JUST IN: Doris Day Could Have Performed Without the Song That Made Her Famous

Doris Day, a Hollywood classic, starred in scores of films and released over 600 songs during her lifetime. But the box office star, recognized for her distinct voice, never returned to the song that may have been most identified with her career, “Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera).” In truth, Day, who died at the age of 97 on Monday, May 13, never intended to sing the song in the first place.

As it turned out, practically everyone connected with the song was hesitant to make it. This is what occurred. Doris Day appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1956 film The Man Who Knew Too Much starring Jimmy Stewart. Hitchcock did not want Day in the film at first, but in order to get Stewart on board, he had to agree to hire Day and give her a song in the film written by the renowned songwriting duo Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, who wrote such masterpieces as “Silver Bells” and “Mona Lisa.”

Hitchcock agreed. His directions to the songwriters were vague: “I don’t know what kind of song I want,” he stated. “But Jimmy Stewart is a traveling ambassador, and it would be wonderful if the song included some foreign words in its title. Also, in the photo, Doris is singing to their young son.

The team developed “Que Sera Sera” after seeing the Ava Gardner film The Barefoot Contessa, when they observed the phrase “Che Sera Sera,” or “Whatever Will Be, Will Be” on the fictitious family’s Italian property. The team was inspired by the phrase, converted it to Spanish (it also works in French), and wrote the composition (they had called it “Que Sera, Sera” before realizing another song with that name already existed).

Hitchcock pronounced the song perfect. But Day was not as excited. In 2012, she told Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air that she didn’t understand why such a cheerful, melodic tune would be used in a film about an abducted boy.

“I thought I’m not crazy about that,” she recalled. “Where will they put it?” You know, for what? Is it when I put him in bed and sing to him or something? I did this in another film. And I wondered if that was what it was going to be. And I just didn’t think the music was good.”

According to Martin Chilton of The Telegraph, Day initially dismissed the song as “a kiddie song,” but her third husband, Martin Melcher, who also served as her manager, persuaded her to record it.

In the movie, she sings it as a lullaby. Playing Jo McKenna, one half of an American marriage whose vacation turns tragic when their child, Hank, is kidnapped, she and her husband (Stewart) must pursue numerous clues to find him, eventually discovering he is being held at an embassy. Jo performs the song in the hopes that Hank will hear it and realize his parents are nearby.

Her performance earned the film the 1956 Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the song peaked at number two on the Billboard charts. Day hesitantly acknowledged the song’s popularity. “So, while it’s not my favorite song, it was well-liked by others. “And the kids loved it,” she told Gross. “And it was ideal for the film.” So, you know, I can’t say it’s my favorite song or that I think it’s great, but it sure did something. It came out, and it was well received.”

The song became so closely identified with the star that it eventually became the theme music for “The Doris Day Show,” a sitcom that aired from 1968 to 1973. In her 1976 book, Day disclosed that Melcher had contracted her to perform the sitcom and that she was unaware of the arrangement until his death in 1968. She didn’t want to do a TV program, let alone one with that song as the theme.

Fortunately for Day, she wasn’t asked to sing “Que Sera, Sera” after that. After the series concluded, she retired from show business and relocated to Carmel, California, where she became an animal rights activist and sang whatever songs she wanted.