Laraine Day

Attended and graduated in 1938 from Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, California).

She appeared with Lew Ayres in eight films: Calling Dr. Kildare (1939), The Secret of Dr. Kildare (1939), Dr. Kildare Goes Home (1940), Dr. Kildare's Crisis (1940), Dr. Kildare's Strange Case (1940), Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day (1941), The People vs. Dr. Kildare (1941) and Fingers at the Window (1942).

In the early 1940s, she was a one-time girlfriend of actor Glenn Ford.

She followed Ronald Reagan's career, after co-starring with him in The Bad Man (1941) and Mister Gardenia Jones (1942), long before he began running for governor or president.

Had one daughter with Leo Durocher, Melinda Michele Thompson Durocher (January 7, 1944 - May 20, 2012), who resided in Rathdrum, Idaho, and had eight children and 18 grandchildren.

At MGM, she was told that if she did Keep Your Powder Dry (1945), she would be rewarded with the female lead in Undercurrent (1946) with Robert Taylor. When the role was given to Katharine Hepburn, Laraine left MGM and never returned.

She was the first choice to play Mary Hatch in It's A Wonderful Life (1946) but had to decline the role as she was already busy working on The Locket (1946); Donna Reed later got the role. Coincidentally, both films were released to theaters on December 20, 1946.

She was the original choice to play Leona Stevenson in Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) but had to withdraw owing to her work schedule in My Dear Secretary (1948). The role later went to Barbara Stanwyck.

She was considered for the female lead in Samson and Delilah (1949) but never screen tested. The role went to Hedy Lamarr.

In the 1950s, Day became a board member for SHARE, Inc., an organization that aids women and children suffering from developmental disabilities. She remained active as a chairwoman until her death and in her will stipulated that in lieu of flowers donations be sent there in her memory.

In 1951, RKO Radio Pictures tried to produce a film noir entitled "The Sins of Sarah Ferry". The story was about a courthouse clerk in Binghamton, New York, who finds herself falling in love with a beautiful liar who is accused of armed robbery as well as a hit-and-run charge involving a death. The cast would have starred Laraine Day, Fred MacMurray, Yvonne De Carlo, Hugh Beaumont, Glenn Ford, Howard Duff, and Evelyn Keyes, with the studio wanting to shoot on location in Binghamton and neighboring Johnson City. This project never materialized because the plot was considered too close to Double Indemnity (1944) and the studio never received a reply via phone call or standard mail from the Binghamton Courthouse or then Mayor Donald Kramer granting them permission to film on location in the area and negotiate a fair range of payment. Based on that neglect, the studio immediately canceled this project and moved on.

She and Dean Jagger were the first Mormon actors to receive stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They received the accolade on February 8, 1960.

In 1963 and 1964, Day joined fellow actresses Joan Caulfield, Ruth Hussey, Yvonne De Carlo, Marie Windsor, Virginia Mayo, and Maidie Norman, in making appearances on behalf of U.S. Senator Barry M. Goldwater, the Republican nominee in the campaign against U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson.

In 1964, she was one of many notables who attended the "Project Prayer" rally in Los Angeles.

She was a huge fan of Richard Nixon and campaigned for him in the 1968 and 1972 presidential elections. She also supported Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and longtime Hollywood friend Ronald Reagan in the 1980 and 1984 presidential elections.

In the 1970s, she was the head speaker for the Make America Better campaign program sponsored by the National Association of Real Estate Boards. During the decade, she made numerous speeches throughout America in regard to environmentalism.

On Sunday, July 31, 1994, Laraine accepted a posthumous award on behalf of her former husband Leo Durocher, who had been chosen as an inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Endorsed George W. Bush in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections.

In C. David Heymann's book "Bobby and Jackie: A Love Story" (2009), he claimed that Laraine had at one time been a lover of John F. Kennedy during the 1950s. Laraine's children sued Heymann on libel charges, claiming that their mother never had any kind of an intimate relationship with Kennedy. They based their suit on the fact that she strongly believed in the concept of marital union with her three husbands and that during the time he held office Laraine was not a supporter of his administration owing to both his sexual escapades and his liberal policies.

She had a twin brother, Lamar, who served as an infantry cook in the United States Army during World War II between 1942 and 1946 and later made a living as a stand-up comedian for various cruise ship lines. He died on May 17, 2012 in Chico, California, at his daughter's home at age 91.