Whatever Happened to Doris Day?

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Day actively promoted the annual Spay Day USA, and on a number of occasions, actively lobbied the United States Congress - and, it has been suggested, Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton - in support of legislation designed to safeguard animal rights. The Doris Day Animal League (www.ddal.org) is a group she funds. She was long known to stop her car on the Los Angeles freeways if and when she saw an abandoned, stray or injured animal. In 2006, The Humane Society of the United States merged with the Doris Day Animal League. Staff members of the Doris Day League took positions within The HSUS, and Day recorded public service announcements for the organization. The HSUS now manages Spay Day USA, the one-day spay/neuter event she originated

During the 1990s, interest in Doris Day grew again. The release of a greatest hits CD in 1992 garnered her another entry onto the British charts, while the inclusion of the song "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" in the soundtrack of the Australian film Strictly Ballroom gained her new fans.

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the release of her films and TV series and specials on DVD further revived interest in her work, resulting in new websites devoted to Day and a growing number of academic texts analyzing various aspects of her career. In 2006, Day recorded a commentary for the DVD release of the fifth (and final) season of her TV show. Recently Day has participated in telephone interviews with a radio station that celebrates her birthday with an annual Doris Day music marathon. These interviews are available as downloadable podcasts.

While Day turned down a tribute offer from the American Film Institute, she received and accepted the Golden Globe's Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in 1989. In 2004, Day was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom but declined to attend the ceremony because of a fear of flying. Day did not accept an invitation to be a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors for undisclosed reasons. Liz Smith, a long-time entertainment gossip columnist, and movie critic Rex Reed have mounted vigorous campaigns to gather support for an honorary Academy Award for Day to herald her spectacular film career and her status as the top female box-office star of all time.

Day was honored with a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement in Music in February 2008. 

Day now lives on an 11-acre (45,000 m2) ranch near Carmel, California and often uses the name Clara Kappelhoff. Clara is a nickname originally given to her by her Tea for Two co-star Billy De Wolfe, and close friends have called her that.