Laraine Day
Laraine Day
Laraine Day, born La Raine Johnson, was a major movie star of the 1940s and '50s. Raised in Utah as part of a prominent Mormon family, she came to Hollywood as a young woman, and made her film debut with an uncredited role in Stella Dallas. Before she was famous she also played the birth-mother of Tarzan and Jane's adopted son "Boy" in Tarzan Finds a Son. Her break came in 1939, with the wildly popular "Dr Kildare" sequels. Day played Kildare's nurse and love interest in the third through ninth Kildare movies, until her character married the doctor in Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day. As Mrs Kildare, she was written out of the next, and last, Kildare feature. In 1942, she starred with Ayres again in the underrated axe murder melodrama Fingers at the Window. Over subsequent decades, her memorable films included the flashback-within-flashback-within-flashback drama The Locket, the gangster comedy Mr Lucky, and the campy paranoia piece I Married A Communist. She was among the all-star passengers in the overwrought airliner-in-peril drama The High and the Mighty, and in Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent it was Day who encouraged Joel McCrea to give his stirring report of the air raid at the film's climax Hitchcock's thinly-veiled plea for America to enter World War II. When television became a viable income source, Day found the small screen more inviting and less time-consuming than making movies, and she became primarily a TV actress. She had a 15-minute series of uplifting vignettes called Daydreaming with Laraine, and another 15-minute daily celebrity chat show called The Laraine Day Show. Married to New York Giants manager Leo Durocher, Day became one of TV's first female sports reporters when she hosted Day with the Giants, an early 1950s baseball talk show with Giants' players that aired on New York City's Channel 11. Her last film was a low-budget thriller, The Third Voice, in 1960, but she continued taking occasional guest roles on TV series Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Murder, She Wrote, etc. through the mid-1980s. Following her retierment she spent the remainder of her life active in the Mormon church, Republican politics, and various charity related work. Upon the death of her third husband Michael Grilikhes in March 2007 she moved back to her native Utah where she died that November at age 87. She is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, CA.​
Known For Acting
Most Rating 19.605
Birthday 1920-10-13
Place of Birth Roosevelt, Utah, USA
Also Known As Laraine Johnson , La Raine Johnson,
Foreign Correspondent
1940

Foreign Correspondent

The Woman on Pier 13
1950

The Woman on Pier 13

Tarzan Finds a Son!
1939

Tarzan Finds a Son!

The 3rd Voice
1960

The 3rd Voice

Without Honor
1949

Without Honor

Journey for Margaret
1942

Journey for Margaret

The Locket
1946

The Locket

Fingers at the Window
1942

Fingers at the Window

Mr. Lucky
1943

Mr. Lucky

The High and the Mighty
1954

The High and the Mighty

My Dear Secretary
1948

My Dear Secretary

Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
1941

Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day

The Story of Dr. Wassell
1944

The Story of Dr. Wassell

Tycoon
1947

Tycoon

Dr. Kildare Goes Home
1940

Dr. Kildare Goes Home

Unholy Partners
1941

Unholy Partners

A Yank on the Burma Road
1942

A Yank on the Burma Road

Dr. Kildare's Crisis
1940

Dr. Kildare's Crisis

Murder on Flight 502
1975

Murder on Flight 502

Calling Dr. Kildare
1939

Calling Dr. Kildare

The Secret of Dr. Kildare
1939

The Secret of Dr. Kildare

Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
1940

Dr. Kildare's Strange Case

The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
1941

The People Vs. Dr. Kildare

And One Was Beautiful
1940

And One Was Beautiful

I Take This Woman
1940

I Take This Woman

Keep Your Powder Dry
1945

Keep Your Powder Dry

Sergeant Madden
1939

Sergeant Madden

Bride by Mistake
1944

Bride by Mistake

Three for Jamie Dawn
1956

Three for Jamie Dawn

Toy Tiger
1956

Toy Tiger

Stella Dallas
1937

Stella Dallas

Painted Desert
1938

Painted Desert

Arizona Legion
1939

Arizona Legion

Those Endearing Young Charms
1945

Those Endearing Young Charms

Kathleen
1941

Kathleen

Border G-Man
1938

Border G-Man

The Trial of Mary Dugan
1941

The Trial of Mary Dugan

The Bad Man
1941

The Bad Man

My Son, My Son!
1940

My Son, My Son!

A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
1940

A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound

Think First
1939

Think First

Twenty Years After
1944

Twenty Years After

Scandal Street
1938

Scandal Street

Mr. Gardenia Jones
1942

Mr. Gardenia Jones

Return to Fantasy Island
1978

Return to Fantasy Island

The Glass Key
1942

The Glass Key

Swiss Family Robinson
1958

Swiss Family Robinson