Look up perhaps in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Perhaps may refer to:

• Perhaps (album), the fourth album released by the Scottish New Wave band Associates
• "Quizás, Quizás, Quizás", "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" in English, a popular song
• Perhaps, English title of the 1999 French science fiction film Peut-être

See also[link]

• Probably (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Doris Day
Day in a studio publicity portrait for 1960 film Midnight Lace
Born	Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff (1924-04-03) April 3, 1924 (age 88) Cincinnati, Ohio
Occupation	Actress, singer, animal rights activist
Years active	1939–1975 1985–1986 2011–present
Spouse	Al Jorden (1941–1943; divorced) George Weidler (1946–1949; divorced) Martin Melcher (1951–1968; his death) Barry Comden (1976–1981; divorced)
Children	Terry Melcher (deceased)
Website
dorisday.com (Official Site) ddaf.org (Doris Day Animal Foundation)

Doris Day (born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff, April 3, 1924)^[1][2][3][4] is an American actress, singer, and animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording, "Sentimental Journey", in 1945. After leaving the Les Brown & His Band of Renown to try a solo career, she started her long-lasting partnership with Columbia Records, which would remain her only recording label. The contract lasted from 1947 to 1967, and included more than 650 recordings, making Day one of the most popular and acclaimed singers of the 20th century. In 1948, after being persuaded by Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne and her agent at the time, Al Levy, she auditioned for Michael Curtiz, which led to her being cast in the female lead role in Romance on the High Seas.^[5]

With a legendary Hollywood "girl next door" image, and capable of delivering comedy and romance as well as heavy drama, she appeared in 39 films, released 29 albums, spent 460 weeks in the Top 40 charts and eventually became one of America's most beloved entertainers.^[6] She received an Academy Award nomination for her performance in Pillow Talk, won three Henrietta Awards (World Film Favorite), a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Presidential Medal of Freedom, Legend Award from the Society of Singers, Los Angeles Film Critics Association's Career Achievement Award and, in 1989, received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures.

Her strong commitment to animal welfare began in 1971, when she co-founded "Actors and Others for Animals". She started her own non-profit organization in the late 1970s, the Doris Day Animal Foundation and, later, the Doris Day Animal League.^[7] Establishing the annual observance Spay Day USA in 1994, The Doris Day Animal League now partners with the Humane Society of the United States and continues to be a leading advocacy organization. In 2004 she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in recognition of her distinguished service to the country. President Bush recognized Miss Day's work on behalf of animals by saying, "It was a good day for our fellow creatures when she gave her good heart to the cause of animal welfare."^[8]

Day was ranked the biggest box-office star for four years (1960; 1962–1964) and ranked in the top 10 for 10 years (1951–1952; 1959–1966). She became the top-ranking female box-office star of all time and is currently ranked sixth among the top 10 box-office performers (male and female), as of 2012.^[9][10]

Early life[link]

Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff was born in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Evanston to Alma Sophia (née Welz, a housewife) and William Kappelhoff (a music teacher and choir master). All of her grandparents were German immigrants.^[11] In Doris Day: Her Own Story, Day asserts "I was named by my mother in honor of her favorite actress, Doris Kenyon, a silent screen star of that year 1924."

Jazz pianist Jim Martinez, who organized her birthday celebration at the Cypress Inn at Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, claims that according to Doris Day's current assistant, when Day was a teenager, she added two years to her age so she would be old enough to sing with big bands.^[12] The youngest of three siblings, she had two older brothers: Richard (who died before her birth) and Paul, several years older.^[13] Due to her father's alleged infidelity, her parents' marriage failed and they separated. She developed an early interest in dance, and in the mid-1930s formed a dance duo with Jerry Doherty that performed locally in Cincinnati. A car accident on October 13, 1937, damaged her legs and curtailed her prospects as a professional dancer.^[14]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

While recovering, Day started to sing along with the radio and discovered a talent that she didn't know she had. Day said: "During this long, boring period, I used to while away a lot of time listening to the radio, sometimes singing along with the likes of Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller [...]. But the one radio voice I listened to above others belonged to Ella Fitzgerald. There was a quality to her voice that fascinated me, and I'd sing along with her, trying to catch the subtle ways she shaded her voice, the casual yet clean way she sang the words."^[15] Observing her daughter rekindled Alma's interest in show business, and she decided to give Doris singing lessons. She engaged a teacher, Grace Raine.^[16] After three lessons, Raine told Alma that Doris had "tremendous potential", which led Alma to give her daughter three lessons a week for the price of one. Years later, Day said that Raine had the biggest effect on her singing style and career.^[17] During the eight months of singing lessons, Day had her first professional jobs as a vocalist in the WLW radio program, Carlin's Carnival and in a local restaurant, the Charlie Yee's Shanghai Inn.^[18] It was during her performances in the carnival that Day first caught the attention of Barney Rapp, who sought a girl vocalist and asked if Day would like to audition for the job. According to Day, Rapp had auditioned two hundred vocalists when she got the job.^[19] It was while working for Rapp in 1939 that she adopted the stage name "Day" as an alternative to "Kappelhoff," at his suggestion. Rapp felt her surname was too long for marquees. The first song she had performed for him was "Day After Day", thus the origin of her stage name.^[20]

After working with Rapp, Day worked with a number of other band-leaders including Jimmy James,^[21] Bob Crosby, and Les Brown. It was while working with Brown that Day scored her first hit recording, "Sentimental Journey", released in early 1945. It soon became an anthem of the desire of World War II demobilizing troops to return home. This song is still associated with Day, and she re-recorded it on several occasions, including a version in her 1971 television special.^[22] Her recording of "Sentimental Journey" was the first song placed in the Grammy Hall of Fame. At one point in 1945–46, Doris (as vocalist with the Les Brown Band) had five Top Ten Hits on the Billboard Hall of Fame. These included: "My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time", "Till The End of Time", "Come To Baby Do", and "I Got the Sun in the Mornin'".

Film career[link]

With Gordon MacRae in Starlift

Doris Day and Howard Keel, Calamity Jane

While singing with the Les Brown band and briefly with Bob Hope, Day toured extensively across the United States. Her popularity as a radio performer and vocalist, which included a second hit record "My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time", led directly to a career in films. Already in 1941 Day appeared as a singer with the Les Brown band in a soundie (a Cinemasters production). After her separation from her second husband, George Weidler, in 1948, Day reportedly intended to leave Los Angeles and return to her mother's home in Cincinnati. Her agent Al Levy convinced her to attend a party at the home of composer Jule Styne. Her performance of the song "Embraceable You" impressed Styne and his partner, Sammy Cahn and they recommended her for a role in Romance on the High Seas, which they were working on for Warner Brothers. The withdrawal of Betty Hutton due to pregnancy left the main role to be re-cast, and Day got the part. The film provided her with another hit recording "It's Magic".^{[citation needed]}

In 1950 U.S. servicemen in Korea voted her their favorite star. She continued to make minor and frequently nostalgic period musicals such as Starlift, The West Point Story, On Moonlight Bay, By the Light of the Silvery Moon, and Tea For Two for Warner Brothers. In 1953 Day appeared as Calamity Jane, winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Secret Love" (her recording of which became her fourth U.S. No. 1 recording). After filming Young at Heart (1954) with Frank Sinatra, Day chose not to renew her contract with Warner Brothers. She elected to work under the advice and management of her third husband, Marty Melcher, whom she married in Burbank on April 3, 1951.

Love Me or Leave Me

Day subsequently took on more dramatic roles, including her 1954 portrayal of singer Ruth Etting in Love Me or Leave Me. Day would later call it, in her autobiography, her best film. She starred in The Pajama Game in 1957 with John Raitt, Carol Haney & Eddie Foy Jr. She also starred alongside top actors Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Cary Grant, David Niven, and Clark Gable.

In Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Day sang "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song and became her signature song. According to Jay Livingston, who wrote the song with Ray Evans, Day preferred another song used briefly in the film, "We'll Love Again" and skipped the recording for "Que Sera, Sera". At the studio's insistence she relented. After recording the number, she reportedly told a friend of Livingston, "That's the last time you'll ever hear that song". However, the song appeared again in Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960), and reprised as a brief duet with Arthur Godfrey in The Glass Bottom Boat (1966). "Que Sera, Sera" was also the theme song for her CBS television show (1968–73). The Man Who Knew Too Much was her only film for Hitchcock and, as she admitted in her 1975 autobiography, initially his lack of direction concerned her. She finally asked if anything was wrong and Hitchcock said everything was fine — if she weren't doing what he wanted, he would have said something.^[23] She had one more Top Ten hit with "Everybody Loves a Lover" in 1958.

Box office success[link]

In 1959, Day entered her most successful phase as a film actress with a series of romantic comedies, starting with Pillow Talk, co-starring Rock Hudson, who became a lifelong friend. Day received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actress. Day and Hudson made two more films together, Lover Come Back (1961) and Send Me No Flowers (1964). In 1962, Day appeared with Cary Grant in "That Touch of Mink". Day also teamed up with James Garner, starting with 1963's The Thrill of It All, followed later that year by Move Over, Darling. Move Over, Darling was originally entitled Something's Got to Give, a 1962 comeback vehicle for Marilyn Monroe and featuring Dean Martin. Filming suspended following the firing of Monroe and her subsequent death. A year later, filming resumed, renamed and recast with Day as the lead character.In between these comedic roles Day co-starred with Rex Harrison in the movie thriller Midnight Lace, an updating of the classic stage thriller Gaslight.

By the late 1960s, the sexual revolution of the baby boomer generation had refocused public attitudes about sex. Times changed, but Day's films did not. Critics and comics dubbed Day "the world's oldest virgin",^[24] and audiences began to shy away from her films. As a result, she slipped from the list of top box office stars, last appearing in the Top 10 in 1966 with the hit film The Glass Bottom Boat. One of the roles she turned down was that "Mrs. Robinson" in The Graduate,^[25] a role that eventually went to Anne Bancroft. In her published memoirs, Day said that she had rejected the part on moral grounds. Her final feature film, With Six You Get Eggroll, was released in 1968.

Recording success[link]

Day's last major hit single came in the UK in 1964 with "Move Over, Darling", co-written by her son specifically for her. The recording was a notable departure for Day, with its distinctly contemporary-sounding arrangement. In 1967, Day recorded her album, The Love Album, essentially concluding her recording career, though not released until 1994.^[26] In September 2011, a new album called "My Heart" was released by Sony in the UK; the American release came out in December 2011 distributed through City Hall Records.

Bankruptcy and television career[link]

1960s[link]

When third husband Marty Melcher died April 20, 1968, a shocked Day discovered that her husband of 17 years and his business partner Jerome Bernard Rosenthal^[27] had squandered her earnings, leaving her deeply in debt. Rosenthal had been her attorney since 1949, when he represented her in her uncontested divorce action against her second husband, songwriter George W. Weidler. In February 1969, Day filed suit against Rosenthal and won the then-largest civil judgment (over $20 million) in the state of California.^[28]

1970s[link]

On September 18, 1974, courts awarded Day $22,835,646 for fraud and malpractice in an hour-long oral decision by Superior Judge Lester E. Olson, ending a 99-day trial that involved 18 consolidated lawsuits and countersuits filed by Day and Rosenthal that involved Rosenthal's handling of her finances after she terminated him in July 1968. The civil trial included 14,451 pages of transcript from 67 witnesses. Represented by attorney Robert Winslow and the law firm of Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp LLP, courts awarded Day $1 million punitive damages, $5.6 million plus $2 million interest for losses incurred in a sham oil venture; $3.4 million plus $1.2 million interest over a hotel venture; $2.2 million plus $793,800 interest for duplicate or unnecessary fees paid to Rosenthal; more than $2 million to recoup loans to Rosenthal; $3.9 million plus $1 million interest for fraud, and $850,000 attorney fees for Day. Olson also enjoined Rosenthal from prosecuting any more lawsuits against Day or her business operations. (Rosenthal had filed more than 20 suits from 1969 to 1974). Olson, an expert in complex financial marital settlements, read every page of 3,275 individual exhibits and 68 boxes of miscellaneous financial records. In October 1979, Rosenthal's liability insurer settled with Day for about $6 million payable in 23 annual installments. Rosenthal continued to file an appeal in the 2nd District Court of Appeal. He also filed another half-dozen suits related to the case. Two were libel suits, one against Day and her publishers over comments she made about Rosenthal in her book in which he sought damages. The other suits sought court determinations that insurance companies and individual lawyers failed to defend Rosenthal properly before Olson and in appellate stages. In April 1979, he filed a suit to set aside the $6 million settlement with Day and recover damages from everybody involved in agreeing to the payment supposedly without his permission.^{[citation needed]}

1980s[link]

In October 1985, the California Supreme Court rejected Rosenthal's appeal of the multimillion-dollar judgment against him for legal malpractice, and upheld conclusions of a trial court and a Court of Appeal that Rosenthal acted improperly. In April 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review the lower court's judgment. In June 1987, Rosenthal filed a $30 million lawsuit against lawyers he claimed cheated him out of millions of dollars in real estate investments. He also named Day as a co-defendant, describing her as an "unwilling, involuntary plaintiff whose consent cannot be obtained". Rosenthal claimed that millions of dollars Day lost were in real estate sold after Melcher died in 1968, in which Rosenthal asserted that the attorneys gave Day bad advice, telling her to sell, at a loss, three hotels, in Palo Alto, Dallas and Atlanta and some oil leases in Kentucky and Ohio. Rosenthal claimed he had made the investments under a long-term plan, and did not intend to sell them until they appreciated in value. Two of the hotels sold in 1970 for about $7 million, and their estimated worth in 1986 was $50 million. In July 1984, after a hearing panel of the State Bar Court, after 80 days of testimony and consideration of documentary evidence, the panel accused Rosenthal of 13 separate acts of misconduct and urged his disbarment in a 34-page unsigned opinion. The State Bar Court's review department upheld the panel's findings, which asked the justices to order Rosenthal's disbarment. He continued representing clients in federal courts until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against him on March 21, 1988. Disbarment by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals followed on August 19, 1988. The Supreme Court of California, in affirming the disbarment, held that Rosenthal engaged in transactions involving undisclosed conflicts of interest, took positions adverse to his former clients, overstated expenses, double-billed for legal fees, failed to return client files, failed to provide access to records, failed to give adequate legal advice, failed to provide clients with an opportunity to obtain independent counsel, filed fraudulent claims, gave false testimony, engaged in conduct designed to harass his clients, delayed court proceedings, obstructed justice and abused legal process. Terry Melcher stated that it was only Martin Melcher's premature death that saved Day from financial ruin. It remains unresolved whether Martin Melcher was himself duped. Day stated publicly that she believed her husband innocent of any deliberate wrongdoing, stating that he "simply trusted the wrong person".^[29] According to Day's autobiography, as told to A. E. Hotchner, the usually athletic and healthy Martin Melcher had an enlarged heart. Most of the interviews on the subject given to Hotchner (and included in Day's autobiography) paint an unflattering portrait of Melcher. Author David Kaufman asserts that one of Day's costars, actor Louis Jourdan, maintained that Day herself disliked her husband,^[30] but Day's public statements regarding Melcher appear to contradict that assertion.^[31]

[edit] The Doris Day Show

Upon her husband's death on April 20, 1968, Day learned that he had committed her to a television series, which became The Doris Day Show.

"It was awful", Day told OK! Magazine in 1996. "I was really, really not very well when Marty [Melcher] passed away, and the thought of going into TV was overpowering. But he'd signed me up for a series. And then my son Terry [Melcher] took me walking in Beverly Hills and explained that it wasn't nearly the end of it. I had also been signed up for a bunch of TV specials, all without anyone ever asking me."

Day hated the idea of doing television, but felt obliged to it. "There was a contract. I didn't know about it. I never wanted to do TV, but I gave it 100 percent anyway. That's the only way I know how to do it." The first episode of The Doris Day Show aired on September 24, 1968, and, from 1968 to 1973, employed "Que Sera, Sera" as its theme song. Day grudgingly persevered (she needed the work to help pay off her debts), but only after CBS ceded creative control to her and her son. The successful show enjoyed a five-year run, and functioned as a curtain-raiser for The Carol Burnett Show, remembered today for its abrupt season-to-season changes in casting and premise. It was not widely syndicated as many of its contemporaries, and re-broadcast very little outside the United States and the United Kingdom.^[32] By the end of its run in 1973, public tastes had changed and her firmly established persona regarded as passé. She largely retired from acting after The Doris Day Show, but did complete two television specials, The Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff Special (1971) and Doris Day to Day (1975). She appeared in a John Denver TV special in 1974.^[26]

1990s and renewal of interest[link]

A Greatest Hits CD released in 1994 became another entry into the British charts.^[26] The song "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" was included in the soundtrack of the Australian film Strictly Ballroom, and became a theme song for the British TV show, Coupling, with Mari Wilson performing it for the title sequence. Day was supposed to be at the Academy Awards in 1994; however, she tripped on a sprinkler injuring herself, and had to withdraw from appearing. Since the 1990s, Day has not allowed recent photos to be displayed publicly, for personal reasons.

2000s[link]

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. In July 2008 she appeared on the Southern California radio show of longtime friend, newscaster George Putnam, reported in the Los Angeles Times. 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 received the Presidential Medal of Freedom but declined to attend the ceremony because of her fear of flying. Day did not accept an invitation to be a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors for the same reason.^[26]

Both columnist Liz Smith and film critic Rex Reed have mounted vigorous campaigns to gather support for an honorary Academy Award for Day to herald her film career and her status as the top female box-office star of all time. Day received a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement in Music in 2008, albeit again in absentia.

2010s[link]

Day released My Heart in the United Kingdom on September 5, 2011, her first new album in nearly two decades, since the release of The Love Album, which, although recorded in 1967, was not released until 1994.^[33] The album is a compilation of previously unreleased recordings produced by Day's son, Terry Melcher, prior to his death in 2004. Tracks include the 1970s Joe Cocker hit "You Are So Beautiful", the Beach Boys' "Disney Girls" and jazz standards such as "My Buddy", which Day originally sang in her 1951 film I'll See You in My Dreams. Day dedicates this song to her son. The disc was released in the U.S. via City Hall Records on December 6, and within two weeks had climbed to #12 on Amazon's best-seller list in spite of being priced over 25% higher than most CDs in order to raise funds for the Doris Day Animal League. It debuted at 135 on the Billboard 200, Day's first entry on that chart since 1963's Love Him.^[34]

Day became the oldest artist to score a UK Top 10 with an album featuring new material, according to the Official Charts Company, entering at Number 9. (British singer Vera Lynn reached the top of the chart in August 2009 at age 92, but with the greatest hits album, We'll Meet Again – The Very Best of Vera Lynn.)^[35]

Personal life[link]

In 1975, Day released her autobiography, Doris Day: Her Own Story, an "as-told-to" work with A. E. Hotchner. The book detailed her first three marriages:

• To Al Jorden, a trombonist whom she first met when he was in Barney Rapp's Band, from March 1941 to 1943. Her only child, son Terry Melcher, resulted from this marriage. Jorden, who was reportedly physically abusive to Day, committed suicide in 1967 by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
• To George Weidler (a saxophonist), from March 30, 1946 to May 31, 1949. Weidler, the brother of actress Virginia Weidler, and Day met again several years later. During a brief reconciliation, he helped initiate her to Christian Science.
• To Martin Melcher, whom she married on April 3, 1951. This marriage lasted until Melcher's death in 1968. Melcher adopted Terry (thus renaming the boy Terry Melcher), and produced many of Day's movies. She and Melcher were both practicing Christian Scientists, resulting in her not seeing a doctor for some time after symptoms that suggested cancer. This distressing period ended when finally consulting a physician and, finding the lump was benign, she fully recovered. After publishing her autobiography, Day married one last time.
• Her fourth and last marriage was to Barry Comden (born 1935 – died 2009),^[36] who was roughly a decade younger, from April 14, 1976 until 1981. Comden was the maitre d' at one of Day's favorite restaurants. Knowing of her great love of dogs, Comden endeared himself to Day by giving her a bag of meat scraps and bones on her way out of the restaurant. When this marriage unraveled, Comden complained that Day cared more for her "animal friends" than she did for him.

While promoting the 1975 book, Day caused a stir by rejecting the 'girl next door' and 'virgin' labels so often attached to her. As she remarked in her book, "The succession of cheerful, period musicals I made, plus Oscar Levant's highly publicized comment about my virginity ("I knew Doris Day before she became a virgin.") contributed to what has been called my 'image', which is a word that baffles me. There never was any intent on my part either in my acting or in my private life to create any such thing as an image." Day said she believed people should live together prior to marriage, something that she would do if the opportunity arose. At the conclusion of this book tour, Day seemed content to focus on her charity and pet work and her business interests. (In 1985, she became part-owner with her son of the Cypress Inn in Carmel, California.)

In May 1983, she became a grandmother. In 1985 she briefly hosted her own talk show, Doris Day's Best Friends on CBN. The network canceled the show after 26 episodes, despite the worldwide publicity her show received. Terry Melcher first made a brief attempt to become a surf music singing star, then became a staff producer for Columbia Records in the 1960s, and was famous for producing some latter-day recordings by The Beach Boys and The Byrds. Day has been a committed Republican.^[37]

Animal welfare activism[link]

Day's interest in animal welfare and related issues apparently dates to her teen years. While recovering from an automobile accident, she took her dog Tiny for a walk without a leash. Tiny ran into the street and was killed by a passing car. Day later confessed guilt and loneliness. In 1971, she co-founded Actors and Others for Animals and appeared in a series of newspaper advertisements denouncing the wearing of fur, alongside Mary Tyler Moore, Angie Dickinson, and Jayne Meadows.^[38] Day's friend, Cleveland Amory, wrote about these events in Man Kind? Our Incredible War on Wildlife (1974).

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Day promoted the annual Spay Day USA, and on a number of occasions, actively lobbied the United States Congress in support of legislation designed to safeguard animal rights. She also founded The Doris Day Animal League, which merged into The Humane Society of the United States in 2006.^[39] 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.^[40]

A facility to help abused and neglected horses opened in 2011 and bears her name: the Doris Day Horse Rescue and Adoption Center, located in Murchison, Texas, on the grounds of an animal sanctuary started by her late friend, author Cleveland Amory. Day contributed $250,000 toward the founding of the center.^[41]

Recent years[link]

Day now lives near Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.^[42] where she prefers to be known as Clara Kappelhoff, combining an old nickname ("Clara", by friend Billy de Wolfe) and her maiden name. In 2011, Day released My Heart, her first album of new material since 1967's The Love Album. With its debut at No. 9, Day made history, becoming the oldest female artist to ever have had a top ten album on the Top 40 Official UK Album chart.^[43] In October 2011, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association announced that Day would be the recipient of the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Barothy, Mary Anne. Day at a Time: An Indiana Girl's Sentimental Journey to Doris Day's Hollywood and Beyond. Hawthorne Publishing, 2007
• Bret, David. Doris Day: Reluctant Star. JR Books, London. 2008
• Kaufman, David (2008). Doris Day: The Untold Story of the Girl Next Door. New York: Virgin Books. ISBN 978-1-905264-30-8. 
• McGee, Garry. Doris Day: Sentimental Journey. McFarland & Company, Inc., 2005
• Patrick, Pierre and Garry McGee. Que Sera, Sera: The Magic of Doris Day Through Television. Bear Manor Media, 2005
• Patrick, Pierre and Garry McGee. The Doris Day Companion: A Beautiful Day (One on One with Doris and Friends). BearManor Media, 2009
• Braun, Eric. Doris Day Orion Books, 1994
• Santopietro, Tom. Considering Doris Day. Thomas Dunn Books, 2008

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Doris Day

• Doris Day at the Internet Movie Database
• Doris Day at AllRovi
• Doris Day at the TCM Movie Database
• Doris Day Animal Foundation
• Doris' Official Website
• Laura Didier (singer) and Jim Martinez (pianist) website honoring Doris Day
• Discovering Doris (Longest running fan tribute website)
• Spotlight at Turner Classic Movies
• Doris Day Animal League
• Doris Day on "Solid! The encyclopedia of big band, lounge, classic jazz and space-age sounds"
• Photographs of Doris Day
• Doris Day Official Discography (+78rpm)
• Theatrical tribute to Doris Day (Touring to Hollywood and Scotland in 2011)

Rock Hudson
An image from the trailer for Giant (1956)
Born	Roy Harold Scherer, Jr. (1925-11-17)November 17, 1925 Winnetka, Illinois, U.S.
Died	October 2, 1985(1985-10-02) (aged 59)[1] Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Cause of death	AIDS
Other names	Roy Harold Fitzgerald
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1948–1985
Spouse	Phyllis Gates (m. 1955–1958, divorced) Layla Coates (m. 1959-1963, annulled)

Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald (November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985), known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, most recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in Magnificent Obsession (1954), Giant (1956) and several popular comedies with Doris Day. Later roles included the leads in Ice Station Zebra and the popular television series McMillan & Wife along with a role in the hugely successful series Dynasty.

Hudson was voted "Star of the Year", "Favorite Leading Man", and similar titles by numerous movie magazines. The 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) tall actor was one of the most popular and well-known movie stars of the time. He completed nearly 70 motion pictures and starred in several television productions during a career that spanned over four decades.

Hudson died in 1985, being the first major celebrity to die from an AIDS-related illness.^[2]

Early life[link]

Hudson was born Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., in Winnetka, Illinois, the only child of Katherine Wood (of English and Irish descent), a telephone operator, and Roy Harold Scherer, Sr., (of German and Swiss descent) an auto mechanic who abandoned the family during the depths of the Great Depression. His mother remarried and his stepfather Wallace "Wally" Fitzgerald adopted him, changing his last name to Fitzgerald. Hudson's years at New Trier High School were unremarkable. He sang in the school's glee club and was remembered as a shy boy who delivered newspapers, ran errands and worked as a golf caddy.

After graduating from high school, he served in the Philippines as an aircraft mechanic for the United States Navy during World War II.^[3] In 1946, Hudson moved to the Los Angeles area to pursue an acting career and applied to the University of Southern California's dramatics program, but he was rejected owing to poor grades. Hudson worked for a time as a truck driver, longing to be an actor but with no success in breaking into the movies. A fortunate meeting with Hollywood talent scout Henry Willson in 1948 got Hudson his start in the business.

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Hudson made his debut with a small part in the 1948 Warner Bros.' Fighter Squadron. Hudson needed no fewer than 38 takes before successfully delivering his only line in the film.^[4]

Hudson was further coached in acting, singing, dancing, fencing, and horseback riding, and he began to be featured in film magazines where he was promoted, possibly on the basis of his good looks. Success and recognition came in 1954 with Magnificent Obsession in which Hudson plays a bad boy who is redeemed opposite the popular star Jane Wyman.^[3] The film received rave reviews, with Modern Screen Magazine citing Hudson as the most popular actor of the year. Hudson's popularity soared with George Stevens' Giant, based on Edna Ferber's novel and co-starring Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean. Hudson and Dean both were nominated for Oscars in the Best Actor category.

Following Richard Brooks' notable Something of Value (1957) was a moving performance in Charles Vidor's box office failure A Farewell to Arms, based on Ernest Hemingway's novel. In order to make A Farewell to Arms, he had reportedly turned down Marlon Brando's role in Sayonara, William Holden's role in The Bridge on the River Kwai, and Charlton Heston's role in Ben-Hur. Those films went on to become hugely successful and critically acclaimed, while A Farewell to Arms proved to be one of the biggest flops in cinema history.^{[citation needed]}

Hudson sailed through the 1960s on a wave of romantic comedies. He portrayed humorous characters in Pillow Talk, the first of several profitable co-starring performances with Doris Day. This was followed by Lover Come Back, Come September, Send Me No Flowers, Man's Favorite Sport?, The Spiral Road, and Strange Bedfellows. Along with Cary Grant, Hudson was regarded as one of the best-dressed male stars in Hollywood, and received "Top 10 Stars of the Year" a record eight times from 1957 to 1964. He worked outside his usual range on the science-fiction thriller Seconds (1966). The film flopped but it later gained cult status, and Hudson's performance is often regarded as one of his best.^[5][6] He also tried his hand in the action genre with Tobruk (1967), the lead in 1968's spy thriller Ice Station Zebra, a role which he had actively sought and remained his personal favorite, and westerns with The Undefeated (1969) opposite John Wayne.

Later career[link]

Hudson's popularity on the big screen diminished after the 1960s. He starred in a number of made-for-TV movies and series. His most successful TV series was McMillan & Wife opposite Susan Saint James which ran from 1971 to 1977. In it, Hudson played police commissioner Stewart "Mac" McMillan with Saint James as his wife Sally. Their on-screen chemistry helped make the show a hit.

In the early 1980s, following years of heavy drinking and smoking, Hudson began having health problems which resulted in a heart attack in November 1981. Emergency quintuple heart bypass surgery sidelined Hudson and his new TV show The Devlin Connection for a year; the show was canceled in December 1982 not long after it first aired. Hudson recovered from the heart surgery but continued to smoke. He was in ill health while filming The Ambassador in Israel during the winter of 1983-84 with Robert Mitchum. The two stars reportedly did not get along with each other, with Mitchum himself having a serious drinking problem.^[7] During 1984, Hudson's health grew worse, prompting different rumors that he was suffering from liver cancer, among other ailments, because of his increasingly gaunt face and build.

From December 1984 to April 1985, Hudson landed a recurring role on the ABC prime time soap opera Dynasty as Daniel Reece, the love interest for Krystle Carrington (played by Linda Evans) and biological father of the character Sammy Jo Carrington (Heather Locklear). While he had long been known to have difficulty memorizing lines, which resulted in his use of cue cards, on Dynasty it was Hudson's speech itself that began to deteriorate. Hudson was originally slated to appear for the duration of the show's 5th season, however, because of his progressing ill health, his character was abruptly written out of the show and died offscreen.

Personal life[link]

While Hudson's career was developing, he and his agent Henry Willson kept his personal life out of the headlines. In 1955, Confidential magazine threatened to publish an exposé about Hudson's secret homosexual life. Willson forestalled this by disclosing information about two of his other clients.^[8] According to some colleagues, Hudson's homosexuality was well known in Hollywood throughout his career;^[9] former costars Elizabeth Taylor and Susan Saint James claimed they knew of his homosexual activity, as did Carol Burnett, who often worked on television and in live theatre with Hudson, but also that she did not care. However, after Hudson's death, Doris Day, widely thought to be a close off-screen friend, said she never knew of Hudson engaging in any homosexual behavior.^{[citation needed]}

Soon after the Confidential incident, Hudson married Willson's secretary Phyllis Gates. Gates later wrote that she dated Hudson for several months, lived with him for two months before his surprise marriage proposal, and married Hudson out of love and not, as it was later purported, to prevent an exposé of Hudson's sexual orientation.^[10] Press coverage of the wedding quoted Hudson as saying, "When I count my blessings, my marriage tops the list." Gates filed for divorce after three years in April 1958, charging mental cruelty. Hudson did not contest the divorce, and Gates received alimony of US$250 a week for 10 years.^[11] After her death from lung cancer in January 2006, some informants reportedly stated that she was actually a lesbian who married Hudson for his money, knowing from the beginning of their relationship that he was gay.^[12] She never remarried.

According to the 1986 biography Rock Hudson: His Story by Hudson and Sara Davidson, Hudson was good friends with American novelist Armistead Maupin, and Hudson's lovers included: Jack Coates (born 1944); Hollywood publicist Tom Clark (1933–1995), who also later published a memoir about Hudson, Rock Hudson: Friend of Mine; and Marc Christian, who later won a suit against the Hudson estate.

An urban legend states that Hudson married Jim Nabors in the 1970s. In fact the two were never more than friends. According to Hudson, the legend originated with a group of "middle-aged homosexuals who live in Huntington Beach" who sent out joke invitations for their annual get-together. One year, the group invited its members to witness "the marriage of Rock Hudson and Jim Nabors", at which Hudson would take the surname of Nabors' most famous character, Gomer Pyle, becoming "Rock Pyle". Those who failed to get the joke spread the rumor. As a result, Nabors and Hudson never spoke to each other again.^[13]

In 2007, Shannon Ragland described Hudson's involvement in a 1962 sex scandal at the University of Kentucky involving the football team. He told how wrestling promoter Jim Barnett hired players, including Hudson, as prostitutes.^[14]

AIDS and death[link]

Hudson (left) with President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan at a White House state dinner, May 1984

In July 1985, Hudson joined his old friend Doris Day for the launch of her new TV cable show, Doris Day's Best Friends. His gaunt appearance and nearly incoherent speech were so shocking that it was broadcast again all over the national news shows that night and for weeks to come.

Hudson had been diagnosed with HIV on June 5, 1984, but when the signs of illness became apparent a few months later his publicity staff and doctors told the public he had inoperable liver cancer. During most of 1984 and 1985, Hudson kept his illness a secret while continuing to work and at the same time travel to France and other countries seeking a cure, or at least treatment to slow the progress of the disease. It was not until July 25, 1985, while in Paris for treatment, that Hudson issued a press release announcing that he was dying of AIDS. In another press release a month later, Hudson speculated he might have contracted HIV through transfused blood from an infected donor during the multiple blood transfusions he received during his heart bypass procedure in November 1981. He flew back to Los Angeles on July 31, where he was so physically weak he was taken off by stretcher from the Air France Boeing 747 he had chartered and upon which he and his medical attendants were the only passengers.^[15] He was flown by helicopter to Cedars Sinai Hospital, where he spent nearly a month undergoing further treatment. When the doctors told him there was no hope of saving his life, since the disease had progressed into the advanced stages, Hudson returned to his house, "The Castle", in Beverly Hills, where he remained in seclusion until his death on October 2, 1985 at 8:37 a.m. PDT. He was a month and a half away from his 60th birthday.

The disclosure of Hudson's HIV status provoked widespread public discussion of his homosexuality. In its August 15, 1985 issue, People published a story that discussed his disease in the context of his sexuality. The largely sympathetic article featured comments from famous show business colleagues such as Angie Dickinson, Robert Stack, and Mamie Van Doren, who claimed they knew about Hudson's homosexuality and expressed their support for him.^[9] At that time People had a circulation of more than 2.8 million,^[16] and, as a result of this and other stories, theories about Hudson's homosexuality became fully public.

Hudson's revelation had an immediate impact on visibility of AIDS, and on funding of medical research related to the disease. Among activists who were seeking to de-stigmatize AIDS and its victims, Hudson's revelation of his own infection with the disease was viewed as an event that could transform the public's perception of AIDS. Shortly after Hudson's press release disclosing his infection, William M. Hoffman, the author of As Is, a play about AIDS that appeared on Broadway in 1985, stated: "If Rock Hudson can have it, nice people can have it. It's just a disease, not a moral affliction."^[9] At the same time, Joan Rivers was quoted as saying: "Two years ago, when I hosted a benefit for AIDS, I couldn't get one major star to turn out. ... Rock's admission is a horrendous way to bring AIDS to the attention of the American public, but by doing so, Rock, in his life, has helped millions in the process. What Rock has done takes true courage."^[9] Morgan Fairchild said that "Rock Hudson's death gave AIDS a face".^[17] In a telegram Hudson sent to a September 1985 Hollywood AIDS benefit, Commitment to Life, which he was too ill to attend in person, Hudson said: "I am not happy that I am sick. I am not happy that I have AIDS. But if that is helping others, I can at least know that my own misfortune has had some positive worth."^[3]

Shortly after his death, People reported: "Since Hudson made his announcement, more than $1.8 million in private contributions (more than double the amount collected in 1984) has been raised to support AIDS research and to care for AIDS victims (5,523 reported in 1985 alone). A few days after Hudson died, at 59, on Oct. 2, 1985, Congress set aside $221 million to develop a cure for AIDS."^[18] Organizers of the Hollywood AIDS benefit, Commitment to Life, reported after Hudson's announcement he was suffering from the disease, it was necessary to move the event to a larger venue to accommodate the increased attendance.^[19]

However, Hudson's revelation did not immediately dispel the stigma of AIDS. Although then-president Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy Reagan were friends of Hudson, Reagan, who was viewed by some as indifferent to the disease and its sufferers, made no public statement concerning Hudson's condition.^[20] At the same time, privately, Reagan called Hudson in his Paris hospital room where he was being treated in July 1985, and Nancy Reagan telephoned French President Francois Mitterrand to ensure that Hudson would receive the best possible care.^[9] Reagan's first public mention of the disease came in response to questions at a September 15, 1985 press conference, nearly two months after Hudson's announcement. In those remarks, Reagan called medical research on AIDS a "top priority". However, when asked, "If you had younger children, would you send them to a school with a child who had AIDS?," Reagan responded equivocally: "[G]lad I'm not faced with that problem today. ... I can understand both sides of it."^[20] Several days later, Reagan sent a telegram to the Commitment to Life AIDS benefit, in which he reiterated his position that his administration would make stopping the spread of AIDS a top priority.^[19] Nevertheless, Reagan did not publicly address AIDS at length for another two years.^[21]

In addition, a controversy arose concerning Hudson's participation in a scene in the television drama Dynasty in which he shared a kiss with actress Linda Evans. When filming the scene Hudson was aware that he had AIDS, but did not inform her. Some felt that he should have disclosed his condition to her beforehand.^[22] At the time, it was known that the virus was present in low quantities in saliva and tears, but there had been no reported cases of transmission by kissing.^[23] Nevertheless, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had warned against exchanging saliva with members of groups perceived to be at high risk for AIDS.^[18] According to comments given in August 1985 by Ed Asner, then president of the Screen Actors Guild, Hudson's revelation caused incipient "panic" within the film and television industry. Asner said that he was aware of scripts being rewritten to eliminate kissing scenes.^[24] Later in the same year, the Guild issued rules requiring that actors be notified in advance of any "open-mouth" kissing scenes, and providing that they could refuse to participate in such scenes without penalty.^[25] Linda Evans herself appears not to have been angry at Hudson: she asked to introduce the segment of the 1985 Commitment to Life benefit that was dedicated to Hudson.^[19]

Hudson was cremated and his ashes scattered at sea.

Post burial, debate and legacy[link]

Following Hudson's funeral, Marc Christian sued Hudson's estate on grounds of "intentional infliction of emotional distress".^[26] Christian tested negative for HIV but claimed Hudson continued having sex with him until February 1985, more than eight months after Hudson knew he had HIV. Hudson biographer Sara Davidson later stated that, by the time she had met Hudson, Christian was living in the guest house, and Tom Clark, who had allegedly been Hudson's partner for many years before, was living in the house.^[27]

Following his death, Elizabeth Taylor, his co-star in the film Giant, purchased a bronze plaque for Hudson on the West Hollywood Memorial Walk.^[28]

Hudson has been the subject of three plays: Hollywood Valhalla by Aidan Harney, starring Patrick Byrnes as Rock and Stewart Roche as his personal trainer, Toby, which was staged at Bewley's Cafe Theatre, Dublin, Ireland, in 2011; "For Roy", by Nambi E. Kelley, starring Richard Henzel as Roy and Hannah Gomez as Caregiver, which was staged at American Theatre Company in Chicago in 2010 and Rock, by Tim Fountain, starring Michael Xavier as Rock and Bette Bourne as his agent Henry Willson, which was staged at London's Oval House Theatre in 2008.

In 2010, with the gag orders finally lifted from the 1985 lawsuit trial of Marc Christian versus the estate of Rock Hudson, Robert Park Mills, the attorney who represented the Hudson estate against Christian in court, released a new 492 page book entitled Between Rock and a Hard Place-In Defense of Rock Hudson. In the book, Mills argues that the public was blinded from the real truth, the gross injustice done to the late actor by Christian and by Rock’s alleged friend, Mark Miller, as was the court, the jury, and the press. Mills argues that the jury overlooked the possibility Christian may have been AIDS-free simply because Hudson never had the relationship with Christian which Christian claimed to have had with him. According to this argument, if Hudson had had such a relationship, Christian would have had to have acquired HIV and AIDS if the repeated unprotected sexual activity claimed had taken place. Christian, who died in 2006 at age 56, never had HIV or AIDS.

Mills argues that Christian did not tell the truth to his attorney Harold Rhoden or in court, and that Rock Hudson could not defend himself before the jurors because Christian waited until Rock died. Only when Christian found out he was not in the late actor's will did he bring his lawsuit, which won $5.5 million dollars from Hudson's estate (minus attorney's fees).^[29]

In the book Rock Hudson, Friend of Mine by his live-in Hollywood publicist Tom Clark, Clark said he would go to his grave believing Hudson acquired HIV from blood transfusions during his emergency quintuple bypass open heart surgery in 1981. Clark's book characterized Christian as "a criminal, a thief, an unclean person, a blackmailer, a psychotic, an extortionist, a forger, a perjurer, a liar, a whore, an arsonist and a squatter." Christian then sued Clark. Christian was living in the guest house after Clark, who had left in 1983, had returned to Hudson's home in 1985 to take care of him at assistant Mark Miller's request.^[30]

In December 2011, TV channel Investigation Discovery showed an episode of, "The Will: Family Secrets Revealed," which detailed Rock Hudson and the aftermath involved with Marc Christian suing the estate. The episode depicted those close to Rock Hudson as untrusting of Marc Christian while one of Marc Christian's former lovers depicts Marc Christian as not being the person depicted by the friends of Rock Hudson. If you believe the friends of Rock Hudson, then Marc Christian was only using Rock Hudson to immerse himself into Hollywood society to launch a film career. After Rock Hudson's death and the receipt of millions from the lawsuit, Marc Christian did not attempt to use the fame he achieved from the lawsuit for any personal gain leaving people independent of the situation to question which side is telling the true story.

Filmography[link]

Awards[link]

• Academy Award: Nominated 1956 Best Actor for Giant
• Golden Globe: Winner 1959 World Film Favorite: Male actor
• Golden Globe: Winner 1960 World Film Favorite: Male actor
• Golden Globe: co-Winner with Tony Curtis 1961 World Film Favorite: Male actor
• Golden Globe: Winner 1963 World Film Favorite: Male actor
• Hudson received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6104 Hollywood Boulevard.

See also[link]

• Rock Hudson's Home Movies

Bibliography[link]

• Clark, Tom; Kleiner, Richard (1990). Rock Hudson, Friend of Mine. New York, NY: Pharos Books. ISBN 0-88687-562-5. 
• Gates, Phyllis; Thomas, Bob (1987). My Husband, Rock Hudson. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-24071-6. 
• Hudson, Rock; Davidson, Sara (1986). Rock Hudson: His Story. New York: Morrow. ISBN 0-688-06472-8. 
• Ragland, Shannon P. (2007). The Thin Thirty. Louisville, KY: Set Shot Press. ISBN 0-9791222-1-X. 

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rock Hudson

• Rock Hudson at the Internet Movie Database
• Rock Hudson at the TCM Movie Database
• Transcript of CNN Larry King 7. June 2001, Special on Rock Hudson offscreen with Dale Olson
• Transcript of CNN Larry King 1. October 2003, 18th anniversary of Hudson's death

Lila Downs
June 2007. Luminato - Masters of World Music
Background information
Birth name	Ana Lila Downs Sánchez
Born	(1968-09-19) September 19, 1968 (age 43)
Origin	Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, Mexico
Genres	World music
Instruments	Voice, guitar
Years active	1992–present
Website	liladowns.com

Ana Lila Downs Sánchez best known as Lila Downs (born in September 19, 1968) is a Mexican singer-songwriter. She performs her own compositions as well as tapping into Mexican traditional and popular music. She also incorporates indigenous mexican influences and has recorded songs in indigenous languages such as mixtec, zapotec, maya, nahuatl and p'urhépecha.

Her debut album, La Sandunga, was released in 1999 and she achieved international success in 2001 with the album Border who emerged in the music scene of Mexico and Latin America in the early 2000s (decade) decade. Lila began performing in school, demonstrating her vocal ability with traditional music, Latin and American influences with her own original twist on dancing. Downs is a native spanish speaker and also speaks fluent english and mixtec.^[1][2]

Biography[link]

Lila Downs was born September 19, 1968 in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, Mexico, the daughter of Anita Sanchez, a Mixtec cabaret singer and Allen Downs, a British-American professor of art and cinematographer from Minnesota. From an early age Lila showed interest in music; at the age of eight she began singing rancheras and other traditional Mexican songs.^[3] She began her professional career singing with mariachis. At fourteen she moved to the United States with her parents. She studied voice in Los Angeles and learned the English language, which her father helped her to perfect. When she was 16, her father died and afterward she decided to return to her native Tlaxiaco with her mother.

One day while she was working in a store in the Mixtec mountains a man came in to ask her to translate his son's death certificate. She read that he had drowned trying to cross the border into the United States. This deeply affected her and has continued to influence her work. She talked about this in an NPR interview about her 2001 release entitled Border.^[4]

Although today Downs is proud of her origins there was a time when she felt shame regarding her Native American roots. "I was embarrassed to have Indian blood. I was embarrassed that my mother spoke her language in public." This lead her on a path to find herself, which included dropping out of college, dying her hair blonde and following the band, The Grateful Dead. After some time Downs found herself back in Oaxaca working at her mother's auto parts store where she met her future husband and musical collaborator, Paul Cohen.^[5]

Downs studied Anthropology at the University of Minnesota and voice in New York. Later she attended the Institute of Science and Arts of Oaxaca to complete her studies.

At 25 after completing academic and music studies Lila decided to return to Tlaxiaco. Paul Cohen always encouraged her musical venture and joined a group percussion called Yodoyuxi's Cadets. Because Paul Cohen had business in the United States she began to live in both Minnesota and Oaxaca.^[6]

During her stay in Minnesota, Downs formed a group called La Trova Serrana which achieved great popularity among the Latin public within the United States, singing songs about the Zapotec and values and culture. Upon her return to Mexico she started singing in bars, restaurants and clubs in the City of Oaxaca, Philadelphia and California in United States, always with the support of saxophonist U.S. Paul Cohen getting much positive critical review, and led to her decision to undertake an extensive tour of Mexico.^[7]

Career[link]

1994-1996: First albums[link]

In 1994 Lila Downs made her first album recorded independently entitled Ofrenda the songs included in this material is a collection of items traditionals by Oaxaca and mexicans. This album also contains songs written by singer from the beginning with lyrics sung in Spanish mixtec and zapotec are languages native of Oaxaca, the material was carried out independently and with the support of the Oaxacan Cultures Institute.^[8] Because this album was not only promoted commercial success in LP and cassette, never released a version in CD.

In 1996 Downs recorded at the album sound in a live session of a renowned cafe-bar of the City of Oaxaca, on this record Lila was accompanied by a set of well-known musicians who supported and helped in its interpretation of traditional themes as well as country music and parts of jazz.^[9] Lila Downs With this work became known in different parts of the Republic of Mexico and was their first album was released in CD but had a big impact and was directly promoted in presentations, published only a small number of copies so that this material is now discontinued and although not physically part of the official discography of Lila Downs is available at digital format.

1997-1999: La Sandunga[link]

In 1997 Lila Downs made her second label material of study prior to his international career, the performance of this material as a model before items to be included in later albums such as La Sandunga, Tree of Life and Border.^[10] It made an extensive compilation of items of repertoire traditional but like Mexicanwith its albums previous boom had no commercial or spread massively so this disc is currently out of print.

It was not until 1999 Downs sign with the label Narada Productions have achieved commercial success and made known to internationally with the album La Sandunga (recorded at year earlier), this material came to the fore within the Mexican music and this drive was one of the first traditional music that merged sounds and modern rhythms as jazz, blues and bolero. The album is played in Spanish and mixtec and was produced by Lila Downs and Paul Cohen with the support of Xquenda Cultural Association.^[11] Because of this work Lila participated in the sound track of the mexican film Green Stones and achieved great popularity in countries such as Mexico United States, Spain, France, England and Germany selling over 500,000 units worldwide.

1999-2000: Tree of Life/Yutu Tata[link]

Lila Downs in Oaxaca in 2006

Lila's preparing next album, Tree of Life, was released in 2000, with this album the fame of Downs continue to spread to other markets and countries such as England, Switzerland, Canada and especially the United States. This work found Downs turning to her indigenous past and the album features pre-Hispanic sounds and instruments. Several of the songs on the album are sung in native mexican languages such as Mixtec, Zapotec and Nahuatl. In October 2000 she began a two month tour called the Tree of Life/Árbol de la vida which included concerts in Latin America, Europe and the USA. The tour began in Mexico and ended in Spain.

2001-2003: Border/La Linea[link]

Border, released by EMI music in 2001, was the first album by Downs to feature songs sung in english language. The album was released simultaneously in the United States and Mexico. With this album Downs merged sounds from different genres such as traditional folk music, hip hop, rock and chilena. It included fifteen songs, eleven of which are in Spanish, three in english and one in Mayan. The album received generally good reviews and placed seventh in "Top charts" of world music.^[12] It also stirred up controversy due to its frank discussion of immigration, Native American marginalization and the Acteal massacre.^[13] Downs was criticized by various organizations, especially politicians and the church.^[14]

The album's first single was released in Mexico, "Mi corazón me recuerda" a poem by Chiapas poet Jaime Sabines set to music achieved moderate success on the Mexican music charts. In Spain the song "La Llorona" was released and in France the song "Corazoncito Tirano" was released as a single. In the United States the song "Medley: Pastures of Plenty/This Land Is Your Land/Land" was released.^[15] The latter incorporates two Woody Guthrie songs, "Pastures of Plenty" and "This Land is Your Land" as well as original lyrics by Downs, "Land".

2004-2006: Una Sangre/One Blood[link]

One Blood, one of Lila Downs' most successful albums, was released in April 2004 simultaneously in the United States, Spain, and Mexico. The lyrics on this album are about migration, discrimination and the case of Mexican human rights defender Digna Ochoa.^[16] In addition to traditional songs such as "La Bamba," "Viborita," and "La Cucaracha," the album includes genres such as son jarocho, jazz, rock and folk. This album contains thirteen tracks of which three are in English, one in Triqui, one in Purepecha and eight in Spanish. Lyrics were authored by Lila Downs, Paul Cohen, Celso Duarte and Jose Martí. Lila Downs received in 2005 the Grammy Latino in the category of "Best Album of World Music" for this album^[17] and reached the top of the charts in United States, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, Germany and France.^[18]

2006-2008: La Cantina, entre copa y copa…[link]

Lila Downs took approximately one and a half to prepare this project came to light on April 2006. This CD draws on Mexican ranchero songs and runs merging sounds as pop, rock, northern, cumbia and hip-hop. This CD contains fifteen tracks of which twelve are the three traditional Mexican repertoire are authored by Lila Downs and includes a version in English of "La cumbia del mole" song that gave fame to Downs and to date is the letter of the artist.^[19]

The most successful theme of this album was "La cumbia del mole", this song refers to the preparation of this mexican dish and tradition by Oaxaca, this simple managed to position itself among the top of the charts in Mexico, United States, Canada and United Kingdom.^[20]

Downs in 2007 published a CD with more success in Spanish to date, containing songs from their previous album La Sandunga, Tree of Life, Border/The Line, One Blood and La Cantina It was entitled simply The Very Best of Lila Downs; was accompanied with a DVD containing thirteen tracks recorded live at a concert in Madrid, Spain.^[21]

2008-2009: Shake Away/Ojo de Culebra[link]

Two years after the release of La Cantina, Lila launched Ojo de Culebra during the month of September 2008 in Europe, North America, Australia and Latin America. The album reached sixth place in sales in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Spain and several Latin American countries. The first single is titled "Ojo de Culebra" that was attended by singer spanish singer La Mari by group of flamenco Chambao. The song is a merger of rock cumbia and flamenco with some influences of reggae.^[22] This song was the first places in the charts of world music in several countries^[23] The second single was "Perro Negro" a merger of rock with ska that was not so international presence as its predecessor, this song with the participation of Rubén Albarrán singer of the mexican rock band Café Tacuba.^[24] "Little man" (released in the U.S. alone) and "Justice" would become the next two singles, the latter with the participation of the spanish singer Enrique Bunbury also participated in this album Raul Midon, Gilberto Gutierrez and Mercedes Sosa.

The single "Black magic woman" achieved moderate success in Europe, United States and Canada, later pitched for the British market the single "Silent Thunder" which was well accepted by the public. In October 2009 placed the imprint of Lila Downs on the outskirts of the birthplace in his hometown Tlaxiaco, Mexico, also was awarded the keys the city for its work of media of Mixtec and as one of the greatest personalities who were born there.^[25]

2010-present: Lila Downs y la Misteriosa, Pecados y Milagros[link]

"Lila Downs y la Misteriosa en Paris - Live à FIP" is the second live album by Downs, released on April 13, 2010 in Spain and France, the album was recorded in 2009 in Radio Francia estudio 105 in Paris, France. The album was released in May 2010 in the United States and in July in most other countries. It received positive feedback from critics. Lila Downs y la Misteriosa en Paris was released in Mexico with an edited version of the live concert on DVD and was number one in sales of Gender World Music for the music chain Mixup for three consecutive weeks.^[26] Although receiving little promotion the album has received moderate success on the Mexican charts. In a survey of the best albums of 2010 conducted by the Mexican television network Channel 22, this album was ranked number one.^[27]

Pecados y Milagros (Sins and Miracles) is the seventh studio album by mexican singer-songwriter Lila Downs, released on October 18, 2011.^[28] The album cover was released on september 14, 2011.^[29]

The album debuted at number fifty two on the Billboard 200 becoming her fourth-highest peak on the chart. It also debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Latin Albums Chart and stayed there for over 3 consecutive weeks. This album has sold over 60.000 copies in the US and over 290.000 copies worldwide.^[30][31] The album was recorded in the Mexico City, and New York. Downs describes the album musically as having "a strong rock side" along with "traditional" and "Latino" songs. Celso Duarte is one of several collaborators to appear on the album, featuring on the first single "Palomo del comalito".

Other collaborations are said to include songs with rappers Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas, Celso Piña and Totó la Momposina. Downs also announced that she is preparing an international tour, the Sins and Miracles Tour, which is expected to start in Mexico.^[32]

Audience members at a February 18, 2012 concert at New York City El Museo del Barrio^[33] were informed that the concert was being recorded by HBO.^[34]

Musical tours[link]

2005-2006: One Blood Tour[link]

Due to the success of One Blood and Border, between 2001 and 2004 was the One Blood Tour with Lila performed 30 international presentations.^[35] This tour was presented on three continents in countries having an impact in Europe and Asia as Philippines, Japan, China, Egypt and Afghanistan^[36] where Downs caused a sensation because it was the first time I ran these countries taking his music, which was well received by the public. In May 2007, Downs published a DVD collection as a document of that tour in a concert in Oaxaca and Mexico City; this DVD contained thirteen live tracks and a documentary as well as special features like interviews, short films by Allen Downs (Lila’s father) and videos.

2008-2009: Shake Away Tour[link]

Lila Downs performing during a concert in Oaxaca, Mexico in 2010.

In September 2008 started Ojo de Culebra World Tour, that took her to visit different countries on four continents, this being the most successful Mexican, who with his One Blood Tour visited 30 locations.^[37] In Latin America, Mexico was the country with the highest number of submissions (21 in total), the tour officially ended on October 30, 2009 giving a free concert in the Zocalo of Mexico City,^[38] followed by Colombia and Costa Rica, with three each.

Although not part of the tour, Lila Downs appeared in the Live Earth in Germany, where she played three songs, and in late 2008 had a share in the Harmony Festival that is held in the California in United States.^[39]

2010: Black Magic Woman Tour[link]

In March 2010, Lila Downs announced a world tour Black Magic Woman Tour which began in Buenos Aires, Argentina with three sold out shows.^[40] This tour was introduced in several countries in America Asia and Europe in several of which broke attendance records. The tour officially ended on November 17, 2010 in Square Dance by Oaxaca City where she had an audience of approximately seven thousand people, that within the framework of book fair in Oaxaca.^[41]

Acting[link]

Downs has had small parts in such films as Frida,Fados and Hasta el último trago corazón; the latter is a documentary on Mexican music involving various exponents of the genre. Currently, Downs is working on the composition and arrangements for the musical Como agua para chocolate, based on the book by Laura Esquivel, which will premiere at the Public Theater of New York and Broadway in late 2011 or early 2012. She will participate in the filming of the U.S. film "Mariachi Gringo" directed by Tom Gustafson , where she will work alongside Mexican actresses Adriana Barraza, Martha Higareda and canadian actor Shawn Ashmore, the film is expected to be released in early 2012.

Soundtracks[link]

In 2001, Downs was invited to participate in the soundtrack of the Mexican film Piedras Verdes where she performed "Cancion mixteca", in 2002 she participated in the soundtrack for the film Frida singing the song Burn It Blue which was nominated in the 75th edition of the Academy Awards in the category of Best original music which was the winner.^[42] Downs has also participated in other soundtracks for films such as Real Women Have Curves and Tortilla Soup. In the film by Carlos Saura, Fados (2007), she sings an unforgettable version of Foi na Travessa da Palha in Portuguese.^[43]

Personal life[link]

Since the beginning of her career she has been involved with Paul Cohen who is as a partner and her artistic director. There has been much speculation in the media about the couple's personal life and that the couple could not have children. She talked about some of these aspects of her life in NPR Interviews: Lila Downs Woos Fans with 'Shake Away'^[44] and Lila Downs' Cross-Border Musical Influences.^[45]

In June 2010, Downs announced on their web site that, after several years of trying to be parents, they had adopted a child, Benito Dxuladi.^[46] They currently reside in Coyoacán in Mexico City and Oaxaca although most of the time they spend traveling.

Social activism[link]

Downs has been a Social Activist throughout her entire career because she works to maintain a cultural identity in the eye of social distress. For example, she sings with passion, and admiration for her home in Oaxaca, Mexico. Her music draws out many socially significant issues, such as the mistreatment and misunderstanding of indigenous peoples of Oaxaca, by celebrating their Mixtec heritage through song.^[47] Her albums are socially significant, especially her album, One Blood, or Una Sangre, which includes songs such as La Digificada, which is a song about Dina Ochoa's assassination. She was a social activist, and Lila featured her story on her album One Blood.^[48] When asked if she is a politician, Lila expresses that she does not want to be a politician because she is not interested in power, instead she wants to support and change society through music.^[49] On Friday, October 9, 2009 Downs, along with actress Salma Hayek represented to Mexico in a broadcast worldwide campaign for the foundation One Drop, to preserve water, where they performed the founder of Cirque du Soleil, Shakira U2 Vice President Al Gore and other world-class personalities.

Contributions[link]

• In 2003 she was invited by the Twelve Girls Band concert in Shanghai, China where she sang in English and French.
• In 2005 collaborated with the galician band Luar Na Lubre on the album Saudade in the song "Domingo Ferreiro" performed in galician.
• In 2008 on the album No Tiene Fin of Los Cojolites in the song "La Herlinda" and has an interest in the topic "El Pescador" of the disk Sin Fecha de Caducidad by the Mexican singer Celso Piña.
• In 2009 participated in the basque singer's album Kepa Junkera performs "Haurtxo Polita" in euskera. Also for the album Cantora, Vol. 2 of the singer Mercedes Sosa, with the theme of "Razon de Vivir" That same year also works with the theme "El Llorar" for Mexican musician Ernesto Anaya for his album Huapangueando.
• In 2010 in the musical production of the Mexican singer-songwriter Benny Ibarra called The March of the Living has involvement with him singing a duet song "Calaveras", second single of this production.

Awards and recognition[link]

Throughout her career Downs has received several awards; they include the Latin Grammy, Academy Awards, Lunas del Auditorio, among others. She has recently unveiled her mark on the Walk of Fame located in the outskirts of Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City for her career. Some of her most successful songs include: "Tengo miedo de quererte", "Estrella oscura", "La línea", "La llorona", "La cumbia del mole" y "Ojo de culebra".

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Ofrenda (1994)
• Azulao: En vivo con Lila Downs (1996)
• La Sandunga (Narada 1999)
• Tree of Life (Yutu tata) (Narada 2000)
• Border (La Línea) (Narada 2001)
• One Blood(Una sangre) (Narada 2004)
• La Cantina (Narada 2006)
• The Very Best Of/El Alma de Lila Downs [CD] (EMI 2008)
• Shake Away (Ojo de Culebra) (Manhattan Records 2008)
• Lila Downs y La Misteriosa en Paris – Live a FIP [CD (Harmonia Mundi-Global Village Europe/USA; various labels worldwide), (CD + DVD EMI Mexico) (2010)]
• Pecados y Milagros (2011)

DVD[link]

• Lotería Cantada (2006)
• The Very Best Of/El Alma de Lila Downs [CD+DVD] (EMI 2008)

References[link]