Contents
Early life[edit]
Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff was born on April 3, 1922, in Cincinnati, Ohio,[6] the daughter of Alma Sophia (née Welz; 1895–1976), a housewife, and William Joseph Kappelhoff (1892–1967), a music teacher and choir master.[7][8] All of her grandparents were German immigrants.[9] For most of her life, Day reportedly believed she had been born in 1924 and reported her age accordingly; it was not until her 95th birthday—when the Associated Press found her birth certificate, showing a 1922 date of birth—that she learned otherwise.[6]
The youngest of three siblings, she had two older brothers: Richard (who died before her birth) and Paul, two to three years older.[10] Due to her father's alleged infidelity, her parents separated.[4][11] She developed an early interest in dance, and in the mid-1930s formed a dance duo with Jerry Doherty that performed locally in Cincinnati.[12] A car accident on October 13, 1937, injured her right leg and curtailed her prospects as a professional dancer.[13][14]
