Author of new book Doris Day:The Untold Story of the Girl Next Door, David Kaufman, tells USA Weekend, Day, 86, who enchanted audiences in the ’50s and ’60s, is a recluse who even turned down lunch with Oprah Winfrey.
“In the last 30 years of her retirement, she has withdrawn. On the one hand, she continues to speak to friends, and she will do occasional telephone interviews, but she will not be seen. She does not want to be seen. I do not go into this in the book, but I will tell you that when she has a doctor’s appointment, in recent years, the doctor clears his dock so that nobody else is in the office, and she is driven in disguise with a floppy hat so that no one will recognize her.
“The last viewing that I’m aware of in public is when she went to the Cyprus Inn in Carmel, Calif., last summer. And according to people I spoke with last August, who had seen her in June, she looked gorgeous. But she has to spend hours to prepare for looking that way, and she doesn’t like doing that.
“She really prefers just staying at home. I don’t know about this happening in the last few years, but from 2000 to 2004, if she had arranged a lunch with anybody, she would say in the morning, “Oh, I don’t want to have to get dressed — why did I ever do this?!” But then she would do it, she’d go to the lunch, she’d come home and just go on and on about how wonderful her time was, seeing these old friends. On the other hand, Oprah, as arranged, went to see Doris in recent years, and Doris canceled at the last minute. So Oprah made her way to Carmel, and Doris wouldn’t see her.”
*To read an excerpt of Kaufman’s book, check out last month’s issue of Vanity Fair
Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be Will Be)
Sami
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