Laraine Day Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

Laraine Day (1920-2007), reached stardom as Nurse Lamont opposite Lew Ayres in a series of six Dr. Kildare films (1939-1942). Other starring roles for Day included Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent (1940), The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944), My Dear Secretary (1948) and The High and the Mighty (1954). She hosted a television program in 1951. In 1947, Laraine Day divorced her first husband, and - in defiance of a court order -  journeyed to Mexico to marry Leo Durocher. The unlikely pairing of Day, a strict Mormon tee-totaler, and Durocher, a notorious hell-raiser from his playing days who retained his bad boy image (including gambler and pool shark) and was constantly battling team and league management, was grist for the gossip mills. The resulting publicity, amidst allegations of adultery, child abandonment and bigamy, undoubtedly boosted the career of Day, previously perceived as somewhat staid and aloof. Durocher and Day were a celebrity couple, with friends from the worlds of entertainment, professional sport and politics (counting Presidents among their fans). Durocher, who retired with the fifth most wins of any manager in baseball history, had his best years with the Giants, including the miraculous come-from behind 1951 season, culminating in the Bobby Thomson playoff homer that wrested the NL Pennant from the Dodgers, and the 1954 season, when the Giants crushed the heavily favored Cleveland Indians for the World Championship, and Durocher's only World Series ring.