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Dennis Day
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dennis Day (May 21, 1916, New York City – June 22, 1988, Los Angeles, California),[1] [2] [3] born Owen Patrick Eugene McNulty, was an Irish-American singer and radio and television personality.
Day was born and raised in New York City, the son of Irish immigrants. His father was a stationary engineer.[4] [5] Day graduated from St. Patrick's Cathedral High School, and attended Manhattan College, where he sang in the glee club. Day appeared for the first time on Jack Benny's radio show on October 8, 1939, taking the place of another famed tenor, Kenny Baker. He remained associated with Benny's radio and television programs until the latter's death in 1974. He was introduced (with an actress playing his mother) as a young (nineteen year old), naive boy singer — a character he kept through his whole career. His first song was "Tonight My Beautiful".
Besides singing, Dennis Day was an excellent mimic. He did many imitations on the Benny program of various noted celebrities of the era, such as Ronald Colman, Jimmy Durante, and Jimmy Stewart. From 1944 through 1946, he served in the US Navy as a Lieutenant. On his return to civilian life, he continued to work with Benny while also hosting his own show, A Day in the Life of Dennis Day (1946-1952). Benny became the frequent butt of jokes on his own show that Day had two programs compared to Benny's one. His TV series, The Dennis Day Show (aka The RCA Victor Show) was telecast from 1952 to 1954. Between 1952 and 1978, he made numerous TV appearances as a singer, actor and voice for animation.
In 1948, Day married his wife Peggy, a marriage that lasted until his death. The couple had ten children. One of his brothers married actress/singer Ann Blyth. Dennis Day died at age 72 in Los Angeles, California from Lou Gehrig's disease. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6646 Hollywood Boulevard.
- ^ Ancestry.com. Social Security Death Index [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006.
- ^ Ancestry.com. California Death Index, 1940-1997 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000.
- ^ Passenger list, S.S. Britannic, 17 September 1934. Ancestry.com. New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006.
- ^ U.S. Census, Jan. 1, 1920, State of New York, County of Bronx, enumeration district 393, p. 13-B, family 257.
- ^ Patrick Jos. McNulty, Bronx, New York, born 18 July 1881. Ancestry.com. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005.