Known for her 1950s roles in popular film musicals such as “Calamity Jane” and “The Pajama Game,” Doris Day rose to fame as “the girl next door.” She had an early music career and a successful talk show. She became known as an animal rights activist, and she earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But she also missed roles that other actresses made famous.
Here are four roles that went to other actresses.
“40 Carats”
Day did not get the lead in this sophisticated romantic comedy. But she wasn’t alone in being passed up. “The role was considered a plum part for older actresses and was in high demand throughout Hollywood,”
according to Turner Classic Movies. “Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Joanne Woodward, Doris Day, and Glenda Jackson were all considered.” The role went to Liv Ullmann.
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“The Graduate”
Day's “girl next door” persona was her real deal. She gave up a role in “The Graduate” because she didn’t want to do a nude scene. “I was offered the part of Mrs. Robinson in ‘The Graduate,’”
Day wrote in her autobiography, “Doris Day: Her Own Story.” “But I could not see myself rolling around in the sheets with a young man half my age whom I’d seduced. I realized it was an effective part (Anne Bancroft won an Academy Award for it) but it offended my sense of values.”
“The Sound of Music”
When Day was at the height of her box-office power, studio executives pitched her heavily for 1965’s “The Sound of Music,”
the National Association for Music Education noted on the film’s 50th anniversary. “The stars of the movie version of ‘The Sound of Music’ could have been Doris Day and Sean Connery,” the association said. Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer made the roles famous instead.
“South Pacific”
Day was considered for the role of Nellie Forbush in 1958’s Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “South Pacific.” Mitzi Gaynor got the part instead. Day told
WNYC Radio music host Jonathan Schwartz she turned it down because she was too busy. “It didn’t matter to me,” she said. “I was just happy to be doing what I loved.”
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