Description:
Born into a prominent Mormon family in Utah, Laraine Day's acting career began after her parents moved to Long Beach, California, where she joined the Long Beach Players. She appeared in her first film in 1937 in a bit part, then did leads in several George O'Brien westerns. Signing a contract with MGM, she achieved popularity playing the part of Nurse Lamont in that studio's "Dr. Kildare" series. An attractive, engaging performer, she had leads in several medium-budget films for various studios, but never achieved major stardom. She was married for 13 years to baseball manager Leo Durocher, and took such an active interest in his career and the sport of baseball in general that she became known as "The First Lady of Baseball".
Birthday
October 13, 1920
Born In
Roosevelt, Utah, USA
Alternative names
Laraine Johnson
Height
165 cm
Trivia
She was the photo girl of the World War II plane "Lucky Lady". A P38 headed by Max Pyles debuted the plane in September 1944. Laraine (who was at the time a favorite with lonesome G.I.'s) was asked for a photograph to be put on the plane. Laraine immediately wrote back and attached photo of herself in a negligee. The "Lucky Lady" soon held the honor of having the highest number of record flights in the autumn of 1944. Her photo remained pasted on the L/gun door, and the crew and Laraine frequently sent letters back and forth. She was very proud and interested to get updates about "her airplane".
Quotes
I recall playing practical jokes with John Wayne. I once got a whole bunch
of keys and had little tags made that said, "If lost, please return to
John Wayne, RKO Studios. Reward." And I just dropped them all over
town. [He got a lot of] phone calls, people showing up at the studio.
He never learned who did it.
Nickname
The First Lady of Baseball
Trademarks
Often portrayed women who were career oriented or matronly
