Laraine Day (born La Raine Johnson, October 13, 1920 – November 10, 2007) was an American actress, radio and television commentator and a former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract star, making her film debut (uncredited) in King Vidor‘s Stella Dallas (1937), with Barbara Stanwyck, John Boles, and Anne Shirley. As a leading lady, she was paired opposite major film stars including Robert Mitchum, Lana Turner, Cary Grant, Ronald Reagan, Kirk Douglas, and John Wayne. Early roles include W.S. Van Dyke’s I Take this Woman (1940), wiry Spencer Tracy and Hedy Lamarr.
Her best-known films include Alfred Hitchcock‘s Foreign Correspondent (1940), with Joel McCrea, Herbert Marshall, George Sanders, Albert Basserman, Robert Benchley, and Edmund Gwenn; Charles Vidor‘s My Son, My Son (1940), with Madeleine Carroll, Brian Aherne, and Louis Hayward; Van Dyke’s Journey for Margaret (1942), with Robert Young; H.C. Potter’s Mr. Lucky (1943), with Grant; Cecil B. DeMille‘s Story of Dr. Wassell (1944), with Gary Cooper, Signe Hasso, and Dennis O’Keefe; John Brahm’s The Locket (1946), with Brian Aherne, Mitchum, and Gene Raymond; the Dr. Kildare series (1939 – 1941), with Lew Ayers and Lionel Barrymore; and The High and Mighty (1954), with John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Robert Stack, and Jan Sterling.
Day’s last film role was Hubert Cornfield’s The 3rd Voice (1960), with Edmond O’Brien and Julie London. As well as her numerous film and television roles, she acted on stage, conducted her own radio and television shows, and wrote two books. Owing to her 2nd marriage to Leo Durocher and her involvement with his baseball career, she was known as “The First Lady of Baseball.” For her contribution to the motion picture industry she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6676 Hollywood Blvd.
Each review will be linked to the title below.
(*seen originally in theaters)
(**seen rereleased in theaters)
- Stella Dallas (1937) – directed by King Vidor – uncredited
- Scandal Street (1938) – directed by James P. Hogan – credited as Laraine Johnson
- Border G-Man (1938) – directed by David Howard – credited as Laraine Johnson
- Painted Desert (1938) – directed by David Howard – credited as Laraine Johnson
- Arizona Legion (1939) – directed by David Howard – credited as Laraine Johnson
- Sergeant Madden (1939) – directed by Josef von Sternberg
- Calling Dr. Kildare (1939) – directed by Harold S. Bucquet
- Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939) – directed by Richard Thorpe
- Think First (1939) – directed by Roy Rowland – short
- The Secret of Dr. Kildare (1939) -directed by Harold S. Bucquet
- I Take This Woman (1940) – directed by W.S. Van Dyke
- My Son, My Son! (1940) – directed by Charles Vidor
- And One Was Beautiful (1940) – directed by Robert B. Sinclair
- Dr. Kildare’s Strange Case (1940) – directed by Harold S. Bucquet
- Foreign Correspondent (1940) – directed by Alfred Hitchcock – aka Imposter and Personal History
- Dr. Kildare Goes Home (1940) – directed by Harold S. Bucquet
- Dr. Kildare’s Crisis (1940) – directed by Harold S. Bucquet
- The Trial of Mary Dugan (1941) – directed by Norman Z. McLeod
- The Bad Man (1941) – directed by Richard Thorpe
- The People vs. Dr. Kildare (1941) – directed by Harold S. Bucquet
- Dr. Kildare’s Wedding Day (1941) – directed by Harold S. Bucquet
- Unholy Partners (1941) – directed by Mervyn LeRoy
- Kathleen (1941) – directed by Harold S. Bucquet
- A Yank on the Burma Road (1942) – directed by George B. Seitz – aka China Caravan and Yanks on the Burma Road
- Fingers at the Window (1942) – directed by Charles Lederer
- Mister Gardenia Jones (1942) – directed by George B. Seitz – short
- Journey for Margaret (1942) – directed by W.S. Van Dyke
- Mr. Lucky (1943) – directed by H.C. Potter
- The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944) – directed by Cecil B. DeMille
- Bride by Mistake (1944) – directed by Richard Wallace
- Keep Your Powder Dry (1945) – directed by Edward Buzzell
- Those Endearing Young Charms (1945) – directed by Lewis Allen
- The Locket (1946) – directed by John Brahm
- Tycoon (1947) – directed by Richard Wallace
- My Dear Secretary (1948) – directed by Charles Martin
- I Married a Communist (1949) – directed by Robert Stevenson – aka The Woman on Pier 13
- Without Honor (1949) – directed by Irving Pichel – aka Woman Accused
- The High and the Mighty (1954) – directed by William A. Wellman
- The Toy Tiger (1956) – directed by Jerry Hopper
- Three for Jamie Dawn (1956) – directed by Thomas Carr
- Swiss Family Robinson (1958) – directed by William A. Graham – TV movie
- The 3rd Voice (1960) – directed by Hubert Cornfield
- Will Banner (1965) – directed by Walter Grauman – TV movie
- The World: Color It Happy (1967) – directed by Wally Burr, Walter Grauman, James Nielson, Norman Sedawie, & Ezra Stone – TV movie
- Murder on Flight 502 (1975) – directed by George McCowan – TV movie
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