Doris Day : reluctant superstar

With her bobbed, blonde hair and flashing smile, Doris Day was portrayed as the girl next door - a virginal girl that you could take home to your parents.

In real life, she was not quite the happy-go-lucky blonde with the bubbly personality promoted by Warner Brothers who simply wanted to market her as a commodity. Married young, to a violent bully, and with a child, Day had to work hard, touring with bands, to get her start in showbusiness.

A reluctant star, all Doris Day wanted to do was settle down to a happy, simple life but somehow managed to always attract the wrong kind of men - thugs and crooks who took their anger out on her. And yet this didn't stop her from enjoying sexual exploits with a number of leading men.

She worked hard - not to become a success but for a job - and yet her manager managed to defraud her of millions.

How could this happen to such a smart lady - perhaps she was too trusting? In this revealing biography, David Bret takes a fascinating look at the trials and tribulations behind what seemed to her adoring fans to be the perfect woman. From her German Jewish parents to her donation to an airlift of cats and dogs in Louisiana, as well as full discography and film lists, this is a captivating look at a resilient American icon.

David Bret was born in Paris and is a leading celebrity biographer.

His many acclaimed books include biographies of Marlene Dietrich, Gracie Fields, Freddie Mercury, Tallulah Bankhead, Maria Callas, Rudolph Valentino, Edith Piaf and Joan Crawford.

He lives in Yorkshire.