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Doris Day, Hollywood legend and singer, dead at 97

By Wade Sheridan
Doris Day (L) starred with Ronald Reagan in the 1952 film "The Winning Team." Day died Monday at  age 97.  UPI File Photo
Doris Day (L) starred with Ronald Reagan in the 1952 film "The Winning Team." Day died Monday at  age 97.  UPI File Photo | License Photo

May 13 (UPI) -- Doris Day, a Hollywood screen legend, singer and animal welfare advocate, died Monday at age 97.

Her Doris Day Animal Foundation confirmed the star's death at her Carmel Valley, Calif., home.

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Day, who turned 97 in April, had recently contracted pneumonia. She was surrounded by close friends at the time of her death.

Day, whose singing career included hits such as "Sentimental Journey" and "Que Sera Sera" from the film The Man Who Knew Too Much, also starred in films such as Calamity Jane, Pillow Talk, Love Me or Leave Me, The Pajama Game, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, Lover Come Back and The Winning Team alongside former Ronald Reagan, who went on to become president of the United States.

The actress headlined The Doris Day Show on CBS, which ran for five seasons from 1968 to 1973.

She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004, a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement in 2008 and the Career Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association in 2011.

Day founded the Doris Day Animal Foundation in 1978 to help fight animal testing and to advocate for spaying and neutering. Her Spay Day program turned into World Spay Day, which takes place every year on the last Tuesday of February. The event helps provide free or reduced-cost spay and neuter surgeries for animals in 75 countries.

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Notable deaths of 2019

Jerry Herman
Jerry Herman listens to remarks by U.S. President Barack Obama as the president and First Lady Michelle Obama host the 2010 Kennedy Center Honorees at a reception in the East Room of the White House on December 5, 2010. The Tony-award winning composer died on December 26, 2019, at the age of 88. File Pool Photo by Gary Fabiano/UPI | License Photo

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