Actress and singer Doris Day died of pneumonia on Monday at the age of 97.<\/p>\n
Best known for her wistful song “Que Sera, Sera,” Day passed away surrounded by close friends at her home near Carmel Valley, California, the Doris Day Animal Foundation said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cDay had been in excellent physical health for her age, until recently contracting a serious case of pneumonia, resulting in her death,\u201d the foundation said.<\/p>\n
Day was a top star in the 1950s and \u201960s and among the most popular screen actresses in history. She made nearly three dozen films and more than 600 recordings. At the height of her career, she topped both the billboard and the box office charts.<\/p>\n
“During her three decades of work in film, Day starred in nearly every genre, not just as a singer\/dancer but as an actress with superb comic timing, a natural talent for interpreting a role and a gift for evoking emotion,” her foundation said.<\/p>\n
Day was know as the “girl next door”, and the comedies she was best known for were daring and sexy for the time period. She teamed with Rock Hudson in \u201cPillow Talk\u201d and other lighthearted romantic comedies including \u201cLover Come Back\u201d and \u201cSend Me No Flowers.\u201d Other significant screen roles included Alfred Hitchcock thriller \u201cThe Man Who Knew Too Much\u201d (1956), and Day’s Oscar-winning song \u201cQue Sera Sera” (Whatever Will Be, Will Be).<\/p>\n
After many successful films, she starred on CBS in \u201cThe Doris Day Show\u201d for five years starting in 1968, and soon after retired to California. Her 1976 tell-all book, \u201cDoris Day: Her Own Story,\u201d chronicled her money troubles and three failed marriages, contrasting with the happy publicity of her Hollywood career.<\/p>\n
The legendary entertainer “wishes were that she have no funeral or memorial service and no grave marker,” according to her foundation’s statement.<\/p>\n