Michael M. Grilikhes

Laraine Day (born La Raine Johnson, October 13, 1920 – November 10, 2007) was an American actress, radio and television commentator, and former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) contract star.

As a leading lady, she was paired opposite major film stars, including Robert Mitchum, Lana Turner, Cary Grant, Ronald Reagan, Kirk Douglas, and John Wayne.

As well as her numerous film and television roles, she acted on stage, conducted her own radio and television shows, and wrote two books.

Because of her marriage to Leo Durocher and her involvement with his baseball career, she was known as the "First Lady of Baseball".

Her best-known films include Foreign Correspondent, My Son, My Son, Journey for Margaret, Mr. Lucky, The Locket, and the Dr. Kildare series.

Born La Raine Johnson in Roosevelt, Utah, on October 13, 1920, she was one of eight children in a wealthy family who were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

Her parents were Clarence Irwin Johnson and Ada M. Johnson.

Her father was a grain dealer and an interpreter for the Ute Indian tribes.

She had a twin brother, Lamar.

Her great-grandfather was early Mormon pioneer Charles C. Rich.

The family later moved to California, where she began her acting career with the Long Beach Players, including her friend and contemporary Robert Mitchum.

In 1937, Day debuted on screen in a bit part in Stella Dallas.

Her contract was dropped shortly thereafter because she "lacked talent".

Shortly afterwards, she won lead roles at RKO Pictures in several George O'Brien Westerns, in which she was billed as Laraine Johnson.

She attended George Washington Junior High School and was a 1938 graduate of Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, California.

After a talent scout spotted her with the Long Beach Players, she signed a contract with Goldwyn studios, for which she made her cinematic debut.

In 1938, she adopted the name "Laraine Day" to honor her previous playhouse manager, Elias Day, from whom she had received much of her training.

During that time, she was active in establishing a playhouse in Los Angeles for Mormon actors.

Ray Bradbury joined for a period of time in 1939, and she let him do some stage prop work and publicity.

In 1939, she signed with MGM, and became popular and well known (billed as Laraine Day) as Nurse Mary Lamont, the title character's love interest and eventual fiancée in a string of seven Dr. Kildare movies beginning with Calling Dr. Kildare (1939), with Lew Ayres in the title role.

Her roles for other studios were often far more stimulating than those MGM gave her, including a prominent supporting part in the Irish melodrama My Son, My Son! (1940).

She also starred in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Foreign Correspondent (1940) with Joel McCrea and the psychological mystery The Locket (1946) with Robert Mitchum, Brian Aherne, and Gene Raymond.

In the 1940s, she made guest appearances on radio in both Lux Radio Theatre and The Screen Guild Theater.

In 1941, she was voted the number one "star of tomorrow" in Hollywood.

Also in 1941, she was Ronald Reagan's leading lady in the Western comedy The Bad Man, starring top-billed Wallace Beery and Lionel Barrymore.

That same year, she made her stage debut opposite Gregory Peck in the national theater tour of Angel Street.

Laraine Day's married her first husband, James Ray Hendricks, on May 16, 1942.

He was a dance-band singer who became an airport executive for the Santa Monica airport.

The couple adopted three children: Christopher, Angela, and Michelle.

She was released from her contract with MGM of her own discretion in May 1946 and signed a contract with RKO in December of that year.

The contract stated that she would make one film a year for five years, earning $100,000 per film.

Throughout her film career, she was paired opposite major film stars, including Lana Turner, Cary Grant, and John Wayne.

Day filed for divorce from Hendricks in December 1946.

Day was granted an interlocutory divorce from Hendricks on January 20, 1947, which required her to wait one year before remarrying.

On January 21, 1947, Day traveled to Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, where she received a second divorce decree.

Later that day, she traveled to El Paso, Texas, where she married baseball manager Leo Durocher.

Upon returning to California, the judge who granted Day's interlocutory divorce from Hendricks stated that the Mexican divorce she received was not legal and, since she failed to wait the one-year period for her divorce to become final, deemed her Texas marriage illegal.

In May 1951, she began hosting a television show alternately called Daydreaming with Laraine and The Laraine Day Show.

In May 1952, she was signed to a midnight-to-3 a.m. interview series with New York radio station WMGM featuring interviews related to politics, show business, and sports.

She also made stage appearances in Lost Horizon, the 1973 revival of The Women, and a revival of The Time of the Cuckoo.