 1946), playing a complex, kleptomaniac woman opposite Robert Mitchum.
Vintage postcard. Photo: R.K.O. Radio Films.
Dutch postcard by Takken, no. 3108. Laraine Day's first name is misspelt here as Loraine.
The First Lady of Baseball
Laraine Day's life outside of acting was as dynamic as her film career. She was married three times, most notably to the controversial baseball manager Leo Durocher from 1947 to 1960.
Her involvement in his career earned her the nickname 'The First Lady of Baseball, ' and she even hosted a pre-game show for the New York Giants. A devout Mormon her entire life, she was known in Hollywood for her clean living, abstaining from smoking and drinking.
After divorcing Durocher, she married television producer Michael Grilikhes in 1961 and had two daughters. Her later career included hosting her own television and radio shows and authoring two books, 'Day with the Giants' (1952) and 'The America We Love' (1971).
Day made her final screen appearance in a 1986 episode of Murder, She Wrote, starring Angela Lansbury. After her third husband's death, she moved back to her home state and lived in Ivins, Utah.
There, she passed away in 2007 at the age of 87. Despite never achieving major superstar status, Laraine Day earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6676 Hollywood Blvd for her contributions to motion pictures.
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 581. Photo: United Artists.
British postcard in the Colourgraph Series, London, no. C 398. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Sources: Hollywood Walk of Fame, Wikipedia (English and Dutch), and IMDb.
