Laraine Day

Beloved by sports fans as The First Lady of Baseball, Laraine Day earned her first admirers in movie theatres. In addition to her extremely photogenic face, she projected degrees of charm and empathy that made her perfect to play Nurse Mary Lamont in MGM's popular series of "Dr. Kildare" pictures. That regular exposure introduced the Utah native to many filmgoers, but it was also emblematic of the insubstantial fare the studio relegated her to. Day had her best parts when working for other companies, including Alfred Hitchcock's superb thriller "Foreign Correspondent" (1940) and the film noir outing "The Locket" (1946), which offered her a major image change as a thief who drives men to their deaths. Although that performance might have opened more doors for her, Day's marriage to New York Giants manager Leo Durocher brought about an unexpected career shift. Adopting her husband's love of baseball, Day became involved with two television programs dedicated to the game and she was among the first female TV personalities to regularly cover sports. Although she co-starred in "The High and the Mighty" (1954) and on various TV programs in the years that followed, Day was content to spend the majority of her time away from show business, attending to her family and the Mormon church. Day may not have appeared in as many movies as some of her contemporarie, but her sincerity and wholesome appeal as a performer added much to the ones she did grace.