Laraine Day
Known for Acting · 72 credits
- Born
- 1920-10-13
- Died
- 2007-11-10
- Place of birth
- Roosevelt, Utah, USA
- Also known as
- Laraine Johnson · La Raine Johnson
Biography
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
TV Shows (21)
Murder, She Wrote
1984
as Constance Fletcher
The Love Boat
1977
as Vera Simpson
What's My Line?
1950
as Self
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962
as Ruth
Climax!
1954
as Ellen Parker
Hotel
1982
as Mrs. Kupchak
Airwolf
1984
as Amelia Davenport
The F.B.I.
1965
as Helen York
Burke's Law
1963
as Lisa Cole
Medical Center
1969
The Name of the Game
1968
as Grace Jellicoe
Checkmate
1960
as Amnesiac Woman
Lux Video Theatre
1950
as Sophie / Charlotte Vale / Louise Howell / Lynn / Claire Brandon / Lydia / Phyllis Dietrichson
Your Show of Shows
1950
Screen Director's Playhouse
1955
as Laraine Day
The New Breed
1961
as Vivian Cowley
Letter to Loretta
1953
as Carol Potter / Karen McCall / Sara Lewis
The Sixth Sense
1972
General Electric Theater
1953
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
as Mrs. Lorenz
Pursuit
1958
as Kathy Nelson
Movies (51)
Foreign Correspondent
1940
as Carol Fisher
The High and the Mighty
1954
as Lydia Rice
Mr. Lucky
1943
as Dorothy Bryant
The Glass Key
1942
as Nurse (uncredited)
Kathleen
1941
as Martha Kent
Arizona Legion
1939
as Letty Meade (as Laraine Johnson)
Tarzan Finds a Son!
1939
as Mrs. Richard Lancing
Tycoon
1947
as Maura Alexander Munroe
Scandal Street
1938
as Peg Smith (as Laraine Johnson)
Murder on Flight 502
1975
as Claire Garwood
Stella Dallas
1937
as Girl at Soda Shop / Train Passenger (uncredited)
Fingers at the Window
1942
as Edwina 'Eddie' Brown
The Story of Dr. Wassell
1944
as Madeleine
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
1940
as Self
The Locket
1946
as Nancy
My Dear Secretary
1948
as Stephanie 'Steve' Gaylord
Twenty Years After
1944
as (archive footage)
I Take This Woman
1940
as Linda Rodgers
Journey for Margaret
1942
as Nora Davis
Prima Donna
1956
as Laraine Day
Without Honor
1949
as Jane Bandle
The Woman on Pier 13
1950
as Nan Lowry Collins
Keep Your Powder Dry
1945
as Leigh Rand
Return to Fantasy Island
1978
as Mrs. Grant
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
1940
as Nurse Mary Lamont
My Son, My Son!
1940
as Maeve O’Riordan
Calling Dr. Kildare
1939
as Nurse Mary Lamont
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
1939
as Nurse Mary Lamont
Toy Tiger
1956
as Gwendolyn Taylor
The Trial of Mary Dugan
1941
as Mary Dugan
Sergeant Madden
1939
as Eileen Daly
Bride by Mistake
1944
as Norah Hunter
And One Was Beautiful
1940
as Kate Lattimer
A Yank on the Burma Road
1942
as Gail Farwood
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
1940
as Nurse Mary Lamont
Three for Jamie Dawn
1956
as Sue Lorenz
Swiss Family Robinson
1958
as Frannie (Mother)
The 3rd Voice
1960
as Marian Forbes
The Bad Man
1941
as Lucia Pell
Too Old for Dolls
1955
as Marge Ramsay
The Final Tribute
1955
as Joyce Carter
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
1940
as Nurse Mary Lamont
Unholy Partners
1941
as Miss 'Croney' Cronin
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
1941
as Nurse Mary Lamont
Painted Desert
1938
as Carol Banning
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
1941
as Nurse Mary Lamont
Think First
1939
as Marjorie (Margie) Smith
Mr. Gardenia Jones
1942
as Joanne
Border G-Man
1938
as Betty Holden (as Laraine Johnson)
Those Endearing Young Charms
1945
as Helen Brandt
Rendezvous in Black
1956
as Florence Strickland
About 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 d… With 72 credits spanning from 1937 to 1984, Laraine Day has appeared in 51 films and 21 TV shows.
Fans searching for Laraine Day movies, Laraine Day filmography, or the latest projects starring Laraine Day can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular Laraine Day Movies
- Foreign Correspondent (1940) — as Carol Fisher
- The High and the Mighty (1954) — as Lydia Rice
- Mr. Lucky (1943) — as Dorothy Bryant
- The Glass Key (1942) — as Nurse (uncredited)
- Kathleen (1941) — as Martha Kent
Where to Watch Laraine Day Films
Most Laraine Day movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring Laraine Day, check our movies catalogue and browse page.