A Valentine’s story from the author of Day at a Time: An Indiana Girl’s Sentimental Journey to Doris Day’s Hollywood and Beyond Mary Anne Barothy
Valentine’s Day is almost here, and this is the perfect time to blog about the night Doris Day and I double dated in 1973. Doris’s very close friend, Billy DeWolfe, called Doris to say his nephew, Tom Ireland, was in town from Ft Lauderdale, and the two of them wanted to take us out to dinner. Doris had a special place in her heart for Uncle Billy as she affectionately called him. He co-starred with her in two early ‘50s movies—Tea for Two in 1950 and Lullaby of Broadway in 1951. That close friendship lasted until he died in 1974. Besides the two movies with Doris, Mr DeWolfe was a character actor in movies in the ‘40s and ‘50s, appeared on many TV shows throughout his career, and also played Mr Jarvis on THE DORIS DAY SHOW on CBS. The two of them loved to reminisce about the “good old days.”
Tom was my age and I looked forward to meeting him, but also having a night out on-the-town with Doris and “Uncle Billy.” He always made Doris happy.
Doris and I got ready for our “dates” and waited for them to arrive. While Doris was still tending to the canines, I kept watch from the front door for the lights of Billy’s car which he called “Clara Cadillac.” It amused me that Billy DeWolf always called Doris Day “Clara.” Finally, I saw the car lights and opened the gate so they could pull in right in front of her front door.
Doris had the dogs separated and all settled down and then we walked out to his long black Cadillac. Billy greeted us and helped Doris and me into the back seat. Tom was driving and Billy got into the front passenger seat and off we went for a night on the town!
Billy had made reservations at Lawry’s Prime Rib on La Cienega Blvd, better known as “Restaurant Row,” one of Hollywood’s major thoroughfares, featuring many upscale restaurants We were all looking forward to a nice, fun, relaxing evening with really good food.
We were seated quickly at a round booth with Doris and me in the middle. Billy was on Doris’s left and Tom was to my right. The booth was a little private, which was perfect for us. Soon after we were seated the lovely waitress came to take our orders. Then, Doris said she wanted to go to the powder room. I thought I might as well go with her. Next Tom asked Billy for directions for the men’s room. None of us had brought any money and each asked Billy for money for the attendants in the powder rooms.
Billy sat there alone. When the waitress came with the salads, she saw Mr. DeWolfe all alone and asked, “What happened to your party, Mr. DeWolfe?”
“They all deserted me for the powder rooms and I even had to give them money to pee,” he told her.
Finally, we were all together again and enjoyed a delicious meal featuring Lawry’s famous prime rib. It was a wonderful evening with friends, fun and an excellent meal at this historic gourmet restaurant.
Billy paid the bill and then promptly asked the waitress if Doris could have a bag of some of the scraps of meat to take home for her doggy “kids”—all 11 of them. The waitress smiled and left for the kitchen. Within a few minutes, she came back with about 5 big bags of scrap prime rib in beautifully wrapped take- home bags. Doris was thrilled knowing her kids would love the treat….and they did!
Billy and Tom drove us back to her home and we all said good night. Doris and I thanked our “dates” for a lovely evening. To me, it was a special night to remember!
Happy Valentine’s Day
Mary Anne
Just a reminder that my February DORIS DAY HOUR will air on mybnr.com
Thursday, February 12th @ 3:oopm (New York Time) with encores at 8:00pm
Friday, February 13th @ 5:00am and 10:00am
Saturday, February 14th @ 3:00pm
Sunday, February 15th @ 3:00pm and 8:00pm
And you can click back to the Website to purchase and read the fully story of Mary Anne Barothy’s years as Doris Day’s personal secretary! Or get the ebook.