Laraine Day
Laraine Day, born La Raine Johnson, was a major movie star of the 1940s and '50s. Raised in Utah as part of a prominent Mormon family, she came to Hollywood as a young woman, and made her film debut with an uncredited role in Stella Dallas. Before she was famous she also played the birth-mother of Tarzan and Jane's adopted son "Boy" in Tarzan Finds a Son. Her break came in 1939, with the wildly popular "Dr Kildare" sequels. Day played Kildare's nurse and love interest in the third through ninth Kildare movies, until her character married the doctor in Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day. As Mrs Kildare, she was written out of the next, and last, Kildare feature. In 1942, she starred with Ayres again in the underrated axe murder melodrama Fingers at the Window. Over subsequent decades, her memorable films included the flashback-within-flashback-within-flashback drama The Locket, the gangster comedy Mr Lucky, and the campy paranoia piece I Married A Communist. She was among the all-star passengers in the overwrought airliner-in-peril drama The High and the Mighty, and in Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent it was Day who encouraged Joel McCrea to give his stirring report of the air raid at the film's climax Hitchcock's thinly-veiled plea for America to enter World War II. When television became a viable income source, Day found the small screen more inviting and less time-consuming than making movies, and she became primarily a TV actress. She had a 15-minute series of uplifting vignettes called Daydreaming with Laraine, and another 15-minute daily celebrity chat show called The Laraine Day Show. Married to New York Giants manager Leo Durocher, Day became one of TV's first female sports reporters when she hosted Day with the Giants, an early 1950s baseball talk show with Giants' players that aired on New York City's Channel 11. Her last film was a low-budget thriller, The Third Voice, in 1960, but she continued taking occasional guest roles on TV series Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Murder, She Wrote, etc. through the mid-1980s. Following her retierment she spent the remainder of her life active in the Mormon church, Republican politics, and various charity related work. Upon the death of her third husband Michael Grilikhes in March 2007 she moved back to her native Utah where she died that November at age 87. She is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, CA.
Filmography
Return to Fantasy Island
as Mrs. Grant
Return to Fantasy Island
as Mrs. Grant
Murder on Flight 502
as Claire Garwood
Murder on Flight 502
as Claire Garwood
The 3rd Voice
as Marian Forbes
The 3rd Voice
as Marian Forbes
Swiss Family Robinson
as Frannie (Mother)
Swiss Family Robinson
as Frannie (Mother)
Rendezvous in Black
as Florence Strickland
Rendezvous in Black
as Florence Strickland
Three for Jamie Dawn
as Sue Lorenz
Three for Jamie Dawn
as Sue Lorenz
Toy Tiger
as Gwendolyn Taylor
Toy Tiger
as Gwendolyn Taylor
Prima Donna
as Laraine Day
Prima Donna
as Laraine Day
The Final Tribute
as Joyce Carter
The Final Tribute
as Joyce Carter
Too Old for Dolls
as Marge Ramsay
Too Old for Dolls
as Marge Ramsay
The High and the Mighty
as Lydia Rice
The High and the Mighty
as Lydia Rice
The Woman on Pier 13
as Nan Lowry Collins
The Woman on Pier 13
as Nan Lowry Collins
Without Honor
as Jane Bandle
Without Honor
as Jane Bandle
My Dear Secretary
as Stephanie 'Steve' Gaylord
My Dear Secretary
as Stephanie 'Steve' Gaylord
Tycoon
as Maura Alexander Munroe
Tycoon
as Maura Alexander Munroe
The Locket
as Nancy
The Locket
as Nancy
Those Endearing Young Charms
as Helen Brandt
Those Endearing Young Charms
as Helen Brandt
Keep Your Powder Dry
as Leigh Rand
Keep Your Powder Dry
as Leigh Rand
Bride by Mistake
as Norah Hunter
Bride by Mistake
as Norah Hunter
The Story of Dr. Wassell
as Madeleine
The Story of Dr. Wassell
as Madeleine
Twenty Years After
as (archive footage)
Twenty Years After
as (archive footage)
Mr. Lucky
as Dorothy Bryant
Mr. Lucky
as Dorothy Bryant
Journey for Margaret
as Nora Davis
Journey for Margaret
as Nora Davis
The Glass Key
as Nurse (uncredited)
The Glass Key
as Nurse (uncredited)
Mr. Gardenia Jones
as Joanne
Mr. Gardenia Jones
as Joanne
Fingers at the Window
as Edwina 'Eddie' Brown
Fingers at the Window
as Edwina 'Eddie' Brown
A Yank on the Burma Road
as Gail Farwood
A Yank on the Burma Road
as Gail Farwood
Kathleen
as Martha Kent
Kathleen
as Martha Kent
Unholy Partners
as Miss 'Croney' Cronin
Unholy Partners
as Miss 'Croney' Cronin
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
as Nurse Mary Lamont
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
as Nurse Mary Lamont
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
as Nurse Mary Lamont
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
as Nurse Mary Lamont
The Bad Man
as Lucia Pell
The Bad Man
as Lucia Pell
The Trial of Mary Dugan
as Mary Dugan
The Trial of Mary Dugan
as Mary Dugan
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
as Nurse Mary Lamont
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
as Nurse Mary Lamont
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
as Self
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
as Self
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
as Nurse Mary Lamont
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
as Nurse Mary Lamont
Foreign Correspondent
as Carol Fisher
Foreign Correspondent
as Carol Fisher
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
as Mary Lamont
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
as Mary Lamont
And One Was Beautiful
as Kate Lattimer
And One Was Beautiful
as Kate Lattimer
My Son, My Son!
as Maeve O’Riordan
My Son, My Son!
as Maeve O’Riordan
I Take This Woman
as Linda Rodgers
I Take This Woman
as Linda Rodgers
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
as Mary Lamont
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
as Mary Lamont
Think First
as Marjorie (Margie) Smith
Think First
as Marjorie (Margie) Smith
Tarzan Finds a Son!
as Mrs. Richard Lancing
Tarzan Finds a Son!
as Mrs. Richard Lancing
Calling Dr. Kildare
as Nurse Mary Lamont
Calling Dr. Kildare
as Nurse Mary Lamont
Sergeant Madden
as Eileen Daly
Sergeant Madden
as Eileen Daly
Arizona Legion
as Letty Meade (as Laraine Johnson)
Arizona Legion
as Letty Meade (as Laraine Johnson)
Painted Desert
as Carol Banning
Painted Desert
as Carol Banning
Border G-Man
as Betty Holden (as Laraine Johnson)
Border G-Man
as Betty Holden (as Laraine Johnson)
Scandal Street
as Peg Smith (as Laraine Johnson)
Scandal Street
as Peg Smith (as Laraine Johnson)
Stella Dallas
as Girl at Soda Shop / Train Passenger (uncredited)
Stella Dallas
as Girl at Soda Shop / Train Passenger (uncredited)