Remembering Doris Day's emotional final performance, singing 'The Way We Were'

13 May 2019, 15:37

By Tom Eames

Doris Day largely retired from the world of showbusiness in the 1970s after a glittering career in the world of music and movies.

The legendary Hollywood star passed away at the age of 97 today (May 13), after decades away from the limelight as she concentrated on her animal foundation.

But what was her final public performance?

Well, the final time she performed on TV was in her 1975 TV special Doris Day Today on CBS.

The special saw her team up with the likes of John Denver and Sammy Davis Jr, and also included a performance of 'The Way We Were', made famous by Barbra Streisand.

The clip also featured shots of various Hollywood actors she had performed alongside over the years, almost as if to say goodbye to her movie career, including Frank Sinatra, Clark Gable and Rock Hudson.

Watch the performance below:

Doris Day - The Way We Were

She wouldn't appear on TV again until her short-lived talk show Doris Day's Best Friends in 1985.

The 97-year-old singer scored huge hits including 'Secret Love' and 'Que Sera Sera'.

She was best known for starring in several huge movies of the classic Hollywood era, such as Calamity Jane and The Man Who Knew Too Much.

In a statement, the Doris Day Animal Foundation confirmed that she died on Monday (May 13) at her home in Carmel Valley, California.

They said she had been "in excellent physical health for her age, until recently contracting a serious case of pneumonia". She was surrounded by a few close friends as she passed."